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 141

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 September 1863

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

27 July 1863

William Barrett
Brenda Gray

William Burrett
Brenda Gray
💍 1863/7702

Bachelor
Spinster

Color Sergeant in 2nd Battalion of H.M. 14th Regt.

22 years and 10 months
19 years

Wellington
Wellington

1 year and 7 months
16 years

In the Roman Catholic Chapel known as "St. Mary's" situate in Manners Street

63/375

George Gray, father of Brenda Gray

27 July 1863

The Rev. J.J.P. O'Reily and others

No	59
Date of Notice	27 July 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Barrett	Brenda Gray
BDM Match (97%)	William Burrett	Brenda Gray
	💍 1863/7702
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Color Sergeant in 2nd Battalion of H.M. 14th Regt.
Age	22 years and 10 months	19 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	1 year and 7 months	16 years
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Chapel known as "St. Mary's" situate in Manners Street
Folio	63/375
Consent	George Gray, father of Brenda Gray
Date of Certificate	27 July 1863
Officiating Minister	The Rev. J.J.P. O'Reily and others

29 July 1863

William Edwards
Elizabeth Clapham

William Edwards
Elizabeth Clapham
💍 1863/7651

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24 years
26 years

Taita
Ngahauranga

19 years
about 19 years

St. Paul's Church Thorndon

63/356

29 July 1863

The Rev. Frederick Thatcher M.A. and others

No	60
Date of Notice	29 July 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Edwards	Elizabeth Clapham
	💍 1863/7651
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Taita	Ngahauranga
Length of Residence	19 years	about 19 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church Thorndon
Folio	63/356
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 July 1863
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Frederick Thatcher M.A. and others

29 July 1863

William Dew
Mary Hirst

William Dew
Mary Hirst
💍 1863/7648

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer
Relict of Sidney Hirst decd

36 years
40 years

Hutt
Hutt

10 years
10 years

St. Paul's Church Thorndon

63/355

29 July 1863

The Rev. Frederick Thatcher M.A. and others

No	61
Date of Notice	29 July 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Dew	Mary Hirst
	💍 1863/7648
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Relict of Sidney Hirst decd
Age	36 years	40 years
Dwelling Place	Hutt	Hutt
Length of Residence	10 years	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church Thorndon
Folio	63/355
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 July 1863
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Frederick Thatcher M.A. and others

3 August 1863

Edward Henry Tate
Sophia Amelia Askin

Edward Henry Tate
Sophia Amelia Askin
💍 1863/7675

Bachelor
Widow

Accountant in W.B.A.
Relict of Walter Askin decd

34 years
28 years

Wellington
Wellington

1 year and 4 months
6 years

St. Peter's Church Willis Street

63/364

25 August 1863

The Rev. Arthur Stock B.A. and others

No	62
Date of Notice	3 August 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Henry Tate	Sophia Amelia Askin
	💍 1863/7675
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Accountant in W.B.A.	Relict of Walter Askin decd
Age	34 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	1 year and 4 months	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church Willis Street
Folio	63/364
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 August 1863
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Arthur Stock B.A. and others

4 August 1863

William Cleland
Eunice Hester Percy

William Cleland
Eunice Hester Percy
💍 1863/7672

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

about 23 years
24 years

Hutt
Hutt

about 4 years
many years

Parish Church of St. Peters Wellington

63/363

4 August 1863

The Rev. Arthur Stock and others

No	63
Date of Notice	4 August 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Cleland	Eunice Hester Percy
	💍 1863/7672
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	about 23 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Hutt	Hutt
Length of Residence	about 4 years	many years
Marriage Place	Parish Church of St. Peters Wellington
Folio	63/363
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 August 1863
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Arthur Stock 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 1908. 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).