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 826

District of Wairau Quarter ending 31 March 1885 Registrar John James Hickson

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

5 January 1885

Henry James Graham
Eugenie Amelia Cheesman

Henry James Graham
Eugenie Amelia Chessman
💍 1885/431

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook
Dressmaker

26 years
23 years

Blenheim
Grove Town

9 months
about 16 years

The Church of England, Spring Creek

85/456

5 January 1885

Revd. Arthur Hermon, CofE

No	1
Date of Notice	5 January 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry James Graham	Eugenie Amelia Cheesman
BDM Match (98%)	Henry James Graham	Eugenie Amelia Chessman
	💍 1885/431
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook	Dressmaker
Age	26 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Grove Town
Length of Residence	9 months	about 16 years
Marriage Place	The Church of England, Spring Creek
Folio	85/456
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 January 1885
Officiating Minister	Revd. Arthur Hermon, CofE

21 January 1885

James Simson junior
Mary Ann Carvell

James Simson
Mary Ann Carvell
💍 1885/434

Bachelor
Spinster

Shoemaker
Dressmaker

23 years
17 years

Blenheim
Blenheim

9 years
14 years

The House of Mr. Eli Carvell, South Side, Blenheim

85/459

Eli Carvell, Guardian

24 January 1885

Revd. W. O. Robb, Pres.

No	2
Date of Notice	21 January 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Simson junior	Mary Ann Carvell
BDM Match (82%)	James Simson	Mary Ann Carvell
	💍 1885/434
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shoemaker	Dressmaker
Age	23 years	17 years
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	9 years	14 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr. Eli Carvell, South Side, Blenheim
Folio	85/459
Consent	Eli Carvell, Guardian
Date of Certificate	24 January 1885
Officiating Minister	Revd. W. O. Robb, Pres.

27 January 1885

Howard Henry Dobson
Betsy Gifford

Howard Henry Dodson
Betsy Gifford
💍 1885/430

Bachelor
Spinster

Brewer

24 years
23 years

Blenheim
Spring Creek

24 years
23 years

The House of Mr. James Gifford, Spring Creek

85/455

27 January 1885

Revd. Arthur Hermon, C of E

No	3
Date of Notice	27 January 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Howard Henry Dobson	Betsy Gifford
BDM Match (97%)	Howard Henry Dodson	Betsy Gifford
	💍 1885/430
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Brewer
Age	24 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Spring Creek
Length of Residence	24 years	23 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr. James Gifford, Spring Creek
Folio	85/455
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1885
Officiating Minister	Revd. Arthur Hermon, C of E

3 February 1885

Donald Munro
Mary Macaulay

Donald Munn
Mary McAnlay
💍 1885/433

Widower
Widow

Sawmill manager

40 years
35 years

Kaituna
Renwick Town

17 years
27 years

The Presbyterian Manse, Blenheim

85/458

3 February 1885

Revd. W. O. Robb, Pres.

No	4
Date of Notice	3 February 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald Munro	Mary Macaulay
BDM Match (80%)	Donald Munn	Mary McAnlay
	💍 1885/433
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Sawmill manager
Age	40 years	35 years
Dwelling Place	Kaituna	Renwick Town
Length of Residence	17 years	27 years
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Manse, Blenheim
Folio	85/458
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1885
Officiating Minister	Revd. W. O. Robb, Pres.

3 March 1885

John David Norriss
Fanny Grove

John David Norriss
Fanny Grove
💍 1885/432

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier

26 years
21 years

Springlands, Wairau
Blenheim

16 months
3 months

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Blenheim

85/457

3 March 1885

The Registrar of Marriages, Blenheim

No	5
Date of Notice	3 March 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John David Norriss	Fanny Grove
	💍 1885/432
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier
Age	26 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Springlands, Wairau	Blenheim
Length of Residence	16 months	3 months
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Blenheim
Folio	85/457
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 March 1885
Officiating Minister	The Registrar of Marriages, Blenheim

13 March 1885

Richard Hornby
Lydia Ada McGranahan

Richard Hornby
Lydia Ada McGranahan
💍 1885/452

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer

24 years
23 years

Blenheim
Okaramio

3 months
about 3 months

The house of Mr. W. Jordan, Okaramio, Kaituna

85/453

15 March 1885

Revd. Edward Shears

No	6
Date of Notice	13 March 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Hornby	Lydia Ada McGranahan
	💍 1885/452
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer
Age	24 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Okaramio
Length of Residence	3 months	about 3 months
Marriage Place	The house of Mr. W. Jordan, Okaramio, Kaituna
Folio	85/453
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1885
Officiating Minister	Revd. Edward Shears

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 1908. 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).