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 149

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 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

31 October 1863

John Shotter
Harriet McKelvey

John Shotter
Harriet McKelvie
💍 1863/7660

Bachelor
Spinster

Splitter of Fire-wood

32 years
17 years

Makara
Makara

8 years
about 14 years

St. Paul's Church, Thorndon

359

William McKelvey, father of Harriet McKelvey

16 November 1863

The Rev. Fredk. Thatcher, M.A. and others

No	85
Date of Notice	31 October 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Shotter	Harriet McKelvey
BDM Match (94%)	John Shotter	Harriet McKelvie
	💍 1863/7660
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Splitter of Fire-wood
Age	32 years	17 years
Dwelling Place	Makara	Makara
Length of Residence	8 years	about 14 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Thorndon
Folio	359
Consent	William McKelvey, father of Harriet McKelvey
Date of Certificate	16 November 1863
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Fredk. Thatcher, M.A. and others

2 November 1863

Henry Pamant
Phoebe McEwen

Henry Damant
Phoebe McEwen
💍 1863/7868

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

22 years
20 years

Hutt
Hutt

10 years, 11 months
5 years, 11 months

Primitive Methodist Church in Sydney Street

434

James McEwen, father of Phoebe McEwen and others

16 November 1863

The Rev. Joshua Smith and others

No	86
Date of Notice	2 November 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Pamant	Phoebe McEwen
BDM Match (96%)	Henry Damant	Phoebe McEwen
	💍 1863/7868
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	22 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Hutt	Hutt
Length of Residence	10 years, 11 months	5 years, 11 months
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church in Sydney Street
Folio	434
Consent	James McEwen, father of Phoebe McEwen and others
Date of Certificate	16 November 1863
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Joshua Smith and others

16 November 1863

Thomas Tiffer
Sarah Jane Gooden

Thomas Tipper
Sarah Jane Gooding
💍 1864/8121

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

27 years
19 years

Wellington
Wellington

about 3 months
19 years

St. Peter's Church, Willis Street

556

Leonard Gooden, father of Sarah Jane Gooden

2 December 1863

The Rev. Arthur Stock B.A. and others

No	87
Date of Notice	16 November 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Tiffer	Sarah Jane Gooden
BDM Match (87%)	Thomas Tipper	Sarah Jane Gooding
	💍 1864/8121
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	27 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	about 3 months	19 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Willis Street
Folio	556
Consent	Leonard Gooden, father of Sarah Jane Gooden
Date of Certificate	2 December 1863
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Arthur Stock B.A. and others

16 November 1863

Samuel Death
Mary Ann Ridler

Samuel Death
Mary Ann Ridler
💍 1863/7892

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25 years
20 years

Wainuetu
Hutt

2 years
upwards, 21 years

St. James Church, Lower Hutt

443

The Rev. Sig. Johnstone and others

2 December 1863

The Rev. Mr. By, Blundell etc. and others

No	88
Date of Notice	16 November 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Death	Mary Ann Ridler
	💍 1863/7892
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Wainuetu	Hutt
Length of Residence	2 years	upwards, 21 years
Marriage Place	St. James Church, Lower Hutt
Folio	443
Consent	The Rev. Sig. Johnstone and others
Date of Certificate	2 December 1863
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Mr. By, Blundell etc. and others

20 November 1863

George Henry Johnstone
Aline Tungelman von Adelfing

George Henry Johnstone
Aline Tunzelmann Von Adlerflug
💍 1863/7898

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk in Holy Orders

24 years
24 years, about 4 years

Bullage, Hutt
Bullage, Hutt

2 years
upwards, 4 years

Christchurch, Taita

445

The Right Rev. Father in God Charles John, Bishop of Wellington and others

8 December 1863

The Right Rev. Father in God Charles John, Bishop of Wellington, and others

No	89
Date of Notice	20 November 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Johnstone	Aline Tungelman von Adelfing
BDM Match (88%)	George Henry Johnstone	Aline Tunzelmann Von Adlerflug
	💍 1863/7898
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk in Holy Orders
Age	24 years	24 years, about 4 years
Dwelling Place	Bullage, Hutt	Bullage, Hutt
Length of Residence	2 years	upwards, 4 years
Marriage Place	Christchurch, Taita
Folio	445
Consent	The Right Rev. Father in God Charles John, Bishop of Wellington and others
Date of Certificate	8 December 1863
Officiating Minister	The Right Rev. Father in God Charles John, Bishop of Wellington, 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).