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 285

District of Lyttelton 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

224

6 July 1863

Richard Bradfield
Elizabeth Collier

No corresponding marriage registration located.

Bachelor
Spinster

Miller

24
24

London Street
Canterbury Street

15 months
5 years

Wesleyan Chapel, Lyttelton

6 July

Rev. Joseph J. Shaw

No	224
Date of Notice	6 July 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Bradfield	Elizabeth Collier
	💍 No corresponding marriage registration located.
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miller
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	London Street	Canterbury Street
Length of Residence	15 months	5 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Chapel, Lyttelton
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 July
Officiating Minister	Rev. Joseph J. Shaw

225

25 July 1863

William Elias Norrish
Mary Ann Webb

Duplicate entry. See 25 above. Marriage not found.

Bachelor
Spinster

26
20

Hawkeswood Road
Brenchley Farm

3 years
3 years

Wesleyan Chapel, Lyttelton

Samuel Webb, Father of Mary Ann Webb

25 July

Rev Joseph T Shaw

No	225
Date of Notice	25 July 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Elias Norrish	Mary Ann Webb
BDM Match (6%)
	💍 Duplicate entry. See 25 above. Marriage not found.
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Hawkeswood Road	Brenchley Farm
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Chapel, Lyttelton
Folio
Consent	Samuel Webb, Father of Mary Ann Webb
Date of Certificate	25 July
Officiating Minister	Rev Joseph T Shaw

227

10 August 1863

John Death
Mary Jane Fooks

John Death
Mary Jane Fooks
💍 1863/6254

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk ...... Customs

21
25

Oxford Street, Lyttelton
Sumner road neasr Lyttelton

1 year
2 years

Church of the Holy Trinity, Lyttelton

29 August

Rev Francis Knowles

No	227
Date of Notice	10 August 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Death	Mary Jane Fooks
	💍 1863/6254
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk ...... Customs
Age	21	25
Dwelling Place	Oxford Street, Lyttelton	Sumner road neasr Lyttelton
Length of Residence	1 year	2 years
Marriage Place	Church of the Holy Trinity, Lyttelton
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 August
Officiating Minister	Rev Francis Knowles

228

13 August 1863

William Todd
Elizabeth Spiller

William Todd
Elizabeth Spiller
💍 1863/6257

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner
Domestic Servant

28
18

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

7 m.
7 m.

Church of the Holy Trinity

29 August

Rev Francis Knowles

No	228
Date of Notice	13 August 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Todd	Elizabeth Spiller
	💍 1863/6257
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner	Domestic Servant
Age	28	18
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	7 m.	7 m.
Marriage Place	Church of the Holy Trinity
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 August
Officiating Minister	Rev Francis Knowles

229

14 Aug 1863

Marmaduke Weastell
Georgina Wilburn

Marmaduke Weastell
Georgina Wilburn
💍 1863/6260

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
General servant

21
19

St David's St, Lyttelton
St David's St, Lyttelton

4 y.
3 y.

Church of the Holy Trinity, Lyttelton

31 Aug 1863

Rev Francis Knowles

No	229
Date of Notice	14 Aug 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Marmaduke Weastell	Georgina Wilburn
	💍 1863/6260
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	General servant
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	St David's St, Lyttelton	St David's St, Lyttelton
Length of Residence	4 y.	3 y.
Marriage Place	Church of the Holy Trinity, Lyttelton
Folio
Consent	31 Aug 1863
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	Rev Francis Knowles

230

31 August 1863

George Agar
Catherine Carroll

George Agar
Catharine Carroll
💍 1863/3718

Bachelor
Spinster

Waterman
Domestic Servant

25
22

London Street
Union Bank of Australia, Lyttelton

5 years
8 years

House of Mrs Carroll, Exeter St.

31 August

Rev. Francis Knowles

No	230
Date of Notice	31 August 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Agar	Catherine Carroll
BDM Match (97%)	George Agar	Catharine Carroll
	💍 1863/3718
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Waterman	Domestic Servant
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	London Street	Union Bank of Australia, Lyttelton
Length of Residence	5 years	8 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs Carroll, Exeter St.
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 August
Officiating Minister	Rev. Francis Knowles

231

27 August 1863

William Salt
Mary Merralls

No corresponding marriage registration found.

Bachelor
Spinster

Bricklayer

24
21

Salts Gully
Dampier's Bay

12 years
about 12 months

House of Mr L.... man[?], Dampier's Bay

29 August

Rev. Joseph J. Shaw

No	231
Date of Notice	27 August 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Salt	Mary Merralls
	💍 No corresponding marriage registration found.
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Salts Gully	Dampier's Bay
Length of Residence	12 years	about 12 months
Marriage Place	House of Mr L.... man[?], Dampier's Bay
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 August
Officiating Minister	Rev. Joseph J. Shaw

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).