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 340

District of Wanganui Quarter ending 30 June 1883 Registrar J. H. Brooking

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

10 May 1883

Thomas James Butt
Eliza Elizabeth Bryant

Thomas James Gibbs
Olive Elizabeth Bryant
💍 1883/1121

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

28
18

Makirikiri
Makirikiri

10 days
10 days

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Wanganui

83/1023

George Bryant, father of bride

10 May 1883

J. H. Brooking, Registrar

No	26
Date of Notice	10 May 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas James Butt	Eliza Elizabeth Bryant
BDM Match (79%)	Thomas James Gibbs	Olive Elizabeth Bryant
	💍 1883/1121
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	28	18
Dwelling Place	Makirikiri	Makirikiri
Length of Residence	10 days	10 days
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Wanganui
Folio	83/1023
Consent	George Bryant, father of bride
Date of Certificate	10 May 1883
Officiating Minister	J. H. Brooking, Registrar

15 May 1883

George Cower
Margaret Knox

George Rowe
Margaret Knox
💍 1883/1122

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor

28
25

Wanganui
Wanganui

14 days
2 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Wanganui

83/1024

15 May 1883

J. H. Brooking, Registrar

No	27
Date of Notice	15 May 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Cower	Margaret Knox
BDM Match (92%)	George Rowe	Margaret Knox
	💍 1883/1122
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Wanganui
Length of Residence	14 days	2 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Wanganui
Folio	83/1024
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 May 1883
Officiating Minister	J. H. Brooking, Registrar

21 May 1883

Patrick Burr
Elizabeth Anderson McWilliam

Patrick Burr
Elizabeth Anderson McWilliam
💍 1883/1114

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

31
24

Warrengate
Wanganui

2 years
19 years

In the residence of Peter Burr, St. Johns Hill, Wanganui

83/1018

21 May 1883

Rev. Jas. McWilliam, Church of England

No	28
Date of Notice	21 May 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Burr	Elizabeth Anderson McWilliam
	💍 1883/1114
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Warrengate	Wanganui
Length of Residence	2 years	19 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Peter Burr, St. Johns Hill, Wanganui
Folio	83/1018
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 May 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. McWilliam, Church of England

11 June 1883

Nils Peter Manson
Agnes Wallace

Neils Peter Manson
Agnes Wallace
💍 1883/1135

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28
28

No. 2 Line
No. 2 Line

2 years
10 years

In the Matarawa School House, No. 2 Line

83/1019

11 June 1883

Rev. R. L. Cameron, Church of England

No	29
Date of Notice	11 June 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Nils Peter Manson	Agnes Wallace
BDM Match (97%)	Neils Peter Manson	Agnes Wallace
	💍 1883/1135
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	No. 2 Line	No. 2 Line
Length of Residence	2 years	10 years
Marriage Place	In the Matarawa School House, No. 2 Line
Folio	83/1019
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 June 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. L. Cameron, Church of England

18 June 1883

Henry Hooker
Ann Letitia Rowe

Henry Hooker
Anne Letitia Rowe
💍 1883/1117

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

25
23

Wanganui
Wanganui

4 years
18 years

In the residence of Mr. James Rowe, Wanganui

83/1022

18 June 1883

Rev. Jas. Fazadwell, Presbyterian

No	30
Date of Notice	18 June 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Hooker	Ann Letitia Rowe
BDM Match (97%)	Henry Hooker	Anne Letitia Rowe
	💍 1883/1117
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Wanganui
Length of Residence	4 years	18 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Mr. James Rowe, Wanganui
Folio	83/1022
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 June 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. Fazadwell, Presbyterian

27 June 1883

William Scott
Mary Powell

William Ibbott
Mary Powell
💍 1883/1805

Widower
Widow

Laborer

50
39

do
do

19 years
17 years

In the residence of William Scott, Abbott Street, Wanganui

83/1026

27 June 1883

Rev. W. J. Williams, Wesleyan

No	31
Date of Notice	27 June 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Scott	Mary Powell
BDM Match (89%)	William Ibbott	Mary Powell
	💍 1883/1805
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Laborer
Age	50	39
Dwelling Place	do	do
Length of Residence	19 years	17 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of William Scott, Abbott Street, Wanganui
Folio	83/1026
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 June 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Williams, Wesleyan

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).