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 480

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 March 1883 Registrar J. W. Smith

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

26 January 1883

Charles Diaper
Mary Kerby

Charles Diaper
Mary Rirley
💍 1883/592

Bachelor
Spinster

Groom

33
23

Woodville
Napier

6 years
1 1/4 year

Roman Catholic Church

83/319

26 January 1883

Rev I Ahern, Roman Catholic

No	10
Date of Notice	26 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Diaper	Mary Kerby
BDM Match (82%)	Charles Diaper	Mary Rirley
	💍 1883/592
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Groom
Age	33	23
Dwelling Place	Woodville	Napier
Length of Residence	6 years	1 1/4 year
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	83/319
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev I Ahern, Roman Catholic

30 January 1883

John Sommerville
Christina Jane Howell

John Somerville
Christina Jane Howell
💍 1883/3502

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd

28
21

Puketapu
Puketapu

5 years
10 years

House of Isaac Howell

83/339

30 January 1883

Rev E. H. Grainger, English Church

No	11
Date of Notice	30 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Sommerville	Christina Jane Howell
BDM Match (97%)	John Somerville	Christina Jane Howell
	💍 1883/3502
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Puketapu	Puketapu
Length of Residence	5 years	10 years
Marriage Place	House of Isaac Howell
Folio	83/339
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev E. H. Grainger, English Church

30 January 1883

Philip La Massurier
Elizabeth Ann Rowe

Philip Le Masurier
Elizabeth Ann Rowe
💍 1883/3501

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler

32
20

Napier
Napier

7 days
14 days

House of E. Rowe

83/332

Ezekiel E. Rowe, father

30 January 1883

Rev E. O. Perry, Primitive Methodist

No	12
Date of Notice	30 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Philip La Massurier	Elizabeth Ann Rowe
BDM Match (95%)	Philip Le Masurier	Elizabeth Ann Rowe
	💍 1883/3501
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler
Age	32	20
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	7 days	14 days
Marriage Place	House of E. Rowe
Folio	83/332
Consent	Ezekiel E. Rowe, father
Date of Certificate	30 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev E. O. Perry, Primitive Methodist

1 February 1883

Edmund Dutton
Marion Ritchie

Edmund Sutton
Marion Ritchie
💍 1883/423

Widower
Spinster

Merchant

40
30

Napier
Napier

20 years
8 years

House of Mrs Ritchie Cooke

83/342

1 February 1883

Rev D Sidey, Presbyterian

No	13
Date of Notice	1 February 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edmund Dutton	Marion Ritchie
BDM Match (96%)	Edmund Sutton	Marion Ritchie
	💍 1883/423
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Merchant
Age	40	30
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	20 years	8 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs Ritchie Cooke
Folio	83/342
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev D Sidey, Presbyterian

3 February 1883

Arthur William Chhom
Christina Macdonald

Arthur William Coham
Christina Macdonald
💍 1883/418

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

30
28

Napier
Napier

5 months
4 days

Havelock Church

83/324

3 February 1883

Rev M Nicholl, Presbyterian

No	14
Date of Notice	3 February 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur William Chhom	Christina Macdonald
BDM Match (95%)	Arthur William Coham	Christina Macdonald
	💍 1883/418
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	5 months	4 days
Marriage Place	Havelock Church
Folio	83/324
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev M Nicholl, Presbyterian

3 February 1883

William Robelliard
Clara Georgina Bradford

William Robilliard
Clara Georgina Bradford
💍 1883/437

Bachelor
Spinster

Rate & Marines

24
24

Port Ahuriri
Napier

3 years
4 years

House of Mrs Martin

83/333

3 February 1883

Rev E. O. Perry, Primitive Methodist

No	15
Date of Notice	3 February 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Robelliard	Clara Georgina Bradford
BDM Match (97%)	William Robilliard	Clara Georgina Bradford
	💍 1883/437
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Rate & Marines
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Port Ahuriri	Napier
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs Martin
Folio	83/333
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev E. O. Perry, Primitive Methodist

12 February 1883

William Henry Scully
Harriett Fisk

William Henry Schultz
Harriett Fisk
💍 1883/432

Widower
Spinster

Carpenter

47
39

Napier
Napier

20 years
9 years

St Johns Church

83/350

12 February 1883

Rev de Berdt Hovell, English Church

No	16
Date of Notice	12 February 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Scully	Harriett Fisk
BDM Match (93%)	William Henry Schultz	Harriett Fisk
	💍 1883/432
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	47	39
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	20 years	9 years
Marriage Place	St Johns Church
Folio	83/350
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev de Berdt Hovell, English Church

12 February 1883

Edward Lockyer Imphan
Mary Ann Berry

Edward Lockyer Ingpen
Mary Ann Berry
💍 1883/424

Widower
Spinster

Clerk

47
21

Napier
Napier

7 years
21 years

House of Mr Berry

83/343

12 February 1883

Rev D Sidey, Presbyterian

No	17
Date of Notice	12 February 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Lockyer Imphan	Mary Ann Berry
BDM Match (91%)	Edward Lockyer Ingpen	Mary Ann Berry
	💍 1883/424
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	47	21
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	7 years	21 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr Berry
Folio	83/343
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev D Sidey, Presbyterian

12 February 1883

George Plank
Frances Marshall

George Plaisk
Frances Marshall
💍 1883/426

Bachelor
Widow

Foreman

24
22

Napier
Napier

7 years
2 years

Residence of Rev D Sidey

83/345

12 February 1883

Rev D Sidey, Presbyterian

No	18
Date of Notice	12 February 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Plank	Frances Marshall
BDM Match (92%)	George Plaisk	Frances Marshall
	💍 1883/426
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Foreman
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	7 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev D Sidey
Folio	83/345
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev D Sidey, Presbyterian

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).