Intentions to Marry, 1885

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840397, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, April 30 2025

Page 1230

District of Thames Quarter ending Registrar Ad formy Patterson

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 February 1885

Richard Thomas
Fanny Bray

Richard Thomas
Fanny Bray
💍 1885/241

Bachelor
Widow

Miner
None

32 years
34 years

Hill St
Hill St

12 years
3 years

Registrar's Office, Thames

85/213

2 February 1885

Ad formy Patterson, Registrar

No	6
Date of Notice	2 February 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Thomas	Fanny Bray
	💍 1885/241
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Miner	None
Age	32 years	34 years
Dwelling Place	Hill St	Hill St
Length of Residence	12 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Thames
Folio	85/213
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1885
Officiating Minister	Ad formy Patterson, Registrar

9 February 1885

Samuel Boden
Emma Bolton

Samuel Boden
Emma Rolton
💍 1885/242

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman
None

24 years
18 years

Parawai
Parawai

10 years
16 years

Registrar's Office, Thames

85/214

George Henry Bolton, father of minor

9 February 1885

Ad formy Patterson, Registrar

No	7
Date of Notice	9 February 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Boden	Emma Bolton
BDM Match (95%)	Samuel Boden	Emma Rolton
	💍 1885/242
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman	None
Age	24 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Parawai	Parawai
Length of Residence	10 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Thames
Folio	85/214
Consent	George Henry Bolton, father of minor
Date of Certificate	9 February 1885
Officiating Minister	Ad formy Patterson, Registrar

16 February 1885

John Artle
Elizabeth Hester

John Arkla
Elizabeth Hester
💍 1885/249

Widower
Widow

Settler
None

60 years
50 years

Upper Waiwera, Thames
Parawai

3 days at Waiwera, Thames, 7 years Auckland
16 years

Dwelling house of Mr. Waite, Waiwera, Thames

85/220

16 February 1885

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

No	8
Date of Notice	16 February 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Artle	Elizabeth Hester
BDM Match (90%)	John Arkla	Elizabeth Hester
	💍 1885/249
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Settler	None
Age	60 years	50 years
Dwelling Place	Upper Waiwera, Thames	Parawai
Length of Residence	3 days at Waiwera, Thames, 7 years Auckland	16 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Mr. Waite, Waiwera, Thames
Folio	85/220
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1885
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. G. Evans, Church of England Minister

16 February 1885

John Phillpot Greenwitch
Nerivel Esther Lyes

John Phillpot Greenwitch Herivel
Esther Lyes
💍 1885/250

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

26 years
19 years

Upper Sealy St.
Sealy St.

16 years
16 years

Dwelling house of Mr. Joshua Lyes, Sealy St.

85/221

Joshua Lyes, Grandfather of minor

16 February 1885

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

No	9
Date of Notice	16 February 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Phillpot Greenwitch	Nerivel Esther Lyes
BDM Match (66%)	John Phillpot Greenwitch Herivel	Esther Lyes
	💍 1885/250
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	26 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Upper Sealy St.	Sealy St.
Length of Residence	16 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Mr. Joshua Lyes, Sealy St.
Folio	85/221
Consent	Joshua Lyes, Grandfather of minor
Date of Certificate	16 February 1885
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. G. Evans, Church of England Minister

21 February 1885

Richard John Rodd
Frances Allen

Richard John Ross
Frances Allen
💍 1885/240

Widower
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Servant

38 years
28 years

Moanataiari
Dwelling house of Mr. Le Marqnais, Mackay St., Parawai

1 year
12 years

Dwelling house of Mr. Le Marqnais, Mackay St., Parawai

85/212

21 February 1885

Rev. Henry Bull, Wesleyan Minister

No	10
Date of Notice	21 February 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard John Rodd	Frances Allen
BDM Match (94%)	Richard John Ross	Frances Allen
	💍 1885/240
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Servant
Age	38 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Moanataiari	Dwelling house of Mr. Le Marqnais, Mackay St., Parawai
Length of Residence	1 year	12 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Mr. Le Marqnais, Mackay St., Parawai
Folio	85/212
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1885
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Bull, Wesleyan 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).