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 107

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 September 1859 Registrar John Elisha Smith

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

31 August 1859

Joseph Gigger
Elizabeth Bassett

Joseph Gigger
Elizabeth Bassett
💍 1859/1247

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

34 years
18 years

Hutt
With her Father Hutt

4 years
about 18 years

The private residence of Mr Bassett, Hutt Road

William Bassett The Father of Elizabeth Bassett

31 August 1859

The Rev. Jonathan Innes and others

No	57
Date of Notice	31 August 1859
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Gigger	Elizabeth Bassett
	💍 1859/1247
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	34 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Hutt	With her Father Hutt
Length of Residence	4 years	about 18 years
Marriage Place	The private residence of Mr Bassett, Hutt Road
Folio
Consent	William Bassett The Father of Elizabeth Bassett
Date of Certificate	31 August 1859
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Jonathan Innes and others

5 September 1859

John Masters
Eliza Eglinton

John Masters
Eliza Eglinton
💍 1859/2862

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawyer

23 years
27 years

Hutt
Wellington

16 years
18 years

In the Episcopalian Church in Wellington known as "St Peters"

21 September 1859

The Rev. Arthur Stock and others

No	58
Date of Notice	5 September 1859
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Masters	Eliza Eglinton
	💍 1859/2862
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawyer
Age	23 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Hutt	Wellington
Length of Residence	16 years	18 years
Marriage Place	In the Episcopalian Church in Wellington known as "St Peters"
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 September 1859
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Arthur Stock and others

8 September 1859

Edward Harris
Mary Ann Daysh

Edward Harris
Mary Ann Daysh
💍 1859/2865

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24 years
20 years

Taitai
Taitai

about 16 years
about 16 years

Private residence of Mrs Margaret Cooper, Taitai

John Daysh The Father of Mary Ann Daysh

9 September 1859

The Rev. John Thom and others

No	59
Date of Notice	8 September 1859
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Harris	Mary Ann Daysh
	💍 1859/2865
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Taitai	Taitai
Length of Residence	about 16 years	about 16 years
Marriage Place	Private residence of Mrs Margaret Cooper, Taitai
Folio
Consent	John Daysh The Father of Mary Ann Daysh
Date of Certificate	9 September 1859
Officiating Minister	The Rev. John Thom and others

8 September 1859

Richman Daysh
Janet Cooper

Richman Daysh
Janet Couper
💍 1859/2868

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

22 years
20 years

Taitai
Taitai

about 16 years
6 or 7 years

Private residence of Mrs Margaret Cooper, Taitai

Margaret Cooper The Mother of Janet Cooper

9 September 1859

The Rev. John Thom and others

No	60
Date of Notice	8 September 1859
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richman Daysh	Janet Cooper
BDM Match (96%)	Richman Daysh	Janet Couper
	💍 1859/2868
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	22 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Taitai	Taitai
Length of Residence	about 16 years	6 or 7 years
Marriage Place	Private residence of Mrs Margaret Cooper, Taitai
Folio
Consent	Margaret Cooper The Mother of Janet Cooper
Date of Certificate	9 September 1859
Officiating Minister	The Rev. John Thom and others

12 September 1859

John Flowerday
Emma Pike

John Flowerday
Emma Pike
💍 1859/2871

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

24 years
17 years

Wellington
Wellington

2 1/2 years
17 years

Episcopalian Church known as "St Peters" Wellington

William Pike The Father of Emma Pike

13 September 1859

The Rev. Arthur Stock and others

No	61
Date of Notice	12 September 1859
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Flowerday	Emma Pike
	💍 1859/2871
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	24 years	17 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Episcopalian Church known as "St Peters" Wellington
Folio
Consent	William Pike The Father of Emma Pike
Date of Certificate	13 September 1859
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Arthur Stock and others

15 September 1859

George London
Mary Ann Kennedy

George London
Mary A Kennedy
💍 1859/2859

Bachelor
Spinster

Store keeper

30 years
18 years

Poirua
Poirua

18 years
many years

The Roman Catholic Chapel in Manners Street, Wellington

J. J. P. O'Reilly The Guardian of Mary Ann Kennedy

26 September 1859

The Rev. J. J. P. O'Reilly and others

No	62
Date of Notice	15 September 1859
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George London	Mary Ann Kennedy
BDM Match (94%)	George London	Mary A Kennedy
	💍 1859/2859
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Store keeper
Age	30 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Poirua	Poirua
Length of Residence	18 years	many years
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Chapel in Manners Street, Wellington
Folio
Consent	J. J. P. O'Reilly The Guardian of Mary Ann Kennedy
Date of Certificate	26 September 1859
Officiating Minister	The Rev. J. J. P. O'Reilly 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 1908. 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).