1862 Intentions to Marry

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840374, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

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

Page 022

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 June 1862

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

1222

28 May 1862

William Gardner
Mary Davies

William Gardner
Mary Davies
💍 1862/2437

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Milliner

about 33
20

Epsom
Epsom

7 years
18 years

The dwelling house of William Gardner at Epsom

John Davies, Guardian

28 May 1862

Rev. George Brown

No	1222
Date of Notice	28 May 1862
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Gardner	Mary Davies
	💍 1862/2437
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Milliner
Age	about 33	20
Dwelling Place	Epsom	Epsom
Length of Residence	7 years	18 years
Marriage Place	The dwelling house of William Gardner at Epsom
Folio
Consent	John Davies, Guardian
Date of Certificate	28 May 1862
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Brown

1223

30 May 1862

Owen Kane
Eliza Sellars

Owen Kane
Eliza Sellors
💍 1862/5122

Bachelor
Spinster

Private Soldier 65th Regt.

27
15 1/2

Auckland
Barrack Street Auckland

3 1/2 years
15 years

St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Auckland

George Sellars, Father

30 May 1862

Right Rev. Bishop of Auckland

No	1223
Date of Notice	30 May 1862
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Owen Kane	Eliza Sellars
BDM Match (96%)	Owen Kane	Eliza Sellors
	💍 1862/5122
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Private Soldier 65th Regt.
Age	27	15 1/2
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Barrack Street Auckland
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	15 years
Marriage Place	St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Auckland
Folio
Consent	George Sellars, Father
Date of Certificate	30 May 1862
Officiating Minister	Right Rev. Bishop of Auckland

1224

2 June 1862

John Frederick Houghton
Annie Millner

Joseph Frederick Naughton
Annie Millner
💍 1862/4788

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

21
24

Victoria Street Auckland
Grey Street Auckland

about 12 years
3 years

Roman Catholic Chapel Otahuhu

2 June 1862

Very Rev. J. M. Garin Vicar General

No	1224
Date of Notice	2 June 1862
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Frederick Houghton	Annie Millner
BDM Match (88%)	Joseph Frederick Naughton	Annie Millner
	💍 1862/4788
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	21	24
Dwelling Place	Victoria Street Auckland	Grey Street Auckland
Length of Residence	about 12 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Chapel Otahuhu
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1862
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. J. M. Garin Vicar General

1225

2 June 1862

Frederick Milton Lincoln
Mary Keetley

Frederick Ashton Lincoln
Mary Keetly
💍 1862/2473

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

25
20

Epsom at present in Auckland
Wyber Pass Road in Auckland

6 days
2 years

The dwelling house of Rev. David Jones in Auckland

2 June 1862

Rev. David Jones

No	1225
Date of Notice	2 June 1862
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Milton Lincoln	Mary Keetley
BDM Match (90%)	Frederick Ashton Lincoln	Mary Keetly
	💍 1862/2473
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Epsom at present in Auckland	Wyber Pass Road in Auckland
Length of Residence	6 days	2 years
Marriage Place	The dwelling house of Rev. David Jones in Auckland
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1862
Officiating Minister	Rev. David Jones

1226

3 June 1862

James Campbell
Martha Goodwin

James Campbell
Martha Goodwin
💍 1862/2435

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Servant
Domestic Servant

19
18

Otahunga
Otahunga

4 years
about 9 years

The dwelling house of the Rev. George Brown in Otahunga

Margaret Mackburn, Mother of James Campbell, No person in Otahunga authorised to give consent to Martha Goodwin's marriage

3 June 1862

Rev. Geo. Brown

No	1226
Date of Notice	3 June 1862
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Campbell	Martha Goodwin
	💍 1862/2435
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Servant	Domestic Servant
Age	19	18
Dwelling Place	Otahunga	Otahunga
Length of Residence	4 years	about 9 years
Marriage Place	The dwelling house of the Rev. George Brown in Otahunga
Folio
Consent	Margaret Mackburn, Mother of James Campbell, No person in Otahunga authorised to give consent to Martha Goodwin's marriage
Date of Certificate	3 June 1862
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Brown

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).