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 152

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 September 1883

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

387

31 August 1883

Walter Brown
Louisa Phillips

Walter Brown
Louisa Phillips
💍 1883/1634

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler

22
21

Auckland
Ponsonby

18 years
21 years

Dwelling of Mr. Basil Phillips

83/1115

31 August 1883

Rev. R. J. Macnicoll, Presbyterian

No	387
Date of Notice	31 August 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Brown	Louisa Phillips
	💍 1883/1634
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Ponsonby
Length of Residence	18 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr. Basil Phillips
Folio	83/1115
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 August 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Macnicoll, Presbyterian

388

3 September 1883

Edwin Freeman
Alice Beardmore

Edwin Freeman
Alice Beardmore
💍 1883/1832

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

48
28

Swanson
Hobsonville

20 years
4 years

Dwelling of Rev. J. Spurgeon

83/1831

3 September 1883

Rev. J. Spurgeon, Baptist

No	388
Date of Notice	3 September 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Freeman	Alice Beardmore
	💍 1883/1832
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	48	28
Dwelling Place	Swanson	Hobsonville
Length of Residence	20 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Rev. J. Spurgeon
Folio	83/1831
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 September 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Spurgeon, Baptist

389

4 September 1883

Elon Jeffcoat
Priscilla Wood

Elon Jeffcoat
Priscilla Wood
💍 1883/1687

Widower
Spinster

Timber Merchant

49
45

Cabbage Bay
Auckland

24 years
20 years

Office of Regr. of Marriages

83/1194

4 September 1883

J. Owen Lord, Dep. Regr.

No	389
Date of Notice	4 September 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Elon Jeffcoat	Priscilla Wood
	💍 1883/1687
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Timber Merchant
Age	49	45
Dwelling Place	Cabbage Bay	Auckland
Length of Residence	24 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Office of Regr. of Marriages
Folio	83/1194
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 September 1883
Officiating Minister	J. Owen Lord, Dep. Regr.

390

4 September 1883

George Johnston
Georgina Atthowe Philip

George Johnston
Georgina Atthowe Philip
💍 1883/1972

Widower
Spinster

Miller

29
23

Auckland
Auckland

2 years
16 years

Dwelling of Mrs. Sarah Philip

83/1841

4 September 1883

Rev. J. P. Robertson, Congl. Indept.

No	390
Date of Notice	4 September 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Johnston	Georgina Atthowe Philip
	💍 1883/1972
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Miller
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mrs. Sarah Philip
Folio	83/1841
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 September 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. P. Robertson, Congl. Indept.

391

3 September 1883

Thomas Ward
Rebecca Pearce

Thomas Ward
Rebecca Pearce
💍 1883/1694

Bachelor
Spinster

Gum Sorter

21 years
18 years

Newton
Auckland

8 years
18 years

Office of Regr. of Marriages

83/1800

17 September 1883

J. Owen Lord, Dep. Regr.

No	391
Date of Notice	3 September 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Ward	Rebecca Pearce
	💍 1883/1694
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gum Sorter
Age	21 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Newton	Auckland
Length of Residence	8 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Office of Regr. of Marriages
Folio	83/1800
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 September 1883
Officiating Minister	J. Owen Lord, Dep. Regr.

392

3 September 1883

Richard Nicholls
Sarah Ruse

Richard Nicholls
Sarah Revell
💍 1883/1686

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28 years
23 years

Tuakau
Tuakau

4 years
6 years

Office of Regr. of Marriages

83/1493

3 September 1883

J. Owen Lord, Dep. Regr.

No	392
Date of Notice	3 September 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Nicholls	Sarah Ruse
BDM Match (83%)	Richard Nicholls	Sarah Revell
	💍 1883/1686
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Tuakau	Tuakau
Length of Residence	4 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Office of Regr. of Marriages
Folio	83/1493
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 September 1883
Officiating Minister	J. Owen Lord, Dep. Regr.

393

5 September 1883

David Donovan
Harriet McLeod

David Donovan
Harriet McLeod
💍 1883/1660

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer

27 years
27 years

Hellensville
Hellensville

1 year
10 years

Roman Catholic Church

83/1742

5 September 1883

Rev. J. Paul, Roman Catholic

No	393
Date of Notice	5 September 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Donovan	Harriet McLeod
	💍 1883/1660
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	27 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Hellensville	Hellensville
Length of Residence	1 year	10 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	83/1742
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 September 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paul, Roman Catholic

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).