Intentions to Marry, 1884

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840396, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, April 30 2025

Page 988

District of THAMES Quarter ending 31 March 1884 Registrar Alexander de Courcy Porterton

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

20 February 1884

Richard Hancock
Elizabeth Charlotte James

Richard Hancock
Elizabeth Charlotte James
💍 1884/147

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Servant

22 years
21 years

Moanataiari
Eureka Hill

5 years
9 years

Dwelling House of Mr. Hancock, Moanataiari

84/165

20 February 1884

Rev. C. E. Barley, Primitive Methodist Minister

No	11
Date of Notice	20 February 1884
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Hancock	Elizabeth Charlotte James
	💍 1884/147
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Servant
Age	22 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Moanataiari	Eureka Hill
Length of Residence	5 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling House of Mr. Hancock, Moanataiari
Folio	84/165
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1884
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Barley, Primitive Methodist Minister

25 February 1884

John Kelly
Mary Ann Reddy

John Kelly
Mary Ann Reddy
💍 1884/152

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

24 years
19 years

Karaka Creek
Karaka Road

14 years
14 years

Registrar's Office, Thames

84/170

David Reddy, father of minor

25 February 1884

A. de Courcy Porterton, Registrar of Marriages

No	12
Date of Notice	25 February 1884
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Kelly	Mary Ann Reddy
	💍 1884/152
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	24 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Karaka Creek	Karaka Road
Length of Residence	14 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Thames
Folio	84/170
Consent	David Reddy, father of minor
Date of Certificate	25 February 1884
Officiating Minister	A. de Courcy Porterton, Registrar of Marriages

25 February 1884

David Reddy
Eliza Sullivan
formerly Spillane

David Reddy
Eliza Sullivan
💍 1884/153

Widower
Widow

Tailor
None

65 years
52 years

Karaka Road
Pollen Street

4 years
10 years

Registrar's Office, Thames

84/171

25 February 1884

A. de Courcy Porterton, Registrar of Marriages

No	13
Date of Notice	25 February 1884
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Reddy	Eliza Sullivan formerly Spillane
	💍 1884/153
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Tailor	None
Age	65 years	52 years
Dwelling Place	Karaka Road	Pollen Street
Length of Residence	4 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Thames
Folio	84/171
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 February 1884
Officiating Minister	A. de Courcy Porterton, Registrar of Marriages

3 March 1884

William Gillott
Almena Rose Whitehead

William Gillott
Almena Rose Whitehead
💍 1884/226

Widower
Spinster

Carpenter
Dressmaker

44 years
27 years

Mangonui
Thames

3 days at Thames
2 months

St. George's Church

84/177

4 March 1884

Rev. W. D. French, Church of England Minister

No	14
Date of Notice	3 March 1884
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Gillott	Almena Rose Whitehead
	💍 1884/226
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Dressmaker
Age	44 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Mangonui	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days at Thames	2 months
Marriage Place	St. George's Church
Folio	84/177
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1884
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. D. French, Church of England Minister

4 March 1884

Joseph Henry Dare
Johanna McNair

Joseph Henry Dare
Johanna McClair
💍 1884/237

Bachelor
Spinster

Plate Layer
None

26 years
21 years

Richmond St.
Richmond St.

13 years
12 years

St. George's Church

84/178

4 March 1884

Rev. W. D. French, Church of England Minister

No	15
Date of Notice	4 March 1884
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Henry Dare	Johanna McNair
BDM Match (93%)	Joseph Henry Dare	Johanna McClair
	💍 1884/237
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plate Layer	None
Age	26 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Richmond St.	Richmond St.
Length of Residence	13 years	12 years
Marriage Place	St. George's Church
Folio	84/178
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1884
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. D. French, Church of England 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).

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).