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 224

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 December 1883 Registrar A. de Courcy Potterton

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

1073

20 November 1883

George Henry Arthur Purchas
Annie Isabel Walker

George Henry Arthur Purchas
Annie Isabel Walker
💍 1883/3388

Bachelor
Spinster

Land Surveyor
None

25 years
23 years

Te Aroha
Sandes St Thames

3 days at Thames
13 years

St George's Church, Thames

83/3605

20 November 1883

Rev. H. J. Edwards, Church of England Minister

No	1073
Date of Notice	20 November 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Arthur Purchas	Annie Isabel Walker
	💍 1883/3388
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Land Surveyor	None
Age	25 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Te Aroha	Sandes St Thames
Length of Residence	3 days at Thames	13 years
Marriage Place	St George's Church, Thames
Folio	83/3605
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 November 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. J. Edwards, Church of England Minister

1074

24 November 1883

James Jobe
Mary Jane Jenkin

James Jobe
Mary Jane Jenkin
💍 1883/2841

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

29 years
20 years

Moanataiari
Waiotahi Creek

6 years
6 years

Dwelling house of Mr. Henry Jenkin, Waiotahi Creek

83/2739

Henry Jenkin, father of minor

27 November 1883

Rev. C. E. Barley, Primitive Methodist Minister

No	1074
Date of Notice	24 November 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Jobe	Mary Jane Jenkin
	💍 1883/2841
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	29 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Moanataiari	Waiotahi Creek
Length of Residence	6 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Mr. Henry Jenkin, Waiotahi Creek
Folio	83/2739
Consent	Henry Jenkin, father of minor
Date of Certificate	27 November 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Barley, Primitive Methodist Minister

1075

6 December 1883

Alfred Strong
Eliza Ann Martin

Alfred Strong
Eliza Ann Martin
💍 1883/2838

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
None

24 years
17 years

Edwardes St.
Sandes St.

2 years
15 years

Dwelling house of Mr. William Bawden Martin, Sandes St.

83/2735

William Bawden Martin, father of minor

8 December 1883

Rev. Henry Bull, Wesleyan Minister

No	1075
Date of Notice	6 December 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Strong	Eliza Ann Martin
	💍 1883/2838
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	None
Age	24 years	17 years
Dwelling Place	Edwardes St.	Sandes St.
Length of Residence	2 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Mr. William Bawden Martin, Sandes St.
Folio	83/2735
Consent	William Bawden Martin, father of minor
Date of Certificate	8 December 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Bull, Wesleyan Minister

1076

7 December 1883

William Kelsall
Eliza Carroll
formerly White

William Kelsall
Eliza Carroll
💍 1883/2859

Widower
Widow

Labourer
None

53 years
30 years

Davy St.
Davy St.

15 years
14 years

Registrar's Office, Thames

83/2733

7 December 1883

A. de Courcy Potterton, Registrar of Marriages

No	1076
Date of Notice	7 December 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Kelsall	Eliza Carroll formerly White
	💍 1883/2859
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Labourer	None
Age	53 years	30 years
Dwelling Place	Davy St.	Davy St.
Length of Residence	15 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Thames
Folio	83/2733
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 December 1883
Officiating Minister	A. de Courcy Potterton, Registrar of Marriages

1077

19 December 1883

James Barnett
Jane Brien

James Barnett
Jane Brien
💍 1883/2840

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Servant

24 years
22 years

Mackay St.
Pollen St.

1 year
15 years

Roman Catholic Church of St. Francis, Thames

83/2737

19 December 1883

Rev. Patrick O'Reilly, Roman Catholic Minister

No	1077
Date of Notice	19 December 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Barnett	Jane Brien
	💍 1883/2840
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Servant
Age	24 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Mackay St.	Pollen St.
Length of Residence	1 year	15 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church of St. Francis, Thames
Folio	83/2737
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 December 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. Patrick O'Reilly, Roman Catholic Minister

1078

19 December 1883

John Jordan Mander
Eliza Jane Ash

John Jordan Mander
Eliza Jane Ash
💍 1883/2856

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

36 years
28 years

Moanataiari
Moanataiari

3 years
4 years

Dwelling house of Thomas Ash, Moanataiari Creek

83/2730

19 December 1883

Rev. S J Neill, Presbyterian Minister

No	1078
Date of Notice	19 December 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Jordan Mander	Eliza Jane Ash
	💍 1883/2856
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	36 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Moanataiari	Moanataiari
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Thomas Ash, Moanataiari Creek
Folio	83/2730
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 December 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. S J Neill, Presbyterian 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).

Primary digitisation of registers between 1855 and 1925 is now complete. Our digitisation volunteers are now working on verifying the currently digitised pages against printed district/page indexes, to identify pages which may have been missed or out of focus. These pages can be re-imaged as required.

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.

How can I help?

You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

You can also support this project by ☕ Buying us a coffee 🌳

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).