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 024

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 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

394

30 January 1858

Thomas Naughton
Delia Finmarty

Thomas Naughton
Delia Fennerty
💍 1858/1994

Widower
Widow

Labourer

50
33

Aourick
Panmure

5 years
9 years

Roman Catholic Church

30 January 1858

Rev. M. Fynes

No	394
Date of Notice	30 January 1858
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Naughton	Delia Finmarty
BDM Match (89%)	Thomas Naughton	Delia Fennerty
	💍 1858/1994
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	50	33
Dwelling Place	Aourick	Panmure
Length of Residence	5 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1858
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Fynes

395

7 February 1858

Richard Sterz
Josephine Louisa Martin

Richard Hertz
Louisa Martin
💍 1858/1311

Bachelor
Spinster

Professor of Music

24
18

Kelnia St. Auckland
Fort Britomast Auckland

2 years
10 years

Roman Catholic Church

Mary Anne Martin, Mother

5 February 1858

Right Rev. Bishop

No	395
Date of Notice	7 February 1858
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Sterz	Josephine Louisa Martin
BDM Match (67%)	Richard Hertz	Louisa Martin
	💍 1858/1311
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Professor of Music
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Kelnia St. Auckland	Fort Britomast Auckland
Length of Residence	2 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio
Consent	Mary Anne Martin, Mother
Date of Certificate	5 February 1858
Officiating Minister	Right Rev. Bishop

396

2 February 1858

John Arthur
Susanna Penn

John Arthur
Lucy Penn
💍 1858/2142

Bachelor
Widow

Shepherd

40
37

Weekes' Island
Auckland

2 years
18 months

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages Auckland

2 February 1858

Registrar of marriages. John B. Bennett Esq.

No	396
Date of Notice	2 February 1858
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Arthur	Susanna Penn
BDM Match (75%)	John Arthur	Lucy Penn
	💍 1858/2142
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Shepherd
Age	40	37
Dwelling Place	Weekes' Island	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 years	18 months
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages Auckland
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1858
Officiating Minister	Registrar of marriages. John B. Bennett Esq.

397

6 February 1858

William Henry Ripley
Helena Collins

William Henry Ripley
Helina Collins
💍 1858/1314

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinet Turner

24
17

Auckland
Auckland

1/2 year
12 months

Roman Catholic Church, Auckland

Patrick Collins, Father

6 February 1858

Very Rev. James S. Grall

No	397
Date of Notice	6 February 1858
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Ripley	Helena Collins
BDM Match (96%)	William Henry Ripley	Helina Collins
	💍 1858/1314
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinet Turner
Age	24	17
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	1/2 year	12 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Auckland
Folio
Consent	Patrick Collins, Father
Date of Certificate	6 February 1858
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. James S. Grall

398

6 February 1858

John West Reading
Faith Greenwood

John West Reading
Faith Greenwood
💍 1858/2115

Bachelor
Spinster

Shopkeeper

30
21

Auckland
Matakana

7 years
16 years

St. Paul's Church

6 February 1858

Rev. J. F. Lloyd

No	398
Date of Notice	6 February 1858
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John West Reading	Faith Greenwood
	💍 1858/2115
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shopkeeper
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Matakana
Length of Residence	7 years	16 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1858
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Lloyd

399

12 February 1858

John Lee
Maryant Adams

John Lee
Margaret Adams
💍 1858/1157

Bachelor
Spinster

Private Soldier H.M. 58 Regt.
Servant

27
21

Albout Barracks Auckland
Government House Auckland

3 1/2 years
2 years

The Scotch Church Auckland

26 February 1858

Rev. David Bruce

No	399
Date of Notice	12 February 1858
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Lee	Maryant Adams
BDM Match (89%)	John Lee	Margaret Adams
	💍 1858/1157
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Private Soldier H.M. 58 Regt.	Servant
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Albout Barracks Auckland	Government House Auckland
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	The Scotch Church Auckland
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1858
Officiating Minister	Rev. David Bruce

400

12 February 1858

George Wood
Lucy Seals

George Edward Wood
Lucy Seale
💍 1858/1248

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23
18

Newmarket
Newmarket

2 years
6 months

Church of England, Newmarket

Mary Anne Seals, Mother

12 March 1858

Rev. J. B. Marsden

No	400
Date of Notice	12 February 1858
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Wood	Lucy Seals
BDM Match (76%)	George Edward Wood	Lucy Seale
	💍 1858/1248
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23	18
Dwelling Place	Newmarket	Newmarket
Length of Residence	2 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Church of England, Newmarket
Folio
Consent	Mary Anne Seals, Mother
Date of Certificate	12 March 1858
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Marsden

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).