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 172

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 March 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

25 February 1861

James Blavin
Mary Sobin

James Clavin
Mary Tobin
💍 1861/4251

Bachelor
Spinster

Private in 14th Regiment

23
16

Wellington
Wellington

2 months
2 months

In the Roman Catholic Chapel, in Manners Street

Mary Lyon's, mother of Mary

25 February 1861

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

No	19
Date of Notice	25 February 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Blavin	Mary Sobin
BDM Match (91%)	James Clavin	Mary Tobin
	💍 1861/4251
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Private in 14th Regiment
Age	23	16
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	2 months	2 months
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Chapel, in Manners Street
Folio
Consent	Mary Lyon's, mother of Mary
Date of Certificate	25 February 1861
Officiating Minister	The Rev. S.S.P. O'Reilly, and others

26 February 1861

William Vine
Emma James

William Vine
Emma James
💍 1861/2667

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
22

Wairau at present residing in Wellington
Wellington

3 days
2 1/2 months

In the private Residence of the Rev. John Moir

26 February 1861

The Rev. John Moir, and others

No	20
Date of Notice	26 February 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Vine	Emma James
	💍 1861/2667
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Wairau at present residing in Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 days	2 1/2 months
Marriage Place	In the private Residence of the Rev. John Moir
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1861
Officiating Minister	The Rev. John Moir, and others

28 February 1861

James Nicol
Isabella Smith

James Nicol
Isabella Smith
💍 1861/2690

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

27
19

Wairarapa at present residing in Wellington
Wellington

4 days
12 years

St Peter's Church, in Willis Street

John Smith, father of Isabella Smith

28 February 1861

The Rev. Arthur Stock BA, and others

No	21
Date of Notice	28 February 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Nicol	Isabella Smith
	💍 1861/2690
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	Wairarapa at present residing in Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	4 days	12 years
Marriage Place	St Peter's Church, in Willis Street
Folio
Consent	John Smith, father of Isabella Smith
Date of Certificate	28 February 1861
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Arthur Stock BA, and others

4 March 1861

William Jackson Watkin
Harriett Kerr Warren

William J Watkin
Harriet R Warren
💍 1861/3896

Bachelor
Spinster

Wesleyan Minister

28
22

Wanganui at present in Wellington
Wellington

3 days
12 months

In the Wesleyan Church in Manners Street

4 March 1861

The Rev. John Warren, and others

No	22
Date of Notice	4 March 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Jackson Watkin	Harriett Kerr Warren
BDM Match (74%)	William J Watkin	Harriet R Warren
	💍 1861/3896
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wesleyan Minister
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Wanganui at present in Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 days	12 months
Marriage Place	In the Wesleyan Church in Manners Street
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1861
Officiating Minister	The Rev. John Warren, and others

13 March 1861

Thomas Watson
Helen Jackson

Thomas Watson
Helen Jackson
💍 1861/2637

Widower
Widow

Mariner
Relict of Mr Jackson deceased

31
38

Wellington
Wellington

3 weeks
20 years

In the Private residence of the Rev. Mr Kirton, on Wellington Terrace

13 March 1861

The Rev. William Kirton, and others

No	23
Date of Notice	13 March 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Watson	Helen Jackson
	💍 1861/2637
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Mariner	Relict of Mr Jackson deceased
Age	31	38
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 weeks	20 years
Marriage Place	In the Private residence of the Rev. Mr Kirton, on Wellington Terrace
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1861
Officiating Minister	The Rev. William Kirton, 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).