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 093

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 December 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

[163]2

27 October 1863

James McHugh
Mary McGrath

James McHugh
Mary McGrath
💍 1863/7280

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer

38
33

Otahuhu
Papatoetoe

nearly 4 years
8 years

The dwelling house of Mary McGrath, at Papatoetoe

63/226

27 October 1863

Revd. Michl D. O'Hara

No	[163]2
Date of Notice	27 October 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James McHugh	Mary McGrath
	💍 1863/7280
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	38	33
Dwelling Place	Otahuhu	Papatoetoe
Length of Residence	nearly 4 years	8 years
Marriage Place	The dwelling house of Mary McGrath, at Papatoetoe
Folio	63/226
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 October 1863
Officiating Minister	Revd. Michl D. O'Hara

[163]3

27 October 1863

John Michael French
Caroline Margaret Corlett

John Michael French
Catherine Margaret Corlett
💍 1863/3871

Widower
Spinster

Importer
Domestic Servant

40
32

Victoria Street, Auckland
Official Bay, Auckland

3 years
3 years

Wesleyan Chapel, High Street, Auckland

63/69

11 November 1863

Revd. Thos. Buddle

No	[163]3
Date of Notice	27 October 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Michael French	Caroline Margaret Corlett
BDM Match (92%)	John Michael French	Catherine Margaret Corlett
	💍 1863/3871
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Importer	Domestic Servant
Age	40	32
Dwelling Place	Victoria Street, Auckland	Official Bay, Auckland
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Chapel, High Street, Auckland
Folio	63/69
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 November 1863
Officiating Minister	Revd. Thos. Buddle

[163]4

28 October 1863

Alfred Long
Marian Hoskins Smith

Alfred Long
Marion Hoskins Smith
💍 1863/7022

Bachelor
Spinster

Boatman

26
33

North Shore, near Auckland
North Shore, near Auckland

1 9/12 years
8 years

Church of England, North Shore

63/134

28 October 1863

Revd. E. H. Heywood

No	[163]4
Date of Notice	28 October 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Long	Marian Hoskins Smith
BDM Match (98%)	Alfred Long	Marion Hoskins Smith
	💍 1863/7022
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boatman
Age	26	33
Dwelling Place	North Shore, near Auckland	North Shore, near Auckland
Length of Residence	1 9/12 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, North Shore
Folio	63/134
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 October 1863
Officiating Minister	Revd. E. H. Heywood

[163]5

2 November 1863

John George Blakey
Laura Jane Gimbel

John George Blakey
Laura Jane Gimbel
💍 1863/3865

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

21
19

Vincent Street, Auckland
Cook Street, Auckland

4 years
From Birth

The dwelling house of Mr. John George Blakey, in Vincent Street, Auckland

63/67

Susanna Gimbel, Mother

2 November 1863

Revd. Thos. Buddle

No	[163]5
Date of Notice	2 November 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John George Blakey	Laura Jane Gimbel
	💍 1863/3865
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Vincent Street, Auckland	Cook Street, Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	From Birth
Marriage Place	The dwelling house of Mr. John George Blakey, in Vincent Street, Auckland
Folio	63/67
Consent	Susanna Gimbel, Mother
Date of Certificate	2 November 1863
Officiating Minister	Revd. Thos. Buddle

[163]6

3 November 1863

George Frederick Dunn
Isabella Stuart Smith

George Frederick Dunn
Isabella Stuart Smith
💍 1863/3805

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

35
18

Parnell
Stanley Street, Auckland

3 weeks
3 weeks

The dwelling house of James Milne Smith, (Father of the said Isabella Stuart Smith), in Stanley Street, Auckland

63/42

James Milne Smith, Father

3 November 1863

Revd. David Bruce

No	[163]6
Date of Notice	3 November 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Frederick Dunn	Isabella Stuart Smith
	💍 1863/3805
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	35	18
Dwelling Place	Parnell	Stanley Street, Auckland
Length of Residence	3 weeks	3 weeks
Marriage Place	The dwelling house of James Milne Smith, (Father of the said Isabella Stuart Smith), in Stanley Street, Auckland
Folio	63/42
Consent	James Milne Smith, Father
Date of Certificate	3 November 1863
Officiating Minister	Revd. David Bruce

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).