1856 Intentions to Marry

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840368, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke Howison at Archives NZ Wellington, December 18 2024

Page 011

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 1856 Registrar John Boyle Bennett

Continuing on for the District of Auckland

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

144

25 February 1856

John McElwain
Mary Fletcher Whiteley

John McElwain
Mary Fletcher Whiteley
💍 1856/990

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30 years
19 years

Piedmont, Suburbs of Auckland
Auckland

4 years
11 months

Wesleyan Chapel Auckland

56/39

John Whiteley, Father

25 February 1856

Rev. J. A. Fletcher

No	144
Date of Notice	25 February 1856
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McElwain	Mary Fletcher Whiteley
	💍 1856/990
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Piedmont, Suburbs of Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	11 months
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Chapel Auckland
Folio	56/39
Consent	John Whiteley, Father
Date of Certificate	25 February 1856
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Fletcher

145

28 February 1856

Angus McDiarmid
Elizabeth Scott

Angus McDiarmid
Elizabeth Scott
💍 1856/1115

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

28 years
28 years 11 months

Parnell
Manganui

2 years
2 years

at the dwelling house of Mr John Scott, Manganui

56/81

John Scott, Father

28 February 1856

Rev. John Macky

No	145
Date of Notice	28 February 1856
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Angus McDiarmid	Elizabeth Scott
	💍 1856/1115
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	28 years	28 years 11 months
Dwelling Place	Parnell	Manganui
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	at the dwelling house of Mr John Scott, Manganui
Folio	56/81
Consent	John Scott, Father
Date of Certificate	28 February 1856
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Macky

146

29 February 1856

George Rolton
Eliza Hibbert

George Rolton
Eliza Hibbert
💍 1856/920

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

27 years
21 years

Hobson Street, Auckland
Hobson Street, Auckland

18 months
8 years

St. Matthews Church Auckland

56/16

15 March 1856

Rev. F. Thatcher

No	146
Date of Notice	29 February 1856
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Rolton	Eliza Hibbert
	💍 1856/920
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	27 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Hobson Street, Auckland	Hobson Street, Auckland
Length of Residence	18 months	8 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church Auckland
Folio	56/16
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1856
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Thatcher

147

13 March 1856

William McKelvie
Jane Dixon

William McKelvie
Jane Dixon
💍 1856/1081

Bachelor
Spinster

Restaurant Keeper

23 years
28 years

Princes Street, Auckland
Princes Street, Auckland

2 years
12 months

Scotch Church Auckland

56/70

13 March 1856

Rev. David Bruce

No	147
Date of Notice	13 March 1856
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McKelvie	Jane Dixon
	💍 1856/1081
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Restaurant Keeper
Age	23 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Princes Street, Auckland	Princes Street, Auckland
Length of Residence	2 years	12 months
Marriage Place	Scotch Church Auckland
Folio	56/70
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1856
Officiating Minister	Rev. David Bruce

148

17 March 1856

Matthew Fleming
Margaret Smith
formerly Reedmald

Matthew Fleming
Margaret Smith
💍 1856/1084

Widower
Widow

Carpenter
House-Keeper

56 years
35 years

Chapel Street, Auckland
Mr. Geo. S. Lorimer's, Auckland

14 years
12 months

dwelling house of Mr. Wm Gorrie, Hobson Street, Auckland

56/71

17 March 1856

Rev. David Bruce

No	148
Date of Notice	17 March 1856
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Matthew Fleming	Margaret Smith formerly Reedmald
	💍 1856/1084
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Carpenter	House-Keeper
Age	56 years	35 years
Dwelling Place	Chapel Street, Auckland	Mr. Geo. S. Lorimer's, Auckland
Length of Residence	14 years	12 months
Marriage Place	dwelling house of Mr. Wm Gorrie, Hobson Street, Auckland
Folio	56/71
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 March 1856
Officiating Minister	Rev. David Bruce

149

19 March 1856

Joseph Scott
Janet Fleming

Joseph Scott
Janet Fleming
💍 1856/908

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

28 years
26 years

Hobson Street, Auckland
Cook Street, Auckland

3 years
2 years

St. Barnabas Church, Parnell

56/12

19 March 1856

Rev. G. A. Kissling

No	149
Date of Notice	19 March 1856
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Scott	Janet Fleming
	💍 1856/908
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	28 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Hobson Street, Auckland	Cook Street, Auckland
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Barnabas Church, Parnell
Folio	56/12
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1856
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. A. Kissling

150

19 March 1856

James Dromey
Harriett Reynolds

James Dromey
Harriet Reynolds
💍 1856/1023

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier 58th Regt.

24 years
18 years

Albert Barracks, Auckland
Barrack Street, Auckland

3 years
2 years

Roman Catholic Church Auckland

56/50

Edward Reynolds, Father

19 March 1856

No	150
Date of Notice	19 March 1856
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Dromey	Harriett Reynolds
BDM Match (97%)	James Dromey	Harriet Reynolds
	💍 1856/1023
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier 58th Regt.
Age	24 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Albert Barracks, Auckland	Barrack Street, Auckland
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Auckland
Folio	56/50
Consent	Edward Reynolds, Father
Date of Certificate	19 March 1856
Officiating Minister

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).