Intentions to Marry, 1863

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840375, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke Howison at Archives NZ Wellington, December 4 2024

Page 063

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 June 1863 Registrar John B. Bennett

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

[14]98

24 April 1863

Gabriel Lewis
Rebecca Isaacs

Gabriel Lewis
Rebecca Isaacs
💍 1863/3820

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant

25
23

Hobson Street, Auckland
Official Bay, Auckland

7 years
6 months

The Jewish Synagogue, Emily Place, Auckland

63/51

13 May 1863

Mr. Henry Isaacs

No	[14]98
Date of Notice	24 April 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gabriel Lewis	Rebecca Isaacs
	💍 1863/3820
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Hobson Street, Auckland	Official Bay, Auckland
Length of Residence	7 years	6 months
Marriage Place	The Jewish Synagogue, Emily Place, Auckland
Folio	63/51
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 May 1863
Officiating Minister	Mr. Henry Isaacs

[14]99

25 April 1863

William Fry
Eliza Holdsworth

William Fry
Eliza Holdsworth
💍 1863/7298

Bachelor
Spinster

Wheelwright

28
19

Otahuhu
Otahuhu

12 months
5 years

The dwelling house of Mr. David Holdsworth, Father of the Aforenamed Eliza Holdsworth, at Otahuhu

63/232

David Holdsworth, Father

25 April 1863

Revd. Henry H. Lawry

No	[14]99
Date of Notice	25 April 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Fry	Eliza Holdsworth
	💍 1863/7298
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wheelwright
Age	28	19
Dwelling Place	Otahuhu	Otahuhu
Length of Residence	12 months	5 years
Marriage Place	The dwelling house of Mr. David Holdsworth, Father of the Aforenamed Eliza Holdsworth, at Otahuhu
Folio	63/232
Consent	David Holdsworth, Father
Date of Certificate	25 April 1863
Officiating Minister	Revd. Henry H. Lawry

[15]00

25 April 1863

William Stephenson
Isabella Quigley

William Stephenson
Isabella Quigley
💍 1863/3565

Widower
Spinster

Carpenter
Dressmaker

28
20

Chapel Street, Auckland
Chapel Street, Auckland

4 years
3 1/2 years

Roman Catholic Church, at Onehunga

63/2

Henry Quigley, Father

2 May 1863

Revd. Jas. Paul

No	[15]00
Date of Notice	25 April 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Stephenson	Isabella Quigley
	💍 1863/3565
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Dressmaker
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Chapel Street, Auckland	Chapel Street, Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	3 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, at Onehunga
Folio	63/2
Consent	Henry Quigley, Father
Date of Certificate	2 May 1863
Officiating Minister	Revd. Jas. Paul

[15]01

27 April 1863

Walter Alfred White
Ann Hill

Walter White
Anne Hill
💍 1863/7493

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

22
21

Howick
Hunua

15 years
1 month

The dwelling house of John Hill (Father of the afore named Ann Hill), at Hunua

63/301

14 May 1863

Revd. J. Lush

No	[15]01
Date of Notice	27 April 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Alfred White	Ann Hill
BDM Match (76%)	Walter White	Anne Hill
	💍 1863/7493
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Howick	Hunua
Length of Residence	15 years	1 month
Marriage Place	The dwelling house of John Hill (Father of the afore named Ann Hill), at Hunua
Folio	63/301
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 May 1863
Officiating Minister	Revd. J. Lush

[15]02

27 April 1863

Lawrence Condon
Ellen Lynch

Laurence Condon
Ellen Lynch
💍 1863/7208

Widower
Widow

Labourer

58
50

Howick
Howick

15 years
5 years

Roman Catholic Church, at Howick

63/202

11 May 1863

Revd. H. J. Fynes

No	[15]02
Date of Notice	27 April 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lawrence Condon	Ellen Lynch
BDM Match (97%)	Laurence Condon	Ellen Lynch
	💍 1863/7208
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	58	50
Dwelling Place	Howick	Howick
Length of Residence	15 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, at Howick
Folio	63/202
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 May 1863
Officiating Minister	Revd. H. J. Fynes

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).