Intentions to Marry, 1858

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840370, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

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

Page 039

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 September 1858

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

465

17 August 1858

Edward Hill
Elizibeth Stevens

Edward Hill
Elizabeth Stevens
💍 1858/2133

Bachelor
Spinster

Government Clerk, Audit officer

25
19

Parnell, Auckland
Parnell

2 years
2 weeks

St. Paul's Church, Auckland

No one in colony having authority.

17 August 1858

Rev. J. F. Lloyd

No	465
Date of Notice	17 August 1858
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Hill	Elizibeth Stevens
BDM Match (97%)	Edward Hill	Elizabeth Stevens
	💍 1858/2133
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Government Clerk, Audit officer
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Parnell, Auckland	Parnell
Length of Residence	2 years	2 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Auckland
Folio
Consent	No one in colony having authority.
Date of Certificate	17 August 1858
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Lloyd

466

18 August 1858

James Henry Hayr
Mary Henwood

James Henry Hayr
Mary Henwood
💍 1858/1218

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24
23

Ring's Point near Onehunga
Auckland

9 years
3 months

The dwelling house of Mr John Martin, Albert Street, Auckland

18 August 1858

Rev. Isaac Harding

No	466
Date of Notice	18 August 1858
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry Hayr	Mary Henwood
	💍 1858/1218
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Ring's Point near Onehunga	Auckland
Length of Residence	9 years	3 months
Marriage Place	The dwelling house of Mr John Martin, Albert Street, Auckland
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 August 1858
Officiating Minister	Rev. Isaac Harding

467

20 August 1858

Benjamin Napthali
Annie Batwell

Benjamin Napthali
Annie Batwell
💍 1858/2083

Bachelor
Spinster

Comedian
Comedienne

25
19

Coburg Street, Auckland
Coburg Street, Auckland

8 months
8 months

Primitive Methodist Church, Auckland

No person in colony having authority

20August 1858

Rev. Robt. Ward

No	467
Date of Notice	20 August 1858
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Benjamin Napthali	Annie Batwell
	💍 1858/2083
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Comedian	Comedienne
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Coburg Street, Auckland	Coburg Street, Auckland
Length of Residence	8 months	8 months
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Auckland
Folio
Consent	No person in colony having authority
Date of Certificate	20August 1858
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robt. Ward

468

23 August 1858

John Darey
Elizabeth Frances Goodchild

John Darcy
Frances E Goodchild
💍 1858/1339

Widower
Spinster

Hawker
Servant

40
35

Durham Street, Auckland
Chapel Street, Auckland

4 years
3 years

Roman Catholic Chapel, Auckland

6 September 1858

Very Rev. Jas M. Donald

No	468
Date of Notice	23 August 1858
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Darey	Elizabeth Frances Goodchild
BDM Match (73%)	John Darcy	Frances E Goodchild
	💍 1858/1339
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Hawker	Servant
Age	40	35
Dwelling Place	Durham Street, Auckland	Chapel Street, Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Chapel, Auckland
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 September 1858
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Jas M. Donald

469

26 August 1858

James Hinch
Catherine Hennessy

James Hinch
Catherine Henesy
💍 1858/1342

Bachelor
Spinster

Corporal, H.M. 58th Regt.
Domestic Servant

24
21

Albert Barracks, Auckland
Kyber Pass Road

4 years
4 1/2 years

Roman Catholic Church, Auckland

11 September 1858

Very Rev. Jas M. Donald

No	469
Date of Notice	26 August 1858
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Hinch	Catherine Hennessy
BDM Match (94%)	James Hinch	Catherine Henesy
	💍 1858/1342
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Corporal, H.M. 58th Regt.	Domestic Servant
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Albert Barracks, Auckland	Kyber Pass Road
Length of Residence	4 years	4 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Auckland
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 September 1858
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Jas M. Donald

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 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).