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 207

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 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

12 November 1860

Peter Couper
Ann Bell

Peter Couper
Ann Bell
💍 1860/2889

Bachelor
Spinster

Grazier

59 years
45 years

Paratahi Plain, Wairarapa, at present Wellington
Karori

3 days
2 or 3 years

The Residence of the Rev. John Moir in Wellington

12 November 1860

The Rev. John Moir, and others

No	54
Date of Notice	12 November 1860
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Couper	Ann Bell
	💍 1860/2889
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grazier
Age	59 years	45 years
Dwelling Place	Paratahi Plain, Wairarapa, at present Wellington	Karori
Length of Residence	3 days	2 or 3 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of the Rev. John Moir in Wellington
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 November 1860
Officiating Minister	The Rev. John Moir, and others

12 November 1860

Albert Martin
Mary Ann Cropper

Albert Martin
Mary Ann Cropper
💍 1860/2776

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawyer

21 years 8 months
19 years

Oharin, near Wellington
Berhampore, near Wellington

4 years
12 years

In the Private Residence of Albert Martin at Oharin

The consent of Ellen Inkersell, Mother of Mary Ann Cropper

12 November 1860

The Rev. John Warren, and others

No	55
Date of Notice	12 November 1860
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Martin	Mary Ann Cropper
	💍 1860/2776
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawyer
Age	21 years 8 months	19 years
Dwelling Place	Oharin, near Wellington	Berhampore, near Wellington
Length of Residence	4 years	12 years
Marriage Place	In the Private Residence of Albert Martin at Oharin
Folio
Consent	The consent of Ellen Inkersell, Mother of Mary Ann Cropper
Date of Certificate	12 November 1860
Officiating Minister	The Rev. John Warren, and others

12 November 1860

Charles Edward Willeston
Hannah Bixmead

Charles Edward Walter Willeston
Hannah Bidmead
💍 1860/2800

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

26 years
18 years

Mulgrave Street, Wellington
Mulgrave Street

4 months
12 months

Private Residence of Mr. Jonathan Bixmead in Mulgrave Street

The consent of Jonathan Bixmead, father of Hannah Bixmead

12 November 1860

The Rev. Joshua Smith, and others

No	56
Date of Notice	12 November 1860
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edward Willeston	Hannah Bixmead
BDM Match (85%)	Charles Edward Walter Willeston	Hannah Bidmead
	💍 1860/2800
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	26 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Mulgrave Street, Wellington	Mulgrave Street
Length of Residence	4 months	12 months
Marriage Place	Private Residence of Mr. Jonathan Bixmead in Mulgrave Street
Folio
Consent	The consent of Jonathan Bixmead, father of Hannah Bixmead
Date of Certificate	12 November 1860
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Joshua Smith, and others

14 November 1860

Henry Bradley
Mary Meredith

Henry Bradley
Mary Meredith
💍 1860/2773

Bachelor
Spinster

Mercantile Clerk

29 years
17 years

Wellington
Otahuhu, near Auckland, at present Wellington

6 months
5 days

Private Residence of Mr. Henry Wrigley, Cuba Street

The consent of Michael Meredith, Father of Mary Meredith

14 November 1860

The Rev. John Warren, and others

No	57
Date of Notice	14 November 1860
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Bradley	Mary Meredith
	💍 1860/2773
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mercantile Clerk
Age	29 years	17 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Otahuhu, near Auckland, at present Wellington
Length of Residence	6 months	5 days
Marriage Place	Private Residence of Mr. Henry Wrigley, Cuba Street
Folio
Consent	The consent of Michael Meredith, Father of Mary Meredith
Date of Certificate	14 November 1860
Officiating Minister	The Rev. John Warren, and others

13 December 1860

William Jones
Emma Broderick

William Jones
Emma Broderick
💍 1860/2767

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

about 35 years
about 28 years

Rangitikei, at present Wellington
Porirua Road, near Wellington

10 days
many years

In the Private Residence of Mr. Greasley Broderick on the Porirua Road

13 December 1860

The Rev. William Kirton, and others

No	58
Date of Notice	13 December 1860
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Jones	Emma Broderick
	💍 1860/2767
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	about 35 years	about 28 years
Dwelling Place	Rangitikei, at present Wellington	Porirua Road, near Wellington
Length of Residence	10 days	many years
Marriage Place	In the Private Residence of Mr. Greasley Broderick on the Porirua Road
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 December 1860
Officiating Minister	The Rev. William Kirton, and others

14 December 1860

Charles Millward
Mary Barrdack

Charles Millward
Mary Balldach
💍 1860/2770

Bachelor
Spinster

Police Constable
Domestic Servant

28 years
22 years

Wellington
Wellington

4 years
5 years

The Roman Catholic Church, known as St. Mary's situate at Thorndon

14 December 1860

The Right Rev. Dr. Viard, and others

No	59
Date of Notice	14 December 1860
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Millward	Mary Barrdack
BDM Match (88%)	Charles Millward	Mary Balldach
	💍 1860/2770
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Police Constable	Domestic Servant
Age	28 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	4 years	5 years
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church, known as St. Mary's situate at Thorndon
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 December 1860
Officiating Minister	The Right Rev. Dr. Viard, 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).