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 010

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 1856

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

137

31 January 1856

James Dawson
Elizabeth Susan Kell

James Dawson
Elizabeth Susan Kell
💍 1856/1159

Widower
Spinster

Toll-monger

45
39

Parnell
Parnell

18 months
11 months

Dwelling house of James Anderson, Minister, Parnell

56/96

31 January 1856

Rev. Thomas Norrie

No	137
Date of Notice	31 January 1856
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Dawson	Elizabeth Susan Kell
	💍 1856/1159
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Toll-monger
Age	45	39
Dwelling Place	Parnell	Parnell
Length of Residence	18 months	11 months
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of James Anderson, Minister, Parnell
Folio	56/96
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1856
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Norrie

138

2 February 1856

Laughlin O'Brien
Helen De Witte

Laughlin O'Brien
Helen De Witte
💍 1856/1011

Bachelor
Spinster

Solicitor

34
23

Auckland
Auckland

11 years
14 days

St Patrick's, Roman Catholic Church, Auckland

56/46

2 February 1856

Right Rev. Bishop Pompallier

No	138
Date of Notice	2 February 1856
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Laughlin O'Brien	Helen De Witte
	💍 1856/1011
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Solicitor
Age	34	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	11 years	14 days
Marriage Place	St Patrick's, Roman Catholic Church, Auckland
Folio	56/46
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1856
Officiating Minister	Right Rev. Bishop Pompallier

139

8 February 1856

George Hill
Sarah Flaorens

George Hill
Sarah Flaorens
💍 1856/1075

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

27
21

Victoria Street, Auckland
Victoria Street, Auckland

1 month
1 year

Scotch Church Auckland

56/68

8 February 1856

Rev. David Bruce

No	139
Date of Notice	8 February 1856
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Hill	Sarah Flaorens
	💍 1856/1075
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Victoria Street, Auckland	Victoria Street, Auckland
Length of Residence	1 month	1 year
Marriage Place	Scotch Church Auckland
Folio	56/68
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1856
Officiating Minister	Rev. David Bruce

140

8 February 1856

James Madley
Elizabeth Wallen

James Badley
Elizabeth Wallen
💍 1856/1189

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

27
25

Otahuhu
Eperm

1 year
4 months

St. Marks Church

8 February 1856

Rev. Dr. A. Hill

No	140
Date of Notice	8 February 1856
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Madley	Elizabeth Wallen
BDM Match (96%)	James Badley	Elizabeth Wallen
	💍 1856/1189
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Otahuhu	Eperm
Length of Residence	1 year	4 months
Marriage Place	St. Marks Church
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1856
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dr. A. Hill

141

15 February 1856

Peter Russell Dixon
Esther Forbes

Peter Rupell Dixon
Esther Forbes
💍 1856/987

Widower
Widow

Millwright

45
40

Auckland
Auckland

4 weeks
1 week

The House of Joseph Coghlan, Vincent Street, Auckland

56/38

15 February 1856

Rev. J. F. Fletcher

No	141
Date of Notice	15 February 1856
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Russell Dixon	Esther Forbes
BDM Match (95%)	Peter Rupell Dixon	Esther Forbes
	💍 1856/987
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Millwright
Age	45	40
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 weeks	1 week
Marriage Place	The House of Joseph Coghlan, Vincent Street, Auckland
Folio	56/38
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1856
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Fletcher

142

18 February 1856

John Adam Sims
Hannah Matilda Berry

Berry Hannah Matilda
John A Sims
💍 1856/1162

Bachelor
Spinster

Shipwright

23
19

Auckland
Auckland

12 years
13 years

Dwelling house of Daniel Berry, Back Street, Auckland

56/97

Daniel Berry Father

18 February 1856

Rev. David Bruce

No	142
Date of Notice	18 February 1856
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Adam Sims	Hannah Matilda Berry
BDM Match (18%)	Berry Hannah Matilda	John A Sims
	💍 1856/1162
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shipwright
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	12 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Daniel Berry, Back Street, Auckland
Folio	56/97
Consent	Daniel Berry Father
Date of Certificate	18 February 1856
Officiating Minister	Rev. David Bruce

143

20 February 1856

John Russell
Louisa Jenkyns

John Russell
Louisa Jenkyns
💍 1856/1192

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

22
17

Freeman's Bay
Auckland

13 years
4 days

Dwelling house of Wm. David Russell, Freeman's Bay

56/92

Richard Jenkyns Father

20 February 1856

Rev. Robt. Ward

No	143
Date of Notice	20 February 1856
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Russell	Louisa Jenkyns
	💍 1856/1192
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	22	17
Dwelling Place	Freeman's Bay	Auckland
Length of Residence	13 years	4 days
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Wm. David Russell, Freeman's Bay
Folio	56/92
Consent	Richard Jenkyns Father
Date of Certificate	20 February 1856
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robt. Ward

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).