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 986

District of THAMES Quarter ending 30 June 1884 Registrar Alexander de Courcy Potterson

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

2 April 1884

Henry Brownlee
Annie Wallace Henderson

Henry Brownlee
Annie Wallace Henderson
💍 1884/864

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

18 years
14 years

Hair Karaka
Mackay St

4 years
12 years

St George's Church, Thames

84/1042

David Henderson and William Brownlee, fathers of minors

2 April 1884

Rev. F. G. Evans, Church of England Minister

No	20
Date of Notice	2 April 1884
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Brownlee	Annie Wallace Henderson
	💍 1884/864
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	18 years	14 years
Dwelling Place	Hair Karaka	Mackay St
Length of Residence	4 years	12 years
Marriage Place	St George's Church, Thames
Folio	84/1042
Consent	David Henderson and William Brownlee, fathers of minors
Date of Certificate	2 April 1884
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. G. Evans, Church of England Minister

8 April 1884

George Wallace Henderson
Elizabeth Martini McAuley

George Wallace Henderson
Elizabeth Martini McAuley
💍 1884/2402

Widower
Spinster

Bricklayer
None

33 years
20 years

Mary St
Queen St

4 years
10 years

Dwelling house of Mr. David Henderson, Mackay St

84/1619

George Mc Auley, father of minor

8 April 1884

Rev. S. J. Reill, Presbyterian Minister

No	21
Date of Notice	8 April 1884
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Wallace Henderson	Elizabeth Martini McAuley
	💍 1884/2402
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer	None
Age	33 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Mary St	Queen St
Length of Residence	4 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Mr. David Henderson, Mackay St
Folio	84/1619
Consent	George Mc Auley, father of minor
Date of Certificate	8 April 1884
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. J. Reill, Presbyterian Minister

15 April 1884

Alfred Henry Sparke
Eliza Anne Smith

Alfred Henry Sparke
Eliza Anne Smith
💍 1884/843

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman
None

29 years
18 years

Vararu
Vararu

3 days
15 years

Registrar's Office, Thames

84/1045

Sarah Smith, mother of minor

15 April 1884

Edward Norris, Deputy Registrar

No	22
Date of Notice	15 April 1884
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Henry Sparke	Eliza Anne Smith
	💍 1884/843
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman	None
Age	29 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Vararu	Vararu
Length of Residence	3 days	15 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Thames
Folio	84/1045
Consent	Sarah Smith, mother of minor
Date of Certificate	15 April 1884
Officiating Minister	Edward Norris, Deputy Registrar

18 April 1884

Richard Henry Easley
Caroline Louisa Christie

Richard Henry Casley
Caroline Louisa Christie
💍 1884/844

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

20 years
17 years

Manuatriari
Eureka Hill

12 years
12 years

Registrar's Office, Thames

84/1046

John Easley and John Christie, fathers of minors

18 April 1884

A de Courcy Potterson, Registrar

No	23
Date of Notice	18 April 1884
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Henry Easley	Caroline Louisa Christie
BDM Match (98%)	Richard Henry Casley	Caroline Louisa Christie
	💍 1884/844
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	20 years	17 years
Dwelling Place	Manuatriari	Eureka Hill
Length of Residence	12 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Thames
Folio	84/1046
Consent	John Easley and John Christie, fathers of minors
Date of Certificate	18 April 1884
Officiating Minister	A de Courcy Potterson, Registrar

3 May 1884

George Truscott
Mary Jane Stackpole

George Truscott
Mary Jane Stackpole
💍 1884/848

George Truscott
Mary Jane Stackpole
💍 1884/861

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

24 years
19 years

Sealey St
Abraham St

4 years
12 years

Roman Catholic Church of St. Francis, Thames

84/1039

Robert Stackpole, father of minor

3 May 1884

Rev. Patrick O'Reily, Roman Catholic Minister

No	24
Date of Notice	3 May 1884
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Truscott	Mary Jane Stackpole
	💍 1884/848
	💍 1884/861
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	24 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Sealey St	Abraham St
Length of Residence	4 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church of St. Francis, Thames
Folio	84/1039
Consent	Robert Stackpole, father of minor
Date of Certificate	3 May 1884
Officiating Minister	Rev. Patrick O'Reily, Roman Catholic 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).