Intentions to Marry, 1860

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840372, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

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

Page 025

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 March 1860

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 January 1860

Christopher Emmett
Emma Vickers

Christopher Emmett
Emma Vickers
💍 1860/2758

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman

28 years
27 years

Wellington
Wellington

5 years
5 days

The Private residence of the Rev. James Buller in Manners Street

3 January 1860

The Rev. James Buller, and other

No	1
Date of Notice	3 January 1860
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Christopher Emmett	Emma Vickers
	💍 1860/2758
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman
Age	28 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	5 years	5 days
Marriage Place	The Private residence of the Rev. James Buller in Manners Street
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1860
Officiating Minister	The Rev. James Buller, and other

30 January 1860

John Cameron
Catherine Caisey

John Cameron
Catherine Caisey
💍 1860/2755

Bachelor
Spinster

Stock-keeper

34 years
22 years

Gollan's Bay
Wellington

12 years
4 years

In the Private residence of John Bannister on Lambton Quay

30 January 1860

The Rev. William Kirton & other

No	2
Date of Notice	30 January 1860
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Cameron	Catherine Caisey
	💍 1860/2755
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stock-keeper
Age	34 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Gollan's Bay	Wellington
Length of Residence	12 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the Private residence of John Bannister on Lambton Quay
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1860
Officiating Minister	The Rev. William Kirton & other

9 February 1860

John Holmes
Henrietta Lucretia Baker

John Holmes
Henrietta Lucretia Baker
💍 1860/2752

Bachelor
Spinster

Tanner

21 years
20 years

Wellington
Wellington

20 years
7 months

In the Primitive Methodist Chapel in Sydney Street

No Relation or Guardian in the Colony

9 February 1860

The Rev. Joshua Smith & others

No	3
Date of Notice	9 February 1860
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Holmes	Henrietta Lucretia Baker
	💍 1860/2752
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tanner
Age	21 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	20 years	7 months
Marriage Place	In the Primitive Methodist Chapel in Sydney Street
Folio
Consent	No Relation or Guardian in the Colony
Date of Certificate	9 February 1860
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Joshua Smith & others

11 February 1860

Benjamin Reeve
Rosena Pickess

Benjamin Reeve
Roseina Pickess
💍 1860/2715

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

28 years
18 years

Johnsonville
Johnsonville

6 months
14 months

at the Primitive Methodist Chapel in Sydney Street

Thomas Pickess, Father of Rosena Pickess

19 March 1860

The Rev. Joshua Smith & others

No	4
Date of Notice	11 February 1860
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Benjamin Reeve	Rosena Pickess
BDM Match (97%)	Benjamin Reeve	Roseina Pickess
	💍 1860/2715
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	28 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Johnsonville	Johnsonville
Length of Residence	6 months	14 months
Marriage Place	at the Primitive Methodist Chapel in Sydney Street
Folio
Consent	Thomas Pickess, Father of Rosena Pickess
Date of Certificate	19 March 1860
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Joshua Smith & others

13 February 1860

William Seed
Mary Ann Allen

William Seed
Mary Ann Allen
💍 1860/2734

Widower
Spinster

Landing Surveyor in H.M. Customs

32 years
19 years

Wellington
Wellington

19 years
19 years

Episcopalian Church known as "St Paul's" Wellington

George Allen, Father of Mary Ann Allen

13 February 1860

The Bishop of Wellington & others

No	5
Date of Notice	13 February 1860
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Seed	Mary Ann Allen
	💍 1860/2734
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Landing Surveyor in H.M. Customs
Age	32 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	19 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Episcopalian Church known as "St Paul's" Wellington
Folio
Consent	George Allen, Father of Mary Ann Allen
Date of Certificate	13 February 1860
Officiating Minister	The Bishop of Wellington & others

15 February 1860

Alfred Nesbit Brown
C. Crombie Grant Johnston

Alfred Nesbit Brown
Christina Crowthie Grant Johnston
💍 1860/2740

Widower
Spinster

Archdeacon of Tauranga

Full age
Full age

Tauranga
Wellington

3 days
2 months

St Paul's Church Thorndon

15 February 1860

The Right-Rev. The Bishop of Wellington & others

No	6
Date of Notice	15 February 1860
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Nesbit Brown	C. Crombie Grant Johnston
BDM Match (83%)	Alfred Nesbit Brown	Christina Crowthie Grant Johnston
	💍 1860/2740
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Archdeacon of Tauranga
Age	Full age	Full age
Dwelling Place	Tauranga	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 days	2 months
Marriage Place	St Paul's Church Thorndon
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1860
Officiating Minister	The Right-Rev. The Bishop of Wellington & others

23 February 1860

Amos Howe
Ruth France the younger

Amos Howe
Ruth France
💍 1860/2746

Bachelor
Spinster

Fellmonger

23 years
20 years

Wellington
Mount Albert near Wellington

18 years
7 years

at the Private Residence of Mr. [UNCLEAR] Gooder, in Abel Smith Street

Ruth France the mother of Ruth France the younger

23 February 1860

The Rev. John Moir & others

No	7
Date of Notice	23 February 1860
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Amos Howe	Ruth France the younger
BDM Match (74%)	Amos Howe	Ruth France
	💍 1860/2746
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fellmonger
Age	23 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Mount Albert near Wellington
Length of Residence	18 years	7 years
Marriage Place	at the Private Residence of Mr. [UNCLEAR] Gooder, in Abel Smith Street
Folio
Consent	Ruth France the mother of Ruth France the younger
Date of Certificate	23 February 1860
Officiating Minister	The Rev. John Moir & 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).