Intentions to Marry, 1855 (partial)

Reference: Alexander Turnbull Library fMS-194

This document only includes a partial set of Intention to Marry records for 1855, relating to the Auckland and Otago districts. Unlike the registers at Archives NZ, this document does not consist of the original returns sent to the Registrar, but a poor quality photocopy of the original returns.

Imaged by Luke at the Alexander Turnbull Library in December 2024.

Page 2

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 1855

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

25 January 1855

Abraham Moore
Margaret Espie

Abraham Moore
Mary Espie
💍 1855/1188

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29 years
22 years

Epsom
Mount St John

4 months
12 months

The house of Mrs Bel, Crawford Mount, St John

55/8

25 January 1855

Revd. David Bruce

No	8
Date of Notice	25 January 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Abraham Moore	Margaret Espie
BDM Match (82%)	Abraham Moore	Mary Espie
	💍 1855/1188
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Epsom	Mount St John
Length of Residence	4 months	12 months
Marriage Place	The house of Mrs Bel, Crawford Mount, St John
Folio	55/8
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1855
Officiating Minister	Revd. David Bruce

27 January 1855

George Henry Parse
Teresa Smith

Teresa Smith
💍 1855/1117

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer

30 years

Howick

2 years

Roman Catholic Church, Auckland

55/385

27 January 1855

Bishop Pompallier

No	9
Date of Notice	27 January 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Parse	Teresa Smith
BDM Match (53%)		Teresa Smith
	💍 1855/1117
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	30 years
Dwelling Place	Howick
Length of Residence	2 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Auckland
Folio	55/385
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1855
Officiating Minister	Bishop Pompallier

29 January 1855

Daniel Powell
Maria Janet Jenkins

Daniel Powell
Maria Janet Jenkins
💍 1855/1779

Bachelor
Spinster

27 years
22 years

Albert Barracks, Auckland
Auckland

St Pauls Church, Auckland

55/351

29 January 1855

Revd. F. Thatcher

No	10
Date of Notice	29 January 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Powell	Maria Janet Jenkins
	💍 1855/1779
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession
Age	27 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Albert Barracks, Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence
Marriage Place	St Pauls Church, Auckland
Folio	55/351
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1855
Officiating Minister	Revd. F. Thatcher

1 February 1855

Emilius Le Roy
Catherine Tabel

Emilius Le Roy
Catherine Tabel
💍 1855/15

Bachelor
Spinster

Sail-maker

27 years
27 years

Queen Street, Auckland
Victoria Street, Auckland

3 years
2 years

Independent Chapel, High St, Auckland

55/17

1 February 1855

Revd. Alexander Macdonald

No	11
Date of Notice	1 February 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Emilius Le Roy	Catherine Tabel
	💍 1855/15
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sail-maker
Age	27 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Queen Street, Auckland	Victoria Street, Auckland
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Independent Chapel, High St, Auckland
Folio	55/17
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1855
Officiating Minister	Revd. Alexander Macdonald

5 February 1855

Henry Bartrum
Elizabeth Grote

Henry Bartram
Elizabeth Grote
💍 1855/1718

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer

43 years
40 years

High Street, Auckland
High Street, Auckland

6 months
2 years

St. Matthews Church, Auckland

55/370

5 February 1855

Revd. F. Thatcher

No	12
Date of Notice	5 February 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Bartrum	Elizabeth Grote
BDM Match (96%)	Henry Bartram	Elizabeth Grote
	💍 1855/1718
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	43 years	40 years
Dwelling Place	High Street, Auckland	High Street, Auckland
Length of Residence	6 months	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church, Auckland
Folio	55/370
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1855
Officiating Minister	Revd. F. Thatcher

5 February 1855

George Miller
Jane Marsh

George Miller
Jane Marsh
💍 1855/1734

Bachelor
Spinster

Sergeant 58th Regiment

30 years

Albert Barracks, Auckland

8 years
4 months

St Pauls Church, Auckland

55/354

George Ward, Father

5 February 1855

Revd. F. Thatcher

No	13
Date of Notice	5 February 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Miller	Jane Marsh
	💍 1855/1734
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sergeant 58th Regiment
Age	30 years
Dwelling Place	Albert Barracks, Auckland
Length of Residence	8 years	4 months
Marriage Place	St Pauls Church, Auckland
Folio	55/354
Consent	George Ward, Father
Date of Certificate	5 February 1855
Officiating Minister	Revd. F. Thatcher

6 February 1855

Carlton Hollis James Hill
Amelia Brown

Carlton Hollis James Hill
Amelia Brown
💍 1855/1782

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

29 years
19 years

Bank Street, Auckland
Mahurangi

12 years
1 year

St Pauls Church, Auckland

55/352

John Anderson Brown, Father

6 February 1855

Revd. J. F. Lloyd

No	14
Date of Notice	6 February 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Carlton Hollis James Hill	Amelia Brown
	💍 1855/1782
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	29 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Bank Street, Auckland	Mahurangi
Length of Residence	12 years	1 year
Marriage Place	St Pauls Church, Auckland
Folio	55/352
Consent	John Anderson Brown, Father
Date of Certificate	6 February 1855
Officiating Minister	Revd. J. F. Lloyd

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).