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 344

District of Wanganui Quarter ending 31 December 1883 Registrar F. H. Noow

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

19 November 1883

Patrick Martin
Ellen Patton

Patrick Martin
Ellen Paton
💍 1883/2863

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

26
27

Wanganui
Wanganui

2 yrs
3 yrs

In the Roman Catholic Church, Wanganui

83/2836

19 November 1883

Rev. B. H. Kirk, Roman Catholic

No	52
Date of Notice	19 November 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Martin	Ellen Patton
BDM Match (96%)	Patrick Martin	Ellen Paton
	💍 1883/2863
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Wanganui
Length of Residence	2 yrs	3 yrs
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church, Wanganui
Folio	83/2836
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 November 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. H. Kirk, Roman Catholic

20 November 1883

William McLean
Margaret Favis

William McAlpine
Margaret Hawk
💍 1883/2868

William McSweeney
Margaret O'Sullivan
💍 1883/3128

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

27
24

Wanganui
Wanganui

4 days
7 mos.

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Wanganui

83/2841

20 November 1883

F. H. Noow, Registrar

No	53
Date of Notice	20 November 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McLean	Margaret Favis
BDM Match (70%)	William McAlpine	Margaret Hawk
	💍 1883/2868
BDM Match (62%)	William McSweeney	Margaret O'Sullivan
	💍 1883/3128
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Wanganui
Length of Residence	4 days	7 mos.
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Wanganui
Folio	83/2841
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 November 1883
Officiating Minister	F. H. Noow, Registrar

23 November 1883

Gavin R. Henderson
Elizabeth Dunlop

Gavin Rewatt Henderson
Elizabeth Dunlop
💍 1883/3348

Bachelor
Spinster

Engraver

38
30

Wanganui
Wanganui

18 mos.
4 yrs.

In the residence of Rev. W. J. Williams, Wanganui

83/2839

23 November 1883

Rev. W. J. Williams, Wesleyan

No	54
Date of Notice	23 November 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gavin R. Henderson	Elizabeth Dunlop
BDM Match (89%)	Gavin Rewatt Henderson	Elizabeth Dunlop
	💍 1883/3348
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engraver
Age	38	30
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Wanganui
Length of Residence	18 mos.	4 yrs.
Marriage Place	In the residence of Rev. W. J. Williams, Wanganui
Folio	83/2839
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 November 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Williams, Wesleyan

26 November 1883

James G. Madman
Elizabeth Corner

James Christopher Mailman
Elizabeth Connor
💍 1883/2869

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler

24
21

Wanganui
Wanganui

24 yrs
2 1/2 yrs

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Wanganui

83/2842

26 November 1883

F. H. Noow, Registrar

No	55
Date of Notice	26 November 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James G. Madman	Elizabeth Corner
BDM Match (68%)	James Christopher Mailman	Elizabeth Connor
	💍 1883/2869
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Wanganui
Length of Residence	24 yrs	2 1/2 yrs
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Wanganui
Folio	83/2842
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 November 1883
Officiating Minister	F. H. Noow, Registrar

15 December 1883

Henry Hollis
Eliza G. Parker

Henry Collier
Eliza Catherine Parkes
💍 1883/2864

Bachelor
Spinster

Music Seller

30
20

Wanganui
Wanganui

5 1/2 yrs
20 yrs

In the residence of Mr. E. Parker, St. John's Hill

83/2844

E. Parker, mother

15 December 1883

Rev. James Treadwell, Presbyterian

No	56
Date of Notice	15 December 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Hollis	Eliza G. Parker
BDM Match (66%)	Henry Collier	Eliza Catherine Parkes
	💍 1883/2864
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Music Seller
Age	30	20
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Wanganui
Length of Residence	5 1/2 yrs	20 yrs
Marriage Place	In the residence of Mr. E. Parker, St. John's Hill
Folio	83/2844
Consent	E. Parker, mother
Date of Certificate	15 December 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Treadwell, Presbyterian

22 December 1883

James Arcus
Mary A. Edgecombe

James Crews
Mary Ann Edgecombe
💍 1883/2865

Bachelor
Widow

Carpenter

29
25

Wanganui
Wanganui

9 days
9 days

In the residence of Rev. J. Treadwell, Wanganui

83/2838

22 December 1883

Rev. James Treadwell, Presbyterian

No	57
Date of Notice	22 December 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Arcus	Mary A. Edgecombe
BDM Match (81%)	James Crews	Mary Ann Edgecombe
	💍 1883/2865
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Carpenter
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Wanganui
Length of Residence	9 days	9 days
Marriage Place	In the residence of Rev. J. Treadwell, Wanganui
Folio	83/2838
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 December 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Treadwell, 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).