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 15

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 September 1855 Registrar John B. Bennett

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

30 July 1855

Robert Dent
Elizabeth Burns

Robert Dent
Elizabeth Burns
💍 1855/1480

Bachelor
Spinster

Settler

19 years 3 months
20 years

Auckland
Auckland

10 days
2 years

Wesleyan Chapel Auckland

55/134

Edward Dent, Father Henry Burns, Father

20 August 1855

Rev. J. K. Fletcher

No	81
Date of Notice	30 July 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Dent	Elizabeth Burns
	💍 1855/1480
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Settler
Age	19 years 3 months	20 years
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	10 days	2 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Chapel Auckland
Folio	55/134
Consent	Edward Dent, Father Henry Burns, Father
Date of Certificate	20 August 1855
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. K. Fletcher

21 August 1855

William John White
Rhoda Priscilla Pearce

William John White
Rhoda Priscilla Pearce
💍 1855/1228

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

22 years
18 years

Howick
Howick

8 years
6 years

All Saints Church Howick

55/22

Patrick Pearce, Father

22 August 1855

Rev. P. Lund

No	82
Date of Notice	21 August 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John White	Rhoda Priscilla Pearce
	💍 1855/1228
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	22 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Howick	Howick
Length of Residence	8 years	6 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church Howick
Folio	55/22
Consent	Patrick Pearce, Father
Date of Certificate	22 August 1855
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Lund

25 August 1855

William Williams
Amelia Overton

William Williams
Amelia Overton
💍 1855/1752

Widower
Widow

Merchant

45 years
27 years

Hobson Street, Auckland
Fort Street, Auckland

14 years
1 year

St. Paul's Church Auckland

55/361

25 August 1855

Rev. P. Thatcher

No	83
Date of Notice	25 August 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Williams	Amelia Overton
	💍 1855/1752
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Merchant
Age	45 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Hobson Street, Auckland	Fort Street, Auckland
Length of Residence	14 years	1 year
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church Auckland
Folio	55/361
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 August 1855
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Thatcher

1 September 1855

Charles Arnaboldi
Anna Maria Debus

Charles Anabaldi
Anna Maria Debus
💍 1855/1564

Bachelor
Spinster

Optician

29 years
25 years

Princes Street, Auckland
Princes Street, Auckland

4 years
7 years

Roman Catholic Church, Auckland

55/121

27 September 1855

No	84
Date of Notice	1 September 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Arnaboldi	Anna Maria Debus
BDM Match (94%)	Charles Anabaldi	Anna Maria Debus
	💍 1855/1564
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Optician
Age	29 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Princes Street, Auckland	Princes Street, Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Auckland
Folio	55/121
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 September 1855
Officiating Minister

13 September 1855

Thomas Douglas
Marjory Sinclair

Thomas Douglas
Margaret Sinclair
💍 1855/1213

Widower
Spinster

Baker

42 years
32 years

Auckland
Onehunga

8 years
7 years

Residence of Mrs. Briden Onehunga

55/16

19 September 1855

Rev. David Bruce

No	85
Date of Notice	13 September 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Douglas	Marjory Sinclair
BDM Match (88%)	Thomas Douglas	Margaret Sinclair
	💍 1855/1213
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	42 years	32 years
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Onehunga
Length of Residence	8 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Briden Onehunga
Folio	55/16
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 September 1855
Officiating Minister	Rev. David Bruce

14 September 1855

William White
Sarah Mahearangi

William White
Sarah Mahearangi
💍 1855/1507

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

34 years
24 years

Auckland
Auckland

4 days
4 days

Private Residence of Mr. Francis White West Queen Street Auckland

55/148

14 September 1855

Rev. John Whiteley

No	86
Date of Notice	14 September 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William White	Sarah Mahearangi
	💍 1855/1507
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	34 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Private Residence of Mr. Francis White West Queen Street Auckland
Folio	55/148
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 September 1855
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Whiteley

14 September 1855

Isaac Knight Hinsbey
also Kinsbey
Margaret Ashby

Isaac Knights Hinsbey
Margaret Ashby
💍 1855/1679

Bachelor
Spinster

Policeman
Gentlewoman

23 years
21 years

Auckland
Auckland

6 months
6 months

St. Matthews Church, Auckland

55/376

No	87
Date of Notice	14 September 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Isaac Knight Hinsbey also Kinsbey	Margaret Ashby
BDM Match (98%)	Isaac Knights Hinsbey	Margaret Ashby
	💍 1855/1679
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Policeman	Gentlewoman
Age	23 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	6 months	6 months
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church, Auckland
Folio	55/376
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister

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).