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 153

District of Wanganui Quarter ending 31 March 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

456

9 February 1863

John Brown
Ellen Carter

John Brown
Ann Buxton
💍 1863/6009

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Spinster

30
19

Turakina
Wanganui

12 months
4 years

At the Church

456

Joseph Carter, Father

11 February 1863

Rev. R. J. Allsworth

No	456
Date of Notice	9 February 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Brown	Ellen Carter
BDM Match (63%)	John Brown	Ann Buxton
	💍 1863/6009
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Spinster
Age	30	19
Dwelling Place	Turakina	Wanganui
Length of Residence	12 months	4 years
Marriage Place	At the Church
Folio	456
Consent	Joseph Carter, Father
Date of Certificate	11 February 1863
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Allsworth

457

11 February 1863

Robert Simpson
Cathrine Grant

Robert Simpson
Catherine Grant
💍 1863/7931

Bachelor
Spinster

Shopman

25
19

Turakina
Turakina

12 months
13 years

At the Presbyterian Church

456

Alexander Grant, Father

23 February 1863

Rev. R. J. Allsworth

No	457
Date of Notice	11 February 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Simpson	Cathrine Grant
BDM Match (97%)	Robert Simpson	Catherine Grant
	💍 1863/7931
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shopman
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Turakina	Turakina
Length of Residence	12 months	13 years
Marriage Place	At the Presbyterian Church
Folio	456
Consent	Alexander Grant, Father
Date of Certificate	23 February 1863
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Allsworth

457

23 February 1863

William Crawford
Mary McLachlin

William Crawford
Mary McLachlan
💍 1863/7934

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Laundress

28
19

Raugitikei
Turakina

4 years
5 months

At the Church

457

Robert Brabin, step father

23 Feb 1863

Rev R J Allsworth

No	457
Date of Notice	23 February 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Crawford	Mary McLachlin
BDM Match (96%)	William Crawford	Mary McLachlan
	💍 1863/7934
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Laundress
Age	28	19
Dwelling Place	Raugitikei	Turakina
Length of Residence	4 years	5 months
Marriage Place	At the Church
Folio	457
Consent	Robert Brabin, step father
Date of Certificate	23 Feb 1863
Officiating Minister	Rev R J Allsworth

462

20 January 1863

Richard Howard
Eliza Stephens

Richard Howard
Eliza Stevens
💍 1863/7949

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

32
19

Raugitikei
do

5 years
7

At the Residence

462

Isabella Stephens, mother

26 January 1863

Rev. James Duncan

No	462
Date of Notice	20 January 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Howard	Eliza Stephens
BDM Match (93%)	Richard Howard	Eliza Stevens
	💍 1863/7949
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	32	19
Dwelling Place	Raugitikei	do
Length of Residence	5 years	7
Marriage Place	At the Residence
Folio	462
Consent	Isabella Stephens, mother
Date of Certificate	26 January 1863
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Duncan

463

31 January 1863

Samuel Kawau
Jane Hackley

Samuel Howan
Jane Hockley
💍 1863/7952

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

27
19

Manawatu
do

3 years
4

At the Residence of the Guardian

463

Louisa Ann Grant, Guardian

9 February 1863

Rev. R. J. Allsworth

No	463
Date of Notice	31 January 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Kawau	Jane Hackley
BDM Match (83%)	Samuel Howan	Jane Hockley
	💍 1863/7952
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	Manawatu	do
Length of Residence	3 years	4
Marriage Place	At the Residence of the Guardian
Folio	463
Consent	Louisa Ann Grant, Guardian
Date of Certificate	9 February 1863
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Allsworth

467

26 March 1863

Henry Glendinning
Rebua Montgomery

Henry Anderson
Rebecca Montgomery
💍 1863/7964

Bachelor
Spinster

Journalist

24
17

Wellington
Wanganui

1 year
10 months

At the Presbyterian Church Wanganui

467

Hugh Montgomery, Father

No	467
Date of Notice	26 March 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Glendinning	Rebua Montgomery
BDM Match (68%)	Henry Anderson	Rebecca Montgomery
	💍 1863/7964
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Journalist
Age	24	17
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wanganui
Length of Residence	1 year	10 months
Marriage Place	At the Presbyterian Church Wanganui
Folio	467
Consent	Hugh Montgomery, Father
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister

475

12 March 1863

Wm Thos Owen
Mary Stent

William Thomas Owen
Mary Stent
💍 1863/7994

Widower
Spinster

Chemist

over 21
over 21

Wanganui
Wanganui

5 years
2 years

United Church Wanganui

475

12 March 1863

Rev. C.S. Nicholls

No	475
Date of Notice	12 March 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wm Thos Owen	Mary Stent
BDM Match (82%)	William Thomas Owen	Mary Stent
	💍 1863/7994
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Chemist
Age	over 21	over 21
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Wanganui
Length of Residence	5 years	2 years
Marriage Place	United Church Wanganui
Folio	475
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 March 1863
Officiating Minister	Rev. C.S. Nicholls

476

24 March 1863

Charles Moore Igglesden
Amelia Sarah Nicholls

Charles Moore Igglesden
Amelia Sarah Nicholls
💍 1863/7997

Bachelor
Spinster

Surveyor

30
21

Lyttelton
Wanganui

one year
11 years

At Christ Church Wellington

476

24 March 1863

Rev. C.S. Nicholls

No	476
Date of Notice	24 March 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Moore Igglesden	Amelia Sarah Nicholls
	💍 1863/7997
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surveyor
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Wanganui
Length of Residence	one year	11 years
Marriage Place	At Christ Church Wellington
Folio	476
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1863
Officiating Minister	Rev. C.S. Nicholls

484

20 March 1863

Thos. Nathen
Jane Harris

Thomas Nathan
Jane Harris
💍 1863/3405

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

21
20

Wanganui
Wanganui

21 years
8 years

At the Residence of J. W. Harris

484

Saml. G. Harris, Father

20 March 1863

Rev. W. Watkins

No	484
Date of Notice	20 March 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thos. Nathen	Jane Harris
BDM Match (85%)	Thomas Nathan	Jane Harris
	💍 1863/3405
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Wanganui
Length of Residence	21 years	8 years
Marriage Place	At the Residence of J. W. Harris
Folio	484
Consent	Saml. G. Harris, Father
Date of Certificate	20 March 1863
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Watkins

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).