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 1190

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 December 1883 Registrar Arthur Chellas 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

6 October 1883

Francis Meffington
Catherine Mullen

Francis Skiffington
Catherine Mullan
💍 1883/3638

Bachelor
Spinster

Ploughman

27
21

Invercargill
New River

7 days
6 months

At the Roman Catholic Church

83/3490

6 October 1883

The Rev Mr. Ready, Roman Catholic Church Minister

No	86
Date of Notice	6 October 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Meffington	Catherine Mullen
BDM Match (89%)	Francis Skiffington	Catherine Mullan
	💍 1883/3638
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ploughman
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	New River
Length of Residence	7 days	6 months
Marriage Place	At the Roman Catholic Church
Folio	83/3490
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 October 1883
Officiating Minister	The Rev Mr. Ready, Roman Catholic Church Minister

13 October 1883

Henry Samuel Jones
Annie Amelia Gregg
formerly Roe

Henry Samuel Jones
Annie Amelia Grigg
💍 1883/3272

Widower
Widow

Accountant

48
32

Invercargill
Invercargill

3 days
9 years

Office of the Registrar

83/3502

13 October 1883

The Registrar

No	87
Date of Notice	13 October 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Samuel Jones	Annie Amelia Gregg formerly Roe
BDM Match (77%)	Henry Samuel Jones	Annie Amelia Grigg
	💍 1883/3272
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Accountant
Age	48	32
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	9 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar
Folio	83/3502
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1883
Officiating Minister	The Registrar

19 October 1883

Albert Newman
Elizabeth Taylor

Albert Newman
Elizabeth Robertson Taylor
💍 1883/3264

Robert Stewart
Elizabeth Taylor
💍 1883/3026

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardiner

29
24

Gladstone
Invercargill

9 years
20 years

At the House of Mr Taylor

83/3495

19 October 1883

The Rev Jno Ferguson, Presbyterian Church Minister

No	88
Date of Notice	19 October 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Newman	Elizabeth Taylor
BDM Match (81%)	Albert Newman	Elizabeth Robertson Taylor
	💍 1883/3264
BDM Match (75%)	Robert Stewart	Elizabeth Taylor
	💍 1883/3026
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardiner
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Gladstone	Invercargill
Length of Residence	9 years	20 years
Marriage Place	At the House of Mr Taylor
Folio	83/3495
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 October 1883
Officiating Minister	The Rev Jno Ferguson, Presbyterian Church Minister

22 October 1883

Edward Stapleyn Gobbitt
Ellen Henderson Brentifplay

Edward Kapleyn Gobbitt
Ellen Henderson Mentiplay
💍 1883/3265

Bachelor
Spinster

Oyster Fish Merchant
Domestic Servant

30
25

Invercargill
Invercargill

3 days
3 days

At the House of Mr Brentifplay

83/3496

22 October 1883

The Rev Jno Ferguson, Presbyterian Church Minister

No	89
Date of Notice	22 October 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Stapleyn Gobbitt	Ellen Henderson Brentifplay
BDM Match (90%)	Edward Kapleyn Gobbitt	Ellen Henderson Mentiplay
	💍 1883/3265
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Oyster Fish Merchant	Domestic Servant
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	At the House of Mr Brentifplay
Folio	83/3496
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 October 1883
Officiating Minister	The Rev Jno Ferguson, Presbyterian Church Minister

23 October 1883

George Arthur Pollard
Alice Dearcy

George Arthur Pollard
Alice Pearcey
💍 1883/3323

Bachelor
Spinster

Major of the Salvation Army
N.G. Durrow

31
30

Invercargill
Invercargill

3 days
3 days

At the House of Mr James Paterson

83/3534

James Paterson, Guardian

23 October 1883

The Rev James Paterson, Presbyterian Church Minister

No	90
Date of Notice	23 October 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Arthur Pollard	Alice Dearcy
BDM Match (92%)	George Arthur Pollard	Alice Pearcey
	💍 1883/3323
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Major of the Salvation Army	N.G. Durrow
Age	31	30
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	At the House of Mr James Paterson
Folio	83/3534
Consent	James Paterson, Guardian
Date of Certificate	23 October 1883
Officiating Minister	The Rev James Paterson, Presbyterian Church Minister

23 October 1883

William Durie
Jane Milton

William Durie
Jane Milton
💍 1883/3302

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

24
26

Invercargill
Invercargill

1 month
7 years

At the House of Mr Morrison

83/3574

23 October 1883

The Rev Thos Harrington, Baptist Church Minister

No	91
Date of Notice	23 October 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Durie	Jane Milton
	💍 1883/3302
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	24	26
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	1 month	7 years
Marriage Place	At the House of Mr Morrison
Folio	83/3574
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 October 1883
Officiating Minister	The Rev Thos Harrington, Baptist Church Minister

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

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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).