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 19

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 December 1855 Registrar John Boyle 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

106

16 October 1855

James Wells
Mary Jane Elliott

James Wells
Mary Jane Elliott
💍 1855/1709

Bachelor
Spinster

General Dealer

32
29

Auckland
Auckland

18 months

St. Paul's Church, Auckland

55/367

16 October 1855

Rev. J. F. Lloyd

No	106
Date of Notice	16 October 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Wells	Mary Jane Elliott
	💍 1855/1709
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	General Dealer
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	18 months
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Auckland
Folio	55/367
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 October 1855
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Lloyd

107

19 October 1855

David Clarke
Louisa Sarah Laurie

David Clarke
Louisa Sarah Laurie
💍 1855/1670

Bachelor
Spinster

Private 58th Regt.
Dressmaker

27
21

Albert Barracks, Auckland
Auckland

18 months
3 months

St. Matthews Church, Auckland

55/365

2 November 1855

Rev. F. Thatcher

No	107
Date of Notice	19 October 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Clarke	Louisa Sarah Laurie
	💍 1855/1670
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Private 58th Regt.	Dressmaker
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Albert Barracks, Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	18 months	3 months
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church, Auckland
Folio	55/365
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 November 1855
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Thatcher

108

25 October 1855

George Jennings
Susan Wakefield

George Jennings
Susan Wakefield
💍 1855/1151

Bachelor
Spinster

Barman

30
30

Auckland
Auckland

11 years
12 years

Roman Catholic Church, Auckland

55/125

25 October 1855

Right Rev. Bishop Pompalier

No	108
Date of Notice	25 October 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Jennings	Susan Wakefield
	💍 1855/1151
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barman
Age	30	30
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	11 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Auckland
Folio	55/125
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 October 1855
Officiating Minister	Right Rev. Bishop Pompalier

109

30 October 1855

Charles Hampton
Elizabeth Clarke

Charles Hampton
Elizabeth Clarke
💍 1855/1682

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

30
28

Auckland
Auckland

8 years
7 years

St. Matthews Church, Auckland

55/377

30 October 1855

Rev. F. Thatcher

No	109
Date of Notice	30 October 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Hampton	Elizabeth Clarke
	💍 1855/1682
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	8 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church, Auckland
Folio	55/377
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 October 1855
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Thatcher

110

1 November 1855

William Palmer
Catherine Gleen

William Palmer
Catherine Gleen
💍 1856/1058

Bachelor
Spinster

Lawyer

26
17

Titirangi
Titirangi

12 months
5 months

Roman Catholic Church, Auckland

56/62

Thomas Gleen (Notice Void - Certificate not having been applied for within three months from date)

No	110
Date of Notice	1 November 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Palmer	Catherine Gleen
	💍 1856/1058
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Lawyer
Age	26	17
Dwelling Place	Titirangi	Titirangi
Length of Residence	12 months	5 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Auckland
Folio	56/62
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	Thomas Gleen (Notice Void - Certificate not having been applied for within three months from date)

111

2 November 1855

Matthew Kilkenny
Margaret Gibbons

Matthew Kilkenny
Margaret Gibbons
💍 1855/2128

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer

37
37

Panmure
Panmure

9 months
7 years

Roman Catholic Church, Panmure

55/170

2 November 1855

Rev. Mr. Fynes

No	111
Date of Notice	2 November 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Matthew Kilkenny	Margaret Gibbons
	💍 1855/2128
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	37	37
Dwelling Place	Panmure	Panmure
Length of Residence	9 months	7 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Panmure
Folio	55/170
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 November 1855
Officiating Minister	Rev. Mr. Fynes

112

5 November 1855

George Sellwood
Lavinia Hunt

George Sellwood
Lavinia Hunt
💍 1855/1685

Bachelor
Spinster

Musician

26
22

Portland Crescent, Auckland
Auckland

9 months
4 years

St. Matthews Church, Auckland

55/378

19 November 1855

Rev. F. Thatcher

No	112
Date of Notice	5 November 1855
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Sellwood	Lavinia Hunt
	💍 1855/1685
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Musician
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Portland Crescent, Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	9 months	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church, Auckland
Folio	55/378
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 November 1855
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Thatcher

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).