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 864

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 June 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
45	9 May 1885	Robert Cargill Ann Ruben Rindain	Robert Cargill Ann Reuben Sinclair 💍 1885/1333	Widower Spinster	Forwarding Agent	29 23	Napier Napier	3 years 10 years	House of Mrs Sinclair	85/1378		9 May 1885	Rev S.S. Paterson, Presbyterian
46	18 May 1885	Charles Henry Gumbley Laura Ellen Watson	Charles Henry Gurubley Laura Ellen Watson 💍 1885/1347	Bachelor Spinster	Foreman	27 19	Napier Napier	6 years 8 years	St Johns Church	85/1368	Benjamin Watson, Father	18 May 1885	Rev De Berdt Hovell, English Church
47	21 May 1885	William Moloney Mary Flynn	William Maloney Mary Agnes Flynn 💍 1885/1525	Bachelor Spinster	Baker	24 21	Napier Napier	8 years 2 years	St Marys Chapel	85/1354		21 May 1885	Rev J Grogan, Roman Catholic
48	23 May 1885	Thomas Henry Gifford Bridget Madeline Begley	Thomas Henry Gifford Bridget Madeline Boyle 💍 1885/1335	Bachelor Spinster	Brewer	25 23	Napier Napier	15 years 9 years	Presbyterian Church	85/1379		23 May 1885	Rev S.S. Paterson, Presbyterian
49	29 May 1885	Peter Pekran Raven Emma Maker	Peter Peterson Raven Emma Waters 💍 1885/1518	Bachelor Spinster	Carter	29 21	Clive Clive	6 years 10 years	House of Mr McGlashen	85/1328		29 May 1885	Rev W Nichol, Presbyterian
50	2 June 1885	George Burton Agnes Dutton	George Burton Agnes Sutton 💍 1885/1336	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	21 38	Napier Napier	20 years 3 years	Residence of William Burton	85/1380		2 June 1885	Rev S.S. Paterson, Presbyterian
51	3 June 1885	David Palmer Annie Langley	David Pilmer Annie Langley 💍 1885/1324	Bachelor Spinster	Jockey	22 20	Napier Napier	5 days 11 years	House of Mr Langley	85/1369	Mr Langley, Father	3 June 1885	Rev De Berdt Hovell, English Church
52	9 June 1885	William Allison Catherine Conway	William Allison Catherine Conway 💍 1885/1338	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	32 32	Napier Napier	11 years 7 months	St Marys Chapel	85/1382		9 June 1885	Rev J Grogan, Roman Catholic
53	15 June 1885	Robert Hoosmore Agnes Sophia Poock	Robert Loosmore Williams Agnes Sophia Pocock 💍 1885/1516	Bachelor Spinster	Ironmonger	25 22	Napier Napier	22 years 15 years	House of Mr B. Reed	85/1349		15 June 1885	Rev W Baumber, Wesleyan

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).