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 167

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 1861

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 December 1861

William Edwards
Matilda Best

William Edwards
Matilda Best
💍 1861/1681

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

22 years
nearly 19 years

Porirua
Porirua

about 18 years

Private Residence of The Rev. Joshua Smith, in Sidney Street

No person in the Colony, authorised to give consent to the marriage of Matilda Best

3 December 1861

The Rev. Joshua Smith and others

No	76
Date of Notice	3 December 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Edwards	Matilda Best
	💍 1861/1681
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	22 years	nearly 19 years
Dwelling Place	Porirua	Porirua
Length of Residence	about 18 years
Marriage Place	Private Residence of The Rev. Joshua Smith, in Sidney Street
Folio
Consent	No person in the Colony, authorised to give consent to the marriage of Matilda Best
Date of Certificate	3 December 1861
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Joshua Smith and others

5 December 1861

William Watson
Ellen Partridge

William Watson
Ellen Partridge
💍 1861/3909

Bachelor
Spinster

Private in H.M. 2nd Battalion of the 14th Regiment

21 years and 6 months
16 years and 6 months

Wellington
Wellington

12 months
about 10 years

The Wesleyan Chapel, in Manners Street

Eliza Partridge, mother of Ellen Partridge

6 December 1861

The Rev. John Warren and others

No	77
Date of Notice	5 December 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Watson	Ellen Partridge
	💍 1861/3909
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Private in H.M. 2nd Battalion of the 14th Regiment
Age	21 years and 6 months	16 years and 6 months
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	12 months	about 10 years
Marriage Place	The Wesleyan Chapel, in Manners Street
Folio
Consent	Eliza Partridge, mother of Ellen Partridge
Date of Certificate	6 December 1861
Officiating Minister	The Rev. John Warren and others

6 December 1861

Charles Joseph Cotte
Mary Ann Gill

Charles Joseph Cottle
Mary Ann Gill
💍 1861/3875

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

20 years
18 years

Wellington
Wellington

20 years
18 years

St Paul's Church, Thorndon

Amelia Gill, mother of Mary Ann Gill

21 December 1861

The Rev. Frederick Thatcher and others

No	78
Date of Notice	6 December 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Joseph Cotte	Mary Ann Gill
BDM Match (98%)	Charles Joseph Cottle	Mary Ann Gill
	💍 1861/3875
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	20 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	20 years	18 years
Marriage Place	St Paul's Church, Thorndon
Folio
Consent	Amelia Gill, mother of Mary Ann Gill
Date of Certificate	21 December 1861
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Frederick Thatcher and others

14 December 1861

Frederick William Shilden
Mary Ann Eves

Fredrick H Shilden
Mary Ann Eves
💍 1861/3912

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

24 years
18 years

late of Victoria now of Wellington
Wellington

6 weeks
5 years

The Wesleyan Chapel in Manners Street

William Henry Eves, father of Mary Ann Eves

14 December 1861

The Rev. John Warren and others

No	79
Date of Notice	14 December 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Shilden	Mary Ann Eves
BDM Match (84%)	Fredrick H Shilden	Mary Ann Eves
	💍 1861/3912
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	24 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	late of Victoria now of Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	6 weeks	5 years
Marriage Place	The Wesleyan Chapel in Manners Street
Folio
Consent	William Henry Eves, father of Mary Ann Eves
Date of Certificate	14 December 1861
Officiating Minister	The Rev. John Warren and others

27 December 1861

John Lambert
Agnes Stuart McEwen

John Lambert
Agnes Stuart McEwen
💍 1861/3963

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

28 years
about 20 years

Rangitikei, at present Wellington
Hutt

5 days
20 years

Private Residence of Mr David Mc Ewen, Hutt

David Mc Ewen, father of Agnes Stuart Mc Ewen

27 December 1861

The Rev. James Duncan and others

No	80
Date of Notice	27 December 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Lambert	Agnes Stuart McEwen
BDM Match (98%)	John Lambert	Agnes Stuart McEwen
	💍 1861/3963
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	28 years	about 20 years
Dwelling Place	Rangitikei, at present Wellington	Hutt
Length of Residence	5 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Private Residence of Mr David Mc Ewen, Hutt
Folio
Consent	David Mc Ewen, father of Agnes Stuart Mc Ewen
Date of Certificate	27 December 1861
Officiating Minister	The Rev. James Duncan and others

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).