Intentions to Marry, 1883

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840395, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, May 16 2025.

Page 1180

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 June 1883 Registrar Arthur Henderson

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

4 June 1883

Edward Llewellyn
Mary Grayson

Edward Llewelyn
Mary Grayson
💍 1883/1734

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic Servant

24
22

Invercargill
Invercargill

1 year
1 year

At the office of the Registrar

83/1662

4 June 1883

The Registrar

No	50
Date of Notice	4 June 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Llewellyn	Mary Grayson
BDM Match (97%)	Edward Llewelyn	Mary Grayson
	💍 1883/1734
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic Servant
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	At the office of the Registrar
Folio	83/1662
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1883
Officiating Minister	The Registrar

11 June 1883

William Rae
Susan Ann Inkster
formerly Wadge

William Rae
Susan Ann McIntyre
💍 1883/1742

Bachelor
Widow

Shepherd

29
33

Glenham Station
Invercargill

3 years
3 weeks

At the House of Mr. Sowells, Tyne Street, Invercargill

83/1652

11 June 1883

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian Minister

No	51
Date of Notice	11 June 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Rae	Susan Ann Inkster formerly Wadge
BDM Match (70%)	William Rae	Susan Ann McIntyre
	💍 1883/1742
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Shepherd
Age	29	33
Dwelling Place	Glenham Station	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	At the House of Mr. Sowells, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	83/1652
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 June 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian Minister

11 June 1883

Andrew White
Clara Amelia Batten

Andrew White
Clara Amelia Batten
💍 1883/1725

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant

31
20

Invercargill
Invercargill

9 years
1 year

At the house of A. Ashenden, Spey Street, Invercargill

83/1641

A. Ashenden, Guardian

11 June 1883

Rev. H. Stocker, Church of England Minister

No	52
Date of Notice	11 June 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew White	Clara Amelia Batten
	💍 1883/1725
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant
Age	31	20
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	9 years	1 year
Marriage Place	At the house of A. Ashenden, Spey Street, Invercargill
Folio	83/1641
Consent	A. Ashenden, Guardian
Date of Certificate	11 June 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Stocker, Church of England Minister

12 June 1883

James Wilson
Jane Mulholland

James Wilson
Jane Mullholland
💍 1883/1748

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Servant

36
36

Invercargill
Invercargill

7 weeks
2 months

At the house of Mr. Wilson, Invercargill

83/1653

12 June 1883

Rev. James Paterson, Presbyterian Minister

No	53
Date of Notice	12 June 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Wilson	Jane Mulholland
BDM Match (97%)	James Wilson	Jane Mullholland
	💍 1883/1748
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Servant
Age	36	36
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	7 weeks	2 months
Marriage Place	At the house of Mr. Wilson, Invercargill
Folio	83/1653
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 June 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Paterson, Presbyterian Minister

12 June 1883

James Hutchinson Bay
Elizabeth Agnes Lee

James Hutchinson Carey
Elizabeth Agnes Lee
💍 1883/1735

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic Servant

36
31

Invercargill
Invercargill

9 months
4 years

At the Office of the Registrar

83/1663

12 June 1883

The Registrar

No	54
Date of Notice	12 June 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Hutchinson Bay	Elizabeth Agnes Lee
BDM Match (93%)	James Hutchinson Carey	Elizabeth Agnes Lee
	💍 1883/1735
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic Servant
Age	36	31
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	9 months	4 years
Marriage Place	At the Office of the Registrar
Folio	83/1663
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 June 1883
Officiating Minister	The Registrar

13 June 1883

Neil Hansen
Helena Christina Matilda Hemmingsen

Neils Hansen
Eeline Christina Matilda Hemmingsen
💍 1883/1728

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

35
19

Invercargill
Invercargill

3 days
3 days

At the house of Peter Hemmingsen, Invercargill

83/1644

Peter Hemmingsen

13 June 1883

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian Minister

No	55
Date of Notice	13 June 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Neil Hansen	Helena Christina Matilda Hemmingsen
BDM Match (92%)	Neils Hansen	Eeline Christina Matilda Hemmingsen
	💍 1883/1728
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	35	19
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	At the house of Peter Hemmingsen, Invercargill
Folio	83/1644
Consent	Peter Hemmingsen
Date of Certificate	13 June 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian Minister

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1903. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).