Intentions to Marry, 1861

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840373, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke Howison at Archives NZ Wellington, December 11 2024

Page 139

District of Ahuriri Quarter ending 30 June 1861 Registrar Edward Catchpool

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

02 April 1861

Daniel Stuart
Sarah Brown
Widow in Mr Barclay's return

Daniel Stuart
Sarah Brown
💍 1861/4092

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Dressmaker

39
39

Mararkakaho
Waipukurau

4 years
18 months

Sibley's (Channer's Tavern) Carlyle Street, Napier

02 April 1861

Rev. P. Barclay, Napier

No	55
Date of Notice	02 April 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Stuart	Sarah Brown Widow in Mr Barclay's return
	💍 1861/4092
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Dressmaker
Age	39	39
Dwelling Place	Mararkakaho	Waipukurau
Length of Residence	4 years	18 months
Marriage Place	Sibley's (Channer's Tavern) Carlyle Street, Napier
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	02 April 1861
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Barclay, Napier

03 April 1861

Henry Charles Chapman
Elizabeth Lye

Henry Charles Chapman
Elizabeth Lye
💍 1861/4061

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic Servant

28
28

Ruataniwha Plains
Ruataniwha Plains

7 months
1 year

Mr Tanner's residence Ruataniwha Plains

03 April 1861

Rev. S. Williams, Te Aute

No	56
Date of Notice	03 April 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Charles Chapman	Elizabeth Lye
	💍 1861/4061
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic Servant
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Ruataniwha Plains	Ruataniwha Plains
Length of Residence	7 months	1 year
Marriage Place	Mr Tanner's residence Ruataniwha Plains
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	03 April 1861
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Williams, Te Aute

05 April 1861

Denis Augustus Graham Hoben
Sarah McGarvey

Denis August Graham Hoben
Sarah McGarvey
💍 1861/4024

Bachelor
Spinster

Schoolmaster
Schoolmistress

26
22

Carlisle St. Napier
Shakespeare Rd., Napier

11 months
5 months

Catholic Chapel, Shakespeare Rd, Napier

05 April 1861

Rev. Jno. Forest, Napier

No	57
Date of Notice	05 April 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Denis Augustus Graham Hoben	Sarah McGarvey
BDM Match (96%)	Denis August Graham Hoben	Sarah McGarvey
	💍 1861/4024
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Schoolmaster	Schoolmistress
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Carlisle St. Napier	Shakespeare Rd., Napier
Length of Residence	11 months	5 months
Marriage Place	Catholic Chapel, Shakespeare Rd, Napier
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	05 April 1861
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jno. Forest, Napier

30 April 1861

John Baty
Mary Ann Williams

John Baty
Mary Ann Williams
💍 1861/4098

Bachelor
Spinster

Overseer of Sheep Station
Domestic Servant

24
21

Ohawa
Napier

3 1/2 years
18 months

Mr. S Begg's residence Napier

30 April 1861

Rev. P. Barclay Napier

No	58
Date of Notice	30 April 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Baty	Mary Ann Williams
	💍 1861/4098
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Overseer of Sheep Station	Domestic Servant
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Ohawa	Napier
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	18 months
Marriage Place	Mr. S Begg's residence Napier
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 April 1861
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Barclay Napier

11 May 1861

Edward Foulger
Catherine McKenzie

Edward Foulger
Catherine McKenzie
💍 1861/4095

Bachelor
Spinster

Policeman
Domestic Servant

36
36

Waipukurau
Napier

3 years
3 weeks

Mr. H[unclear] Residence, Hastings St, Napier

11 May 1861

Rev. R. Barclay, Napier

No	59
Date of Notice	11 May 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Foulger	Catherine McKenzie
	💍 1861/4095
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Policeman	Domestic Servant
Age	36	36
Dwelling Place	Waipukurau	Napier
Length of Residence	3 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Mr. H[unclear] Residence, Hastings St, Napier
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 May 1861
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Barclay, Napier

13 May 1861

James Frederick Parker
Mary Ann Lingard

James Frederick Parker
Mary Ann Lingard
💍 1861/4104

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Nil

34
16

Napier
Napier

1 week
1 week

Revd P Barclay's Residence, Napier

John Lingard, Father

15 May 1861

Rev. R. Barclay, Napier

No	60
Date of Notice	13 May 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Frederick Parker	Mary Ann Lingard
	💍 1861/4104
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Nil
Age	34	16
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	1 week	1 week
Marriage Place	Revd P Barclay's Residence, Napier
Folio
Consent	John Lingard, Father
Date of Certificate	15 May 1861
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Barclay, Napier

27 May 1861

Henry Clayton
Elizabeth Hatton

Henry Clayton
Elizabeth Hatten
💍 1861/4015

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Nil

23
20

Chaucer Rd. Napier
Onepoto Napier

2 years
1 year

Registrar's Office Napier

Priscilla Doyle, Sister & Guardian

3 June 1861

Registrar of Marriages, Napier

No	61
Date of Notice	27 May 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Clayton	Elizabeth Hatton
BDM Match (97%)	Henry Clayton	Elizabeth Hatten
	💍 1861/4015
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Nil
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Chaucer Rd. Napier	Onepoto Napier
Length of Residence	2 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Napier
Folio
Consent	Priscilla Doyle, Sister & Guardian
Date of Certificate	3 June 1861
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Napier

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).