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 484

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 June 1883 Registrar Hubb

No	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
35	1 May 1883	Harry Brown Maryann Murphy	Harry Brown Mary Ann Murphy 💍 1883/1057	Bachelor Spinster	Deacon	26 22	Napier Napier	7 years 4 years	House of Revd Sidey	83/1157		1 May 1883	Rev D Sidey, Presbyterian
36	10 May 1883	John Rene Hislop Anna Harriett Moor	John Skene Hislop Annie Harriett Moor 💍 1883/1058	Bachelor Widow	Hotel Keeper	31 27	Napier Napier	5 months 8 months	Presbyterian Manse	83/1158		10 May 1883	Rev D Sidey, Presbyterian
37	15 May 1883	Matthew Kelaher Catherine O'Connor	Mathieu Kelaher Catherine OConnor 💍 1883/1109	Bachelor Spinster	Cab Driver	30 24	Napier Napier	7 years 4 years	St Mary's Chapel	83/1164		15 May 1883	Rev T Forest, Roman Catholic
38	17 May 1883	Charles Miller Matilda Theresa Agnew	Charles Miller Matilda Theresa Agnew 💍 1883/1110	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	33 25	Port Ahuriri Napier	8 years 3 years	St Mary's Chapel	83/1165		17 May 1883	Rev T Forest, Roman Catholic
39	17 May 1883	Robert Little Elija Johnston	Robert Little Eliza Johnston 💍 1883/1090	Bachelor Spinster	Coach Driver	27 22	Napier Napier	7 years 2 years	St John's Church	83/1169		17 May 1883	Rev de Berdt Hovell, English Church
40	23 May 1883	George Vincent Kemsley Amelia Rosetta Mason	George Vincent Kemsley Amellia Rosetta Mason 💍 1883/1088	Widower Spinster	Clothier	37 19	Napier Napier	9 years 5 years	House of Revd Sidey	83/1159	George Mason, father	23 May 1883	Rev D Sidey, Presbyterian
41	28 May 1883	Joseph Jeffares Elizabeth O'Hara	Joseph Jeffares Elisabeth O'Hara 💍 1883/1106	Bachelor Spinster	Baker	28 21	Taradale Taradale	7 years 2 1/2 years	Mission Manse	83/1161		28 May 1883	Rev J Regnier, Roman Catholic
42	28 May 1883	Frederick William Rodger Martha Emily Raybould	Frederick William Bodger Martha Emily Glazebrook 💍 1883/1051	Bachelor Spinster	Jockey	22 21	Clive Clive	2 years 4 years	Residence of Revd Sidey	83/1152		28 May 1883	Rev D Sidey, Presbyterian
43	4 June 1883	Walter Biddle Emma Theresa Goldfinch	Walter Biddle Emma Theresa Goldfinch 💍 1883/1091	Bachelor Spinster	Painter	32 22	Napier Napier	2 years 23 years	St John's Church	83/1170		4 June 1883	Rev de Berdt Hovell, English Church

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 1899. 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).