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 077

District of New Plymouth Quarter ending 31 December 1858

This page is a corrected copy of page 75

No	Date of Notice	Names and Surnames of Parties	BDM Match	Condition	Calling or Profession	Age	Dwelling Place	Length of Residence	Marriage Place	Consent	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
97	26 January 1858	William Atkins Fanny Gilbert	William Atkin Fanny Gilbert 💍 1858/2220	Bachelor Spinster	Baker Minor	21 19	Coudenham Place Lassington Road	2 yrs 14 yrs	Residence Methodist	Henry Gilbert, Father	10 November 1858	Joseph Long
98	2 November 1858	Alfred Caddy Sarah Medley	Albert Caddy Sarah Hickey 💍 1858/2178	Bachelor Spinster	Sawyer & Shipwright	22 22	New Plymouth New Plymouth	5 yrs 7 yrs	Church		4 November 1858	Rev. Greate
99	9 November 1858	Henry Pitt Rhoda Wells	Henry Pitt Rhoda Wells 💍 1859/2550	Bachelor Widow	Saw Maker Housekeeper	39 32	Devon Shut New Plymouth	10 yrs 2 1/4 yrs	House of William		9 November 1858	Joseph Long
100	9 November 1858	William Fry Hoskin Caroline Beckstead	William Frey Hoskin Caroline Oriental Street 💍 1858/2196	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Daughter of	25 17	Kua Block Bell Block	1 1/4 yr 5 yrs	The Hua	William I Jones, Father	10 November 1858	Rev. Lally
101	13 November 1858	Edward McKinnin Eliza Jones	Edward Hopkinson Eliza Jones 💍 1858/2226 Andrew Wilson Eliza Jones 💍 1858/1414	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Daughter of	30 18	Kua District Omata District	10 yrs 8 yrs	Church	The Father	13 November 1858	Joseph Long
102	20 November 1858	Henry Robert Richmond Mary Blanche Hurry	Henry Robert Richmond Mary Blanche Hursthouse 💍 1858/2199	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Daughter of	29 19	Hurworth Grey St Fitzroy District	19 1/4 yrs 16 yrs	Residence of Dames	The Father	A November 1858	Rev. Lally
103	23 November 1858	Thomas John Weekes Martha Brishells	Thomas John Hills Martha Bishop 💍 1858/2232	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Daughter of Daniel Brishells	26 18	Bell Block Waiwakaiho	16 yrs 16 yrs	Bell Block (Waiwakaiho)	Daniel Brishells, Father	23 November 1858	Joseph Long
104	29 November 1858	George Stockman Jane Reddy	George Stockman Jane Reddy 💍 1858/2229	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	20 19	Henui Omata	2 1/4 yrs 9 yrs	Edio Stockman	E.W. Father	29 November 1858	Joseph Long
105	30 November 1858	Henry Poke Elizabeth Jane Davey	Henry Poke Elizabeth Jane Davey 💍 1858/2181	Bachelor Spinster	Pensioner	26 17	New Plymouth Subscriber Inn	8 hours 8 mos	Chapel	Samuel Davey, Father	1 December 1858	Rev. Greate
106	4 December 1858	John Kenyard Ellen Ward	John Kenyon Ellen Ward 💍 1858/2238	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	24 20	Fitzroy Street Bell Road	3 1/4 yrs 18 1/4 yrs	Residence Methodist	James Ward, Father	11 December 1858	Joseph Long
107	13 December 1858	Christopher Harlikine Elizabeth Kenwood	Christopher Hurlstone Elizabeth Henwood 💍 1858/2235	Widower Widow	Farmer Mantuamaker	60 54	Grey District Poverty Square	18 1/4 yrs 10 yrs	Chapel (Henui)		18 December 1858	Joseph Long
108	18 December 1858	James Harris Mary Elizabeth Laura Aldis Barker	James Harris Mary Elizabeth Lawrence 💍 1859/2627	Bachelor Widow	Painter Room Servant	38 41	Carrie Street Devon	2 1/2 yrs 15 mos	Tait (Waiwakaiho)		13 December 1858	Joseph Long

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 1899. 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).