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 075

District of New Plymouth Quarter ending 31 December 1858

This page contains errors which are corrected on page 77

No	Date of Notice	Names and Surnames of Parties	BDM Match	Condition	Calling or Profession	Age	Dwelling Place	Length of Residence	Marriage Place	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
97	26 October 1858	William Atkins Fanny Gilbert	William Atkin Fanny Gilbert 💍 1858/2220	Bachelor Spinster	Baker Housewife	Full Minor	Powderham Street Carrington Road	2 yrs 14 yrs	Primitive Methodist	November 10	Rev. Joseph Long
98	4 November 1858	Albert Caddy Sarah Hickey	Albert Caddy Sarah Hickey 💍 1858/2178	Bachelor Spinster	Private of 65th	Full Full	New Plymouth New Plymouth	9 Mos 9 Mos	Independent	November 4	Rev. Horatio Groube
99	9 November 1858	Henry Pill Rhoda Wells	Henry Pitt Rhoda Wells 💍 1859/2550	Bachelor Widow	Stockeeper Housekeeper	Full Full	Devon Street New Plymouth	14yrs 2 yrs	House of William	November 9	Rev. Joseph Long
100	9 November 1858	William Fry Hoskin Caroline Oriental Street	William Frey Hoskin Caroline Oriental Street 💍 1858/2196	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Housewife	Full Minor	Hua District Hua District	18 yrs 5 yrs	Church (Hena)	November 9	Rev. M. Lally
101	13 November 1858	Edward Hopkinson Eliza Jones	Edward Hopkinson Eliza Jones 💍 1858/2226	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Daughter of William Jokes	Full Minor	Hua District Omata District	10 yrs 10 yrs	House of William	November 13	Rev. Joseph Long
102	20 November 1858	Henry Arthur Michen Mary Blanche Hursthouse	Henry Robert Richmond Mary Blanche Hursthouse 💍 1858/2199	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Daughter of William Jokes	Full Minor	Hawath Beththy District	8 yrs 14 yrs	Church of St	November 5	Rev. M. Lally
103	23 November 1858	Thomas John Will Martha Bishop	Thomas John Hills Martha Bishop 💍 1858/2232	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Daughter of Dayul Bishop	Full Minor	Hua District Waiwakaiho Dist	16 yrs 18 yrs	House of B.	November 23	Rev. Joseph Long
104	27 November 1858	George Stockman Jane Reddy	George Stockman Jane Reddy 💍 1858/2229	Bachelor Spinster	farmer Daughter of John Reddy	Minor Minor	Henui Omata District	14 yrs 9 yrs	House of Edw Stockman, Henui	November 27	Rev. Joseph Long
105	29 November 1858	Henry Poke Elizabeth Jane David Barry	Henry Poke Elizabeth Jane Davey 💍 1858/2181	Bachelor Spinster	Private of 65th Daughter of Mayor Wald	Full Minor	New Plymouth Suburban	8 Mos 8 Mos	Independent	December 15	Rev. Horatio Groube
106	4 December 1858	John Kenyon Ellen Ward	John Kenyon Ellen Ward 💍 1858/2238	Bachelor Spinster	Painter Housewife	Full Minor	Fulford St. Built Road	3 yrs 14yrs	House of	December 18	Rev. Joseph Long
107	13 December 1858	Christopher Karlestone Elizabeth Kenwood	Christopher Hurlstone Elizabeth Henwood 💍 1858/2235	Widower Widow	Farmer Mantuamaker	Full Full	Grey District Poverty Square	18 yrs 10 yrs	Prim. Methodist	January 1, 1859	Rev. Joseph Long
108	18 December 1858	James Harris Mary Elizabeth Lawrence	James Harris Mary Elizabeth Lawrence 💍 1859/2627	Bachelor Widow	Painter House Servant	Full Full	Fanui Street Glenavon	2 yrs 15 Mos	House of George

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 1894. More registers will be added as the project continues.

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).