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 165

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 1861 Registrar John Elisha Smith

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

13 August 1861

John Hagin
Christiana Gilligan

John Hagin
Christina Gilligan
💍 1861/2779

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawyer

38
33

Upper Hutt
Upper Hutt

7 years
7 years

The Roman Catholic Chapel at the Hutt

14 October 1861

The Rev. Joseph Seon and others

No	55
Date of Notice	13 August 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hagin	Christiana Gilligan
BDM Match (97%)	John Hagin	Christina Gilligan
	💍 1861/2779
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawyer
Age	38	33
Dwelling Place	Upper Hutt	Upper Hutt
Length of Residence	7 years	7 years
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Chapel at the Hutt
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 October 1861
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Joseph Seon and others

4 October 1861

George Burnett
Mary Bamford

George Burnett
Mary Bamford
💍 1861/2658

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24
18

Taita
Wellington

many years
about 5 years

In the Private Residence of Jonathan Bamford on the Tinakori Road

Jonathan Bamford, father of Mary Bamford

29 October 1861

The Rev. William Kirton and others

No	67
Date of Notice	4 October 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Burnett	Mary Bamford
	💍 1861/2658
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Taita	Wellington
Length of Residence	many years	about 5 years
Marriage Place	In the Private Residence of Jonathan Bamford on the Tinakori Road
Folio
Consent	Jonathan Bamford, father of Mary Bamford
Date of Certificate	29 October 1861
Officiating Minister	The Rev. William Kirton and others

10 October 1861

Joseph Bull
Martha Dixon

Joseph Bull
Martha Dixon
💍 1861/3839

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

24
18

Wellington
Wellington

4 years
18 years

St Peter's Church in Willis Street

Joseph Dixon, father of Martha Dixon

10 October 1861

The Rev. Arthur Stock B.A. and others

No	68
Date of Notice	10 October 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Bull	Martha Dixon
	💍 1861/3839
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	4 years	18 years
Marriage Place	St Peter's Church in Willis Street
Folio
Consent	Joseph Dixon, father of Martha Dixon
Date of Certificate	10 October 1861
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Arthur Stock B.A. and others

25 October 1861

John Hindley Austin Lowe
Eliza Ann Bennett

"Notice withdrawn and certificate cancelled at the request of Mr J. H. A. Lowe 30 October 1861 J.E.S."

Widower
Spinster

Commission Agent

32 years
21 years & some months

Wellington
Wellington

10 months
about 14 years

In the Private Residence of the said J.H.A. Lowe in Cuba Street

25 October 1861

The Rev. William Kirton and others

No	69
Date of Notice	25 October 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hindley Austin Lowe	Eliza Ann Bennett
BDM Match (5%)
	💍 "Notice withdrawn and certificate cancelled at the request of Mr J. H. A. Lowe 30 October 1861 J.E.S."
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Commission Agent
Age	32 years	21 years & some months
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	10 months	about 14 years
Marriage Place	In the Private Residence of the said J.H.A. Lowe in Cuba Street
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 October 1861
Officiating Minister	The Rev. William Kirton and others

26 October 1861

John Lofts Hills
Mary London

John Lofts Hills
Mary London
💍 1861/3842

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

28
20

Wellington
Porirua

5 years
15 years

St Peter's Church in Willis Street

Henry London, father of Mary London

26 October 1861

The Rev. Arthur Stock B.A. and others

No	70
Date of Notice	26 October 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Lofts Hills	Mary London
	💍 1861/3842
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Porirua
Length of Residence	5 years	15 years
Marriage Place	St Peter's Church in Willis Street
Folio
Consent	Henry London, father of Mary London
Date of Certificate	26 October 1861
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 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).