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 106

District of Wellington Quarter ending thirtieth of 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

1st August 1859

John Elisha Smith
Lilias McHardy

John Elisha Smith
Lilias McHardy
💍 1859/2895

Bachelor
Spinster

Solicitor and Registrar of Marriages &c.

33 years
24 years

Wellington
Wellington

about 7 years
about 6 months

The Episcopalian church in Wellington known as "St. Pauls"

1859 1st August

The Rev. H.W. St Hill and others

No	50
Date of Notice	1st August 1859
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Elisha Smith	Lilias McHardy
BDM Match (97%)	John Elisha Smith	Lilias McHardy
	💍 1859/2895
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Solicitor and Registrar of Marriages &c.
Age	33 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	about 7 years	about 6 months
Marriage Place	The Episcopalian church in Wellington known as "St. Pauls"
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	1859 1st August
Officiating Minister	The Rev. H.W. St Hill and others

5th August 1859

Jesse Millner
Mary Ann Pudney

Jupe Millner
Mary Ann Pudney
💍 1859/2892

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

22 years
18 years

Wellington
Wellington

18 years
18 years

The Episcopalian church in Wellington known as "St. Peters"

Joseph Pudney the father of Mary Ann Pudney

1859 5th August

The Rev. Arthur Stock B.D. and others

No	51
Date of Notice	5th August 1859
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jesse Millner	Mary Ann Pudney
BDM Match (88%)	Jupe Millner	Mary Ann Pudney
	💍 1859/2892
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	22 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	18 years	18 years
Marriage Place	The Episcopalian church in Wellington known as "St. Peters"
Folio
Consent	Joseph Pudney the father of Mary Ann Pudney
Date of Certificate	1859 5th August
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Arthur Stock B.D. and others

15th August 1859

Thomas Holder
Caroline Allington

Thomas Holder
Caroline Allington
💍 1859/2874

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawyer

24 years
18 years

Karori
Karori

10 years
11 years

St. Pauls Church Thorndon

Etty Allington the mother of Caroline Allington

1859 6th September

The Rev. Arthur Baker, M.A. and others

No	52
Date of Notice	15th August 1859
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Holder	Caroline Allington
	💍 1859/2874
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawyer
Age	24 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Karori	Karori
Length of Residence	10 years	11 years
Marriage Place	St. Pauls Church Thorndon
Folio
Consent	Etty Allington the mother of Caroline Allington
Date of Certificate	1859 6th September
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Arthur Baker, M.A. and others

15th August 1859

James Haxton
Jane Anderson

James Haxton
Jane Anderson
💍 1859/2877

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawyer

27 years
17 years

Johnsonville
Johnsonville

18 months
18 months

St Pauls Church Thorndon

Sarah Pelham the mother of Jane Anderson

1859 30th August

The Rev. Arthur Baker M.A. and others

No	53
Date of Notice	15th August 1859
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Haxton	Jane Anderson
	💍 1859/2877
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawyer
Age	27 years	17 years
Dwelling Place	Johnsonville	Johnsonville
Length of Residence	18 months	18 months
Marriage Place	St Pauls Church Thorndon
Folio
Consent	Sarah Pelham the mother of Jane Anderson
Date of Certificate	1859 30th August
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Arthur Baker M.A. and others

19th August 1859

Robert Foster
Anna Farrell

Robert Foster
Anna Farrell
💍 1859/2889

Bachelor
Spinster

Gentleman

40 years
30 years

Mulgrave Street Wellington
Mulgrave Street Wellington

about 12 months
about 12 months

In the private residence of Mr. Thomas Gilpin Mulgrave Street

1859 19th August

The Rev. Henry William Scott and others

No	54
Date of Notice	19th August 1859
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Foster	Anna Farrell
	💍 1859/2889
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gentleman
Age	40 years	30 years
Dwelling Place	Mulgrave Street Wellington	Mulgrave Street Wellington
Length of Residence	about 12 months	about 12 months
Marriage Place	In the private residence of Mr. Thomas Gilpin Mulgrave Street
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	1859 19th August
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Henry William Scott and others

22nd August 1859

James Richardson
Charlotte Waters

James Richardson
Charlotte Waters
💍 1859/2886

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder

24 years
22 years

Wellington
Wellington

18 years
18 years

The private residence of Mr. James Richardson Willis Street

1859 22nd August

The Rev. James Butler and others

No	55
Date of Notice	22nd August 1859
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Richardson	Charlotte Waters
	💍 1859/2886
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	24 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	18 years	18 years
Marriage Place	The private residence of Mr. James Richardson Willis Street
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	1859 22nd August
Officiating Minister	The Rev. James Butler and others

23rd August 1859

Alfred Chapman
Elizabeth Monteith

Alfred Chapman
Elizabeth Monteith
💍 1859/2880

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer

30 years
22 years

Wellington
Wellington

1 month
14 years

Episcopalian Church in Willis Street, known as "St Peters"

1859 23rd August

The Rev. Arthur Stock B.A. and others

No	56
Date of Notice	23rd August 1859
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Chapman	Elizabeth Monteith
	💍 1859/2880
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer
Age	30 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	1 month	14 years
Marriage Place	Episcopalian Church in Willis Street, known as "St Peters"
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	1859 23rd August
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Arthur Stock B.A. 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).