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 625

District of Rangiora Quarter ending 31 December 1885

No	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
478	6 October 1885	William Lauda Beverly Mary Ann Poole	William London Bevington Mary Ann Poole 💍 1885/3326	Divorced Widow	Farmer [illegible]	46 years 45 years	Rangiora Rangiora	18 years 10 years	Residence of W. P. Beverly	85/3354		6 October 1885	Rev. W. W. Dudley
479	12 October 1885	Francis Michael Young Elizabeth Ellen Harding	Francis Michael Young Elizabeth Hill Josling 💍 1885/3318	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer [illegible]	30 years 30 years	Rangiora Rangiora	3 days 25 years	Presbyterian Church	85/3347		12 October 1885	Rev. Robt. McGregor
480	12 October 1885	Vincent William Wright Jane Patterson	Vince William Wright Jean Paterson 💍 1885/3317	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer [illegible]	28 years 22 years	Mandeville Plains Mandeville Plains, Rangiora	3 days 20 years	Dwelling House	85/3346	William Patterson	12 October 1885	Rev. Robt. McGregor
481	16 October 1885	Samuel Frederick Horne Hilda Hurrell	Ernest Frederick Thorne Hilda Hurrell 💍 1885/3327	Bachelor Spinster	Contractor [illegible]	21 years 18 years	Rangiora Rangiora	18 years 18 years	Church of England	85/3353	Hannah Hurrell, Mother	16 October 1885	Rev. W. W. Dudley
482	22 October 1885	Thomas Mahon Annie Frean	Thomas Mahon Annie Crean 💍 1885/3323	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic Servant	42 years 24 years	Rangiora Rangiora	3 days 1 year	Roman Catholic Church	85/3357		22 October 1885	Rev. J. H. Newsfield
483	24 October 1885	Lawrence Devlin Mary McNally	Lawrence Devlin Mary McNally 💍 1885/3321	Bachelor Spinster	Farm Labourer Domestic Servant	30 years 21 years	Rangiora Rangiora	3 days 3 days	Roman Catholic Church	85/3350		24 October 1885	Rev. J. H. Newsfield
484	26 October 1885	John William Mardon Maria Jane Evans	John William Mardon Maria Jane Evans 💍 1885/3328	Blacksmith Spinster	Blacksmith Dressmaker	23 years 26 years	Rangiora Rangiora	10 years 5 years	Free Methodist Church	85/3356		26 October 1885	Rev. John Parsons
485	11 November 1885	William Henry Foster Sophia Ann Eliza Johnston	William Henry Foster Jessie Ann Eliza Johnston 💍 1885/3319	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk [illegible]	26 years 20 years	Rangiora Rangiora	26 years 20 years	Presbyterian Church	85/3348	John Johnston, Father	11 November 1885	The Rev. Jas. Mackellar
486	25 November 1885	Charles Earl Orchard Catherine Lavinia Wilderscroft	Charles Earl Orchard Catherine Lavinia Williscraft 💍 1885/3324	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic Servant	23 years 22 years	Mandeville Plains Rangiora	3 years 10 months	Wesleyan Church	85/3352		25 November 1885	Rev. William Rouse
487	7 December 1885	Arthur Graham Mary Higdon	Arthur Graham Mary Higdon 💍 1885/3325	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer [illegible]	22 years 21 years	Rangiora Rangiora	3 days 8 days	Dwelling House of David Graham, Rangiora	85/3353		7 December 1885	Rev. William Rouse
488	28 December 1885	William John McDowell Amy Lawrence	William John McDowell Amey Lawrence 💍 1885/3320	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer Domestic Servant	26 years 25 years	Ashley, Rangiora Ashley	4 years 15 years	Office of Registrar, Rangiora	85/3349		28 December 1885	A. H. Cunningham, Registrar
489	29 December 1885	Joseph Ewer Ellen Matilda Pursey	Joseph Tuer Ellen Matilda Cursey 💍 1885/3847	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer [illegible]	25 years 22 years	North Loburn Ashley	6 months 22 years	Dwelling House of Thomas William Pursey	85/3836		29 December 1885	Rev. Richard Foul

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 1894. More registers will be added as the project continues.

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).