Intentions to Marry, 1859

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840371, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke Howison at Archives NZ Wellington, December 12 2024

Page 105

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 September 1859

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

17 June 1859

George Mundle
Catherine Phillips

George Mundle
Catherine Phillips
💍 1859/2841

Bachelor
Widow

Mariner

24 years
20 years

Wellington
Wellington

9 months
9 months

The Episcopalian Church known as "St Peters" in Wellington

4 July 1859

The Rev. Arthur Stock BA. and others

No	38
Date of Notice	17 June 1859
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Mundle	Catherine Phillips
	💍 1859/2841
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Mariner
Age	24 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	9 months	9 months
Marriage Place	The Episcopalian Church known as "St Peters" in Wellington
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 July 1859
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Arthur Stock BA. and others

30 June 1859

Charles Mills
Priscilla Dennell

"Not in any of Mr Hills returns assumed not married"

Widower
Spinster

Builder

56 years
43 years

Tinakai Road
Tinakai Road

18 years
4 years

The Church of England School House at Hawtrey

16 July 1859

The Rev. H. W. St. Hill and others

No	45
Date of Notice	30 June 1859
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Mills	Priscilla Dennell
	💍 "Not in any of Mr Hills returns assumed not married"
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	56 years	43 years
Dwelling Place	Tinakai Road	Tinakai Road
Length of Residence	18 years	4 years
Marriage Place	The Church of England School House at Hawtrey
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 July 1859
Officiating Minister	The Rev. H. W. St. Hill and others

4 July 1859

William Odds
Maria Till

William Dodds
Maria Till
💍 1859/2850

Bachelor
Spinster

Licensed Victualler

32 years
24 years

Otaki
Karori Road

10 1/2 years
9 months

The Primitive Methodist Chapel in Sydney Street Wellington

4 July 1859

The Rev. Joshua Smith and others

No	46
Date of Notice	4 July 1859
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Odds	Maria Till
BDM Match (92%)	William Dodds	Maria Till
	💍 1859/2850
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Licensed Victualler
Age	32 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Otaki	Karori Road
Length of Residence	10 1/2 years	9 months
Marriage Place	The Primitive Methodist Chapel in Sydney Street Wellington
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 July 1859
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Joshua Smith and others

7 July 1859

Alfred James Ordish
Mary Leckie

Alfred James Ordish
Mary Leckie
💍 1859/2847

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk & Book Keeper

25 years
18 years

Wellington
Wellington

about 2 years
many years

The private residence of the Rev. Joshua Smith in Sydney Street

John Sutherland & Joseph Mitchell the Guardians of Mary Leckie

7 July 1859

The Rev. Joshua Smith and others

No	47
Date of Notice	7 July 1859
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred James Ordish	Mary Leckie
	💍 1859/2847
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk & Book Keeper
Age	25 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	about 2 years	many years
Marriage Place	The private residence of the Rev. Joshua Smith in Sydney Street
Folio
Consent	John Sutherland & Joseph Mitchell the Guardians of Mary Leckie
Date of Certificate	7 July 1859
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Joshua Smith and others

11 July 1859

James Thomas
Rebecca Heayns

James Thomas
Rebecca Heaynes
💍 1859/2883

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

22 years
21 years, 6 months

Hutt
Hutt

2 years
18 months

The Episcopalian Church at the Hutt known as "St James"

9 August 1859

The Rev. H. W. St Hill and others

No	48
Date of Notice	11 July 1859
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Thomas	Rebecca Heayns
BDM Match (97%)	James Thomas	Rebecca Heaynes
	💍 1859/2883
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	22 years	21 years, 6 months
Dwelling Place	Hutt	Hutt
Length of Residence	2 years	18 months
Marriage Place	The Episcopalian Church at the Hutt known as "St James"
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 August 1859
Officiating Minister	The Rev. H. W. St Hill and others

27 July 1859

Michael Twomey
Elizabeth Morrison
Widow of Daniel Morrison, deceased

Michael Twomey
Elizabeth Morrison
💍 1859/2856

Bachelor
Widow

Mariner

28 years
29 years

Wellington
Wellington

2 years
many years

Private residence of Mrs Morrison in Little Ghuznee Street

27 July 1859

The Rev. James Buller and others

No	49
Date of Notice	27 July 1859
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Twomey	Elizabeth Morrison Widow of Daniel Morrison, deceased
	💍 1859/2856
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Mariner
Age	28 years	29 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	2 years	many years
Marriage Place	Private residence of Mrs Morrison in Little Ghuznee Street
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 July 1859
Officiating Minister	The Rev. James Buller 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).