Intentions to Marry, 1864

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840376, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Page 138

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 March 1864

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

15 January 1864

Charles Swanson
Ellen Gorrie

Charles Swanson
Ellen Gorrie
💍 1864/8584

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23 years
19 years

Wainuiomata
Wainuiomata

8 months
5 years

In the private residence of Mr Thomas Gorrie at the Lower Hutt

64/554

Thomas Gorrie, father of Ellen Gorrie

15 January 1864

The Rev. John Crump and others

No	3
Date of Notice	15 January 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Swanson	Ellen Gorrie
	💍 1864/8584
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Wainuiomata	Wainuiomata
Length of Residence	8 months	5 years
Marriage Place	In the private residence of Mr Thomas Gorrie at the Lower Hutt
Folio	64/554
Consent	Thomas Gorrie, father of Ellen Gorrie
Date of Certificate	15 January 1864
Officiating Minister	The Rev. John Crump and others

21 January 1864

Ernest Louis Bucholz
Ellen Murch

Ernest Louis Bucholz
Ellen Murch
💍 1864/8124

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant

26 years & upwards
18 years & upwards

Auckland - at present residing in Wellington
Wellington

3 days
many years

St. Peters Church in Willis Street

64/557

Catherine Murch, mother of Ellen Murch

21 January 1864

Rev. Arthur Stock B.A. and others

No	4
Date of Notice	21 January 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Louis Bucholz	Ellen Murch
	💍 1864/8124
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant
Age	26 years & upwards	18 years & upwards
Dwelling Place	Auckland - at present residing in Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 days	many years
Marriage Place	St. Peters Church in Willis Street
Folio	64/557
Consent	Catherine Murch, mother of Ellen Murch
Date of Certificate	21 January 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev. Arthur Stock B.A. and others

1 February 1864

Peter Doreen
junr.
Pauline Leight

Peter Brown
Pauline Leight
💍 1864/8130

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawyer

24 years
18 years

Wellington
Wellington

4 days
many years

St Paul's Church Thorndon, Wellington

64/559

John Henry Leight, father of Selina Leight

1 February 1864

The Rev. Frederick Thatcher M.A. and others

No	4
Date of Notice	1 February 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Doreen junr.	Pauline Leight
BDM Match (83%)	Peter Brown	Pauline Leight
	💍 1864/8130
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawyer
Age	24 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	4 days	many years
Marriage Place	St Paul's Church Thorndon, Wellington
Folio	64/559
Consent	John Henry Leight, father of Selina Leight
Date of Certificate	1 February 1864
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Frederick Thatcher M.A. and others

26 January 1864

Alexander Cameron
Jemima McDonell

Alexander Cameron
Jemima McDonnell
💍 1864/8133

Bachelor
Spinster

Settler

25 years
about 22 years

Wellington
Wellington

3 days
1 month

Roman Catholic Chapel in Manners Street

64/558

26 January 1864

Rev. J. J P. O'Reilly and others

No	5
Date of Notice	26 January 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Cameron	Jemima McDonell
BDM Match (97%)	Alexander Cameron	Jemima McDonnell
	💍 1864/8133
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Settler
Age	25 years	about 22 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 days	1 month
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Chapel in Manners Street
Folio	64/558
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J P. O'Reilly and others

2 February 1864

Charles Monaghan
Elizabeth Patience Parker

Charles Monaghan
Elizabeth Patience Parker
💍 1864/8145

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer

23 years
about 18 years

Wellington
Wellington

many years
6 months

Wesleyan Chapel Hutt

64/563

Thomas Parker, father of Elizabeth Patience Parker

2 February 1864

The Rev. John Crump and others

No	5
Date of Notice	2 February 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Monaghan	Elizabeth Patience Parker
	💍 1864/8145
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer
Age	23 years	about 18 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	many years	6 months
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Chapel Hutt
Folio	64/563
Consent	Thomas Parker, father of Elizabeth Patience Parker
Date of Certificate	2 February 1864
Officiating Minister	The Rev. John Crump and others

5 February 1864

John William Smith
Elizabeth Roe

John William Smith
Elizabeth Roe
💍 1864/8136

Bachelor
Spinster

Private W C D Force

25 years
21 years and 3 mos

Wellington
Wellington

6 months
7 years

In the Private residence of Mr Frederick Jeffery in Molesworth Street

64/560

5 February 1864

The Rev. Joshua Smith and others

No	6
Date of Notice	5 February 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Smith	Elizabeth Roe
	💍 1864/8136
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Private W C D Force
Age	25 years	21 years and 3 mos
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	6 months	7 years
Marriage Place	In the Private residence of Mr Frederick Jeffery in Molesworth Street
Folio	64/560
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1864
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Joshua Smith 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).