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 026

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

23 February 1860

Edward Lochyer Sangfen
Sarah Jones

Edward Lockyer Ingpen
Sarah Jones
💍 1860/2749

Bachelor
Spinster

Schoolmaster

25 years
19 years

Wellington
Wellington

3 years
17 years

The Church known as St Peter's in Willis Street

Francis Jones, Father of Sarah Jones

23 February 1860

The Rev. Arthur Stock B.A. and others

No	8
Date of Notice	23 February 1860
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Lochyer Sangfen	Sarah Jones
BDM Match (91%)	Edward Lockyer Ingpen	Sarah Jones
	💍 1860/2749
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Schoolmaster
Age	25 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 years	17 years
Marriage Place	The Church known as St Peter's in Willis Street
Folio
Consent	Francis Jones, Father of Sarah Jones
Date of Certificate	23 February 1860
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Arthur Stock B.A. and others

27 February 1860

Charles Parker
Harriet Ellen Philips

Charles Parker
Harriett Ellen Philps
💍 1860/2978

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23 years
17 years

Wainui-mata
Wainui-mata

2 years
14 years

At the private residence of Mr John Phillips in Wainuiomata

18/2/18. 701/60

John Philips, Father of Harriet Ellen Philips

12 March 1860

The Rev. R. L. Vickers, and others

No	9
Date of Notice	27 February 1860
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Parker	Harriet Ellen Philips
BDM Match (95%)	Charles Parker	Harriett Ellen Philps
	💍 1860/2978
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23 years	17 years
Dwelling Place	Wainui-mata	Wainui-mata
Length of Residence	2 years	14 years
Marriage Place	At the private residence of Mr John Phillips in Wainuiomata
Folio	18/2/18. 701/60
Consent	John Philips, Father of Harriet Ellen Philips
Date of Certificate	12 March 1860
Officiating Minister	The Rev. R. L. Vickers, and others

5 March 1860

Dennis Lynch
Louisa Swords

Dennis Lynch
Louisa Swords
💍 1860/2737

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer

41 years
31 years

Wainui
Wellington

5 days
1 month

The Roman Catholic Chapel in Manners Street

5 March 1860

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

No	10
Date of Notice	5 March 1860
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Dennis Lynch	Louisa Swords
	💍 1860/2737
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	41 years	31 years
Dwelling Place	Wainui	Wellington
Length of Residence	5 days	1 month
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Chapel in Manners Street
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1860
Officiating Minister	The Rev. J. S. P. O'Reilly, and others

7 March 1860

Robert Douglas Wallace
Ellen Oakley

Robert Doyle Wallace
Ellen Oakley
💍 1860/2731

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer

34 years
22 years

Cape Turnagain
Wellington

1 month
4 years

St Paul's Church, Thorndon in Wellington

7 March 1860

The Right Rev. The Bishop of Wellington and others

No	11
Date of Notice	7 March 1860
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Douglas Wallace	Ellen Oakley
BDM Match (91%)	Robert Doyle Wallace	Ellen Oakley
	💍 1860/2731
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer
Age	34 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Cape Turnagain	Wellington
Length of Residence	1 month	4 years
Marriage Place	St Paul's Church, Thorndon in Wellington
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 March 1860
Officiating Minister	The Right Rev. The Bishop of Wellington and others

14 March 1860

James Davidson
Agnes Walker

James Davidson
Agnes Walker
💍 1860/2886

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

28 years
21 years

Wellington
Wellington

3 days
2 and a half years

In the Private residence of James Davidson in Ghuznee Street

14 March 1860

The Rev. John Main & others

No	12
Date of Notice	14 March 1860
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Davidson	Agnes Walker
	💍 1860/2886
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	28 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 days	2 and a half years
Marriage Place	In the Private residence of James Davidson in Ghuznee Street
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1860
Officiating Minister	The Rev. John Main & others

16 March 1860

George Fyffe
Catherine Douglas Fyffe

George Fyffe
Katherine Douglas Fyffe
💍 1860/2712

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer

33 years
35 years

Kaihorae
Wellington

10 days
10 days

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

16 March 1860

The Rev. James Buller & others

No	13
Date of Notice	16 March 1860
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Fyffe	Catherine Douglas Fyffe
BDM Match (98%)	George Fyffe	Katherine Douglas Fyffe
	💍 1860/2712
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer
Age	33 years	35 years
Dwelling Place	Kaihorae	Wellington
Length of Residence	10 days	10 days
Marriage Place	The Private Residence of the Rev. James Buller in Manners Street
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1860
Officiating Minister	The Rev. James Buller & others

20 March 1860

Joseph Wilson Chisholm
Elizabeth Gell

Joseph Wilson Chisholm
Elizabeth Gell
💍 1860/2718

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

28 years
21 years 8 months

Cuba Street, Wellington
Cuba Street, Wellington

about 2 years
17 years

In the Private residence of Joseph Wilson Chisholm in Cuba Street

20 March 1860

The Rev. James Buller & others

No	14
Date of Notice	20 March 1860
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Wilson Chisholm	Elizabeth Gell
	💍 1860/2718
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	28 years	21 years 8 months
Dwelling Place	Cuba Street, Wellington	Cuba Street, Wellington
Length of Residence	about 2 years	17 years
Marriage Place	In the Private residence of Joseph Wilson Chisholm in Cuba Street
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1860
Officiating Minister	The Rev. James Buller & 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).