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 166

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

28 October 1861

Philip Bevan
Mary Ann Houghton

Philip Bevan
Mary Ann Houghton Cawte
💍 1861/3845

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder

32
19

Wellington
Wellington

3 days
3 days

The church of England of St. Peter's, Willis Street

John Caute, father of Mary Ann Houghton

28 October 1861

The Rev. Arthur Stock, B.A. and others.

No	71
Date of Notice	28 October 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Philip Bevan	Mary Ann Houghton
BDM Match (87%)	Philip Bevan	Mary Ann Houghton Cawte
	💍 1861/3845
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	32	19
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	The church of England of St. Peter's, Willis Street
Folio
Consent	John Caute, father of Mary Ann Houghton
Date of Certificate	28 October 1861
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Arthur Stock, B.A. and others.

6 November 1861

William Phillips Martin
Jane Cannon Carruthers

Apply left ? in ? Dr - Bishop Viard + Rev ? returns being both nil

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman

22
17 1/2

Wellington
Wellington

18 months
10 years

Roman Catholic Chapel, Known as St. Mary's, Thorndon

Jane Carruthers, mother of Jane Cannon Carruthers

6 November 1861

The Right Rev. Dr. Viard and others.

No	72
Date of Notice	6 November 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Phillips Martin	Jane Cannon Carruthers
	💍 Apply left ? in ? Dr - Bishop Viard + Rev ? returns being both nil
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman
Age	22	17 1/2
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	18 months	10 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Chapel, Known as St. Mary's, Thorndon
Folio
Consent	Jane Carruthers, mother of Jane Cannon Carruthers
Date of Certificate	6 November 1861
Officiating Minister	The Right Rev. Dr. Viard and others.

18 November 1861

Joseph Charleson
Mary Kemptthorne

Joseph Charleson
Mary Kempthorne
💍 1861/2652

Bachelor
Widow

Laborer
Relict of Thomas Kemptthorne, dead

34
28

Wellington
Wellington

10 days
about 8 years

In the Private Residence of The Rev. Mr. Kirton on Wellington Terrace

18 November 1861

The Rev. William Kirton and others.

No	73
Date of Notice	18 November 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Charleson	Mary Kemptthorne
BDM Match (97%)	Joseph Charleson	Mary Kempthorne
	💍 1861/2652
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Laborer	Relict of Thomas Kemptthorne, dead
Age	34	28
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	10 days	about 8 years
Marriage Place	In the Private Residence of The Rev. Mr. Kirton on Wellington Terrace
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 November 1861
Officiating Minister	The Rev. William Kirton and others.

21 November 1861

William Still
Ann Gilchrist

William Still
Ann Gilchrist
💍 1861/3960

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

39
23

Hutt
Hutt

11 years
10 months

In the Private Residence of Mr. Robert McAlley at the Hutt

21 November 1861

The Rev. John Alched and others.

No	74
Date of Notice	21 November 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Still	Ann Gilchrist
	💍 1861/3960
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	39	23
Dwelling Place	Hutt	Hutt
Length of Residence	11 years	10 months
Marriage Place	In the Private Residence of Mr. Robert McAlley at the Hutt
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 November 1861
Officiating Minister	The Rev. John Alched and others.

21 November 1861

James William Grant Fraser
Mary Cecilia Prince

James William Grant Frazer
Mary Cecilia Prince
💍 1861/2655

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

27
18

Wellington
Wellington

3 years
18 years

The Private Residence of The Rev. William Kirton, in Cuba Street

Edward Prince, father of Mary Cecilia Prince

21 November 1861

The Rev. William Kirton and others.

No	75
Date of Notice	21 November 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James William Grant Fraser	Mary Cecilia Prince
BDM Match (98%)	James William Grant Frazer	Mary Cecilia Prince
	💍 1861/2655
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	27	18
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 years	18 years
Marriage Place	The Private Residence of The Rev. William Kirton, in Cuba Street
Folio
Consent	Edward Prince, father of Mary Cecilia Prince
Date of Certificate	21 November 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).