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 18

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 December 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

4 October 1855

Joseph Boulter
Sarah Hazlitt

Joseph Boulter
Sarah Hazlitt
💍 1855/1703

Bachelor
Spinster

Steward
Servant

25
19

Auckland
Auckland

2 years
12 months

St. Paul's Church, Auckland

55/364

No person having authority to give consent

9 October 1855

Rev. J. R. Lloyd

No	99
Date of Notice	4 October 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Boulter	Sarah Hazlitt
	💍 1855/1703
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Steward	Servant
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 years	12 months
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Auckland
Folio	55/364
Consent	No person having authority to give consent
Date of Certificate	9 October 1855
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Lloyd

100

9 October 1855

John Crawshaw
Elizabeth Lynch

John Crawshaw
Elizabeth Lynch
💍 1855/1445

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Servant
Servant

23
22

Tamaki
St. John's College

3 years
2 years

St. John's, Collyer Church

55/141

23 October 1855

Ven. Archdeacon Abraham

No	100
Date of Notice	9 October 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Crawshaw	Elizabeth Lynch
	💍 1855/1445
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Servant	Servant
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Tamaki	St. John's College
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. John's, Collyer Church
Folio	55/141
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 October 1855
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon Abraham

101

11 October 1855

Henry George Hodges
Mary Durham

Henry George Hodges
Mary Durham
💍 1855/1456

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

Auckland
Auckland

6 months
12 months

Residence of Moses Durham, Wakefield St, Auckland

55/139

Sarah Durham, Mother

11 October 1855

Rev. J. D. Fletcher

No	101
Date of Notice	11 October 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry George Hodges	Mary Durham
	💍 1855/1456
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	6 months	12 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Moses Durham, Wakefield St, Auckland
Folio	55/139
Consent	Sarah Durham, Mother
Date of Certificate	11 October 1855
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. D. Fletcher

102

12 October 1855

Thomas Hall
Jane Cunningham

Thomas Hall
Jane Cunningham
💍 1855/1706

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

31
17

Official Bay, Auckland
Official Bay, Auckland

7 years
8 years

St. Paul's Church, Auckland

55/366

12 October 1855

Rev. J. F. Yates

No	102
Date of Notice	12 October 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Hall	Jane Cunningham
	💍 1855/1706
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	31	17
Dwelling Place	Official Bay, Auckland	Official Bay, Auckland
Length of Residence	7 years	8 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Auckland
Folio	55/366
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 October 1855
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Yates

103

12 October 1855

Alexander Carrie
Selina Wright

Alexander Carrie
Selina Wright
💍 1855/1525

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

33
26

Matikana
Auckland

18 years
8 years

Dwelling house of Mr. Andrew Hodges, High Street, Auckland

55/155

12 October 1855

Rev. David Bruce

No	103
Date of Notice	12 October 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Carrie	Selina Wright
	💍 1855/1525
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	33	26
Dwelling Place	Matikana	Auckland
Length of Residence	18 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Mr. Andrew Hodges, High Street, Auckland
Folio	55/155
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 October 1855
Officiating Minister	Rev. David Bruce

104

15 October 1855

William Breen
Margaret Walsh

William Breen
Margaret Walsh
💍 1855/1615

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer

26
30

Otahuhu
Howick

7 years
3 years

Roman Catholic Chapel

55/169

15 October 1855

Rev. Mr Fynes

No	104
Date of Notice	15 October 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Breen	Margaret Walsh
	💍 1855/1615
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	26	30
Dwelling Place	Otahuhu	Howick
Length of Residence	7 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Chapel
Folio	55/169
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 October 1855
Officiating Minister	Rev. Mr Fynes

105

15 October 1855

John Hadder
Julia Fagan

John Hadder
Julia Fagan
💍 1855/1573

Widower
Widow

Farmer

38
30

Mill Farm, Titirangi
Auckland

4 years
8 months

Roman Catholic Church

55/124

15 October 1855

Very Rev. Dr. Macdonald

No	105
Date of Notice	15 October 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hadder	Julia Fagan
	💍 1855/1573
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	38	30
Dwelling Place	Mill Farm, Titirangi	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	8 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	55/124
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 October 1855
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Dr. 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).