1857 Intentions to Marry

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840369, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke Howison at Archives NZ Wellington, December 13 2024

Page 038

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 December 1857 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

362

27 November 1857

Alexander Clerk
Edith Mary Buchanan

Alexander Clerk
Edith Mary Buchanan
💍 1857/1131

Bachelor
Spinster

Deputy Assistant Commissary General

28
19

Parnell
Parnell

nearly 4 months
nearly 4 months

Bishop of New Zealand's Private Chapel, Judges Bay

Andrew Buchanan, Father

27 November 1857

Right Rev. Bishop Selwyn

No	362
Date of Notice	27 November 1857
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Clerk	Edith Mary Buchanan
	💍 1857/1131
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Deputy Assistant Commissary General
Age	28	19
Dwelling Place	Parnell	Parnell
Length of Residence	nearly 4 months	nearly 4 months
Marriage Place	Bishop of New Zealand's Private Chapel, Judges Bay
Folio
Consent	Andrew Buchanan, Father
Date of Certificate	27 November 1857
Officiating Minister	Right Rev. Bishop Selwyn

363

27 November 1857

Humphrey Stanley Herbert Jones
Emma Buchanan

Humphrey Stanley Herbert Jones
Emma Buchanan
💍 1857/913

Widower
Spinster

Assistant Commissary General

40
22

George's Bay, Auckland
Parnell

nearly 1 month
nearly 4 months

Bishop of New Zealand's Private Chapel (St Stephens), Judges Bay

27 November 1857

Right Rev. Bishop Selwyn

No	363
Date of Notice	27 November 1857
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Humphrey Stanley Herbert Jones	Emma Buchanan
	💍 1857/913
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Assistant Commissary General
Age	40	22
Dwelling Place	George's Bay, Auckland	Parnell
Length of Residence	nearly 1 month	nearly 4 months
Marriage Place	Bishop of New Zealand's Private Chapel (St Stephens), Judges Bay
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 November 1857
Officiating Minister	Right Rev. Bishop Selwyn

364

28 November 1857

William Willing
Sarah Jane Needem

William Willing
Cecilia Needham
💍 1857/1255

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Servant
House-maid

26
23

Previously at Wangarei, now Auckland
Previously at Wangarei, now Auckland

3 days
3 days

Roman Catholic Church Auckland

28 November 1857

Rev. Mr O'Hara

No	364
Date of Notice	28 November 1857
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Willing	Sarah Jane Needem
BDM Match (68%)	William Willing	Cecilia Needham
	💍 1857/1255
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Servant	House-maid
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Previously at Wangarei, now Auckland	Previously at Wangarei, now Auckland
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Auckland
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 November 1857
Officiating Minister	Rev. Mr O'Hara

365

30 November 1857

William Mustard
Mary Anne Lindsay

William Mustard
Mary Ann Linsey
💍 1857/1252

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

27
17

Auckland
Auckland

7 years
14 years

Roman Catholic Church Auckland

Honora Scanell, Mother

30 November 1857

Very Rev. James McDonald

No	365
Date of Notice	30 November 1857
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Mustard	Mary Anne Lindsay
BDM Match (91%)	William Mustard	Mary Ann Linsey
	💍 1857/1252
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	27	17
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	7 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Auckland
Folio
Consent	Honora Scanell, Mother
Date of Certificate	30 November 1857
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. James McDonald

366

30 November 1857

William Lowick
Letitia Beals

William Lowick
Letitia Beals
💍 1857/1314

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer

31
18

Exchange Hotel Auckland
Howick

20 months
5 years

All Saints' Church Howick

15 December 1857

Rev. V. Lush

No	366
Date of Notice	30 November 1857
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Lowick	Letitia Beals
	💍 1857/1314
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	31	18
Dwelling Place	Exchange Hotel Auckland	Howick
Length of Residence	20 months	5 years
Marriage Place	All Saints' Church Howick
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 December 1857
Officiating Minister	Rev. V. Lush

367

1 December 1857

John Francis Fitzgibbons
Sarah Jane Finn

John F Fitzgibbon
Sarah Jane Finn
💍 1857/1326

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor

23
22

Parnell
Otahuhu

8 years
20 months

Roman Catholic Church, Onehunga

1 December 1857

Rev. Mr. Clery

No	367
Date of Notice	1 December 1857
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Francis Fitzgibbons	Sarah Jane Finn
BDM Match (85%)	John F Fitzgibbon	Sarah Jane Finn
	💍 1857/1326
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Parnell	Otahuhu
Length of Residence	8 years	20 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Onehunga
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 December 1857
Officiating Minister	Rev. Mr. Clery

368

5 December 1857

George Wright
Catherine Christie

George Wright
Catherine Christie
💍 1857/1180

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

31
30

Auckland
Auckland

3 years
3 years

In the dwelling house of Geo. Wright, Victoria Street, Auckland

19 December 1857

Rev. David Bruce

No	368
Date of Notice	5 December 1857
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Wright	Catherine Christie
	💍 1857/1180
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	31	30
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the dwelling house of Geo. Wright, Victoria Street, Auckland
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 December 1857
Officiating Minister	Rev. David Bruce

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 1908. 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).