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 10

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 June 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

2 June 1855

John Grigg
Martha Maria Vercoe

John Grigg
Martha Maria Vercoe
💍 1855/31

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

27
24

Otahuhu
Onehunga

3 1/2 months
2 1/2 years

Church of Eng., Onehunga, Otahuhu

55/159

2 June 1855

Rev. D. J. Purchas

No	51
Date of Notice	2 June 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Grigg	Martha Maria Vercoe
	💍 1855/31
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Otahuhu	Onehunga
Length of Residence	3 1/2 months	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Church of Eng., Onehunga, Otahuhu
Folio	55/159
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1855
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. J. Purchas

4 June 1855

Ernest Roudon Hill
Maria Rose

Ernest Roden Hill
Maria Rose
💍 1855/1474

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

22
22

Onehunga
Auckland

3 weeks
18 months

Presbyterian Chapel Auckland

55/132

4 June 1855

Rev. J. R. Johnstone

No	52
Date of Notice	4 June 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Roudon Hill	Maria Rose
BDM Match (94%)	Ernest Roden Hill	Maria Rose
	💍 1855/1474
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Onehunga	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 weeks	18 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Chapel Auckland
Folio	55/132
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1855
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Johnstone

5 June 1855

Robert Sheddan
Mary McMenzie

Robert Sheddan
Mary McKenzie
💍 1855/1513

Bachelor
Spinster

Cooper

36
25

One Tree Hill, Auckland
One Tree Hill, Auckland

2 1/2 years
2 years

Office home of Geo. Spiller, One Tree Hill, Auckland

55/150

5 June 1855

Rev. E. McLeod

No	53
Date of Notice	5 June 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Sheddan	Mary McMenzie
BDM Match (96%)	Robert Sheddan	Mary McKenzie
	💍 1855/1513
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cooper
Age	36	25
Dwelling Place	One Tree Hill, Auckland	One Tree Hill, Auckland
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Office home of Geo. Spiller, One Tree Hill, Auckland
Folio	55/150
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 June 1855
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. McLeod

6 June 1855

Robert McBride
Elizabeth Raleigh

Robert McBride
Elizabeth Raleigh
💍 1855/1691

Bachelor
Widow

58th Regiment

35
38

Albert Barracks, Auckland
Auckland Barracks, Auckland

5 years
2 years

St. Paul's Church, Auckland

55/380

6 June 1855

Rev. F. Whetter

No	54
Date of Notice	6 June 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert McBride	Elizabeth Raleigh
	💍 1855/1691
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	58th Regiment
Age	35	38
Dwelling Place	Albert Barracks, Auckland	Auckland Barracks, Auckland
Length of Residence	5 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Auckland
Folio	55/380
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 June 1855
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Whetter

7 June 1855

Robert Coates Dyer
Caroline Mary Fisher

Robert Coates Dyer
Caroline Mary Fisher
💍 1855/1697

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

22
28

Mahurangi
Mahurangi

18 months
18 months

St. Paul's Church, Auckland

55/382

7 June 1855

Rev. J. R. Lloyd

No	55
Date of Notice	7 June 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Coates Dyer	Caroline Mary Fisher
	💍 1855/1697
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	22	28
Dwelling Place	Mahurangi	Mahurangi
Length of Residence	18 months	18 months
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Auckland
Folio	55/382
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 June 1855
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Lloyd

55*

11 June 1855

Robert Coates Dyer
Caroline Mary Fisher

Robert Coates Dyer
Caroline Mary Fisher
💍 1855/1697

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

22
28

Mahurangi
Auckland

10 months
3 Weeks

St. Barnabas' Church, Auckland

55/382

11 June 1855

Rev. Jno. Kissling

No	55*
Date of Notice	11 June 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Coates Dyer	Caroline Mary Fisher
	💍 1855/1697
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	22	28
Dwelling Place	Mahurangi	Auckland
Length of Residence	10 months	3 Weeks
Marriage Place	St. Barnabas' Church, Auckland
Folio	55/382
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 June 1855
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jno. Kissling

8 June 1855

Benjamin Butterworth
Matilda Susannah Smith

Benjamin Butterworth
Matilda Susannah Smith
💍 1855/30

Widower
Widow

Farmer

26
24

Onehunga
Wyndham Street, Auckland

6 months
9 months

Independent Chapel, High Street, Auckland

55/152

8 June 1855

Rev. A. Macdonald

No	56
Date of Notice	8 June 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Benjamin Butterworth	Matilda Susannah Smith
	💍 1855/30
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Onehunga	Wyndham Street, Auckland
Length of Residence	6 months	9 months
Marriage Place	Independent Chapel, High Street, Auckland
Folio	55/152
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 June 1855
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Macdonald

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).