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 092

District of [unknown] Quarter ending 30 June 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

3 May 1858

John Hall
Alice Juffs

John Hall
Alice Juffs
💍 1858/2291

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

21
18

Thorndon Flat
Wellington

10 years
6 years

Wesleyan Chapel in Manners St Wellington

19 May 1858

The Revd James Buller and others

No	27
Date of Notice	3 May 1858
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hall	Alice Juffs
	💍 1858/2291
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	21	18
Dwelling Place	Thorndon Flat	Wellington
Length of Residence	10 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Chapel in Manners St Wellington
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 May 1858
Officiating Minister	The Revd James Buller and others

5 May 1858

Augustus Horace
Eliza Herbert

Augustus Florance
Eliza Herbert
💍 1858/2442

Widower
Widow

Surgeon

43
42

Ghuznee St
Cuba St

6 months
2 months

Episcopalian Church in Willis St known as "St Peter's"

5 May 1858

The Revd A. Stock B.A. and others

No	28
Date of Notice	5 May 1858
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Augustus Horace	Eliza Herbert
BDM Match (91%)	Augustus Florance	Eliza Herbert
	💍 1858/2442
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Surgeon
Age	43	42
Dwelling Place	Ghuznee St	Cuba St
Length of Residence	6 months	2 months
Marriage Place	Episcopalian Church in Willis St known as "St Peter's"
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 May 1858
Officiating Minister	The Revd A. Stock B.A. and others

5 May 1858

Hugh Canning
Fanny Maria Batcheldor Brown

Hugh Canning
Fanny Maria Batchelor Brown
💍 1858/2638

Bachelor
Widow

Stonemason

33
22

Hutt
Hutt

12 years
10 years

At the Episcopalian Church known as "Christchurch" at the Hutt

20 May 1858

The Revd N.W.J. Hill and others

No	29
Date of Notice	5 May 1858
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Canning	Fanny Maria Batcheldor Brown
BDM Match (98%)	Hugh Canning	Fanny Maria Batchelor Brown
	💍 1858/2638
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Stonemason
Age	33	22
Dwelling Place	Hutt	Hutt
Length of Residence	12 years	10 years
Marriage Place	At the Episcopalian Church known as "Christchurch" at the Hutt
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 May 1858
Officiating Minister	The Revd N.W.J. Hill and others

6 May 1858

Joseph Stevenson
Mary Navin McDonald

Joseph Stevenson
Mary Nasine McDonald
💍 1858/2341

Bachelor
Spinster

Sailor

30
24

Manners St
Manners St

about 9 months
1 year 9 months

Private residence of Mr John Colquhoun in Manners St

6 May 1858

The Revd J. Mon and others

No	30
Date of Notice	6 May 1858
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Stevenson	Mary Navin McDonald
BDM Match (95%)	Joseph Stevenson	Mary Nasine McDonald
	💍 1858/2341
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sailor
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Manners St	Manners St
Length of Residence	about 9 months	1 year 9 months
Marriage Place	Private residence of Mr John Colquhoun in Manners St
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 May 1858
Officiating Minister	The Revd J. Mon and others

6 May 1858

James Hodges
Eliza Epps

"Mr Baker notes that the parties were not wed"

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

39
26

Quin Street
Wellington Terrace

3 years
about 8 months

At the Episcopalian Church known as St Paul's in Wellington

May 21st 1858

The Revd A. Baker M.A. and others

No	31
Date of Notice	6 May 1858
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Hodges	Eliza Epps
	💍 "Mr Baker notes that the parties were not wed"
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	39	26
Dwelling Place	Quin Street	Wellington Terrace
Length of Residence	3 years	about 8 months
Marriage Place	At the Episcopalian Church known as St Paul's in Wellington
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	May 21st 1858
Officiating Minister	The Revd A. Baker M.A. and others

10 May 1858

John Burke
Mary Ann Rogers Sheehan

John Burke
Mary Anne Rogers Sheehan
💍 1858/2377

Bachelor
Spinster

A private in the 65th Regt.

28
21

Mount Cook Barracks
Wellington

4 years
about 6 months

At the Roman Catholic Cathedral at Wellington known as "St Mary's"

May 10th 1858

The Revd J.J.P. O'Rully and others

No	32
Date of Notice	10 May 1858
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Burke	Mary Ann Rogers Sheehan
BDM Match (98%)	John Burke	Mary Anne Rogers Sheehan
	💍 1858/2377
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	A private in the 65th Regt.
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Mount Cook Barracks	Wellington
Length of Residence	4 years	about 6 months
Marriage Place	At the Roman Catholic Cathedral at Wellington known as "St Mary's"
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	May 10th 1858
Officiating Minister	The Revd J.J.P. O'Rully and others

12 May 1858

Alexander Gray
Louisa Ann Waters

Alexander Gray
Louisa Ann Waters
💍 1858/2344

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

25
21

Cuba Street
Dixon Street

about 6 years
18 years

In the private Residence of George Waters in Dixon Street

12 May 1858

The Revd J. Mon and others

No	33
Date of Notice	12 May 1858
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Gray	Louisa Ann Waters
	💍 1858/2344
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Cuba Street	Dixon Street
Length of Residence	about 6 years	18 years
Marriage Place	In the private Residence of George Waters in Dixon Street
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 May 1858
Officiating Minister	The Revd J. Mon and others

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).