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 058

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 June 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

1791

27 April 1864

Charles Nelson
Isabella Stonaway

Charles Nelson
Isabella Stanaway
💍 1864/4816

Bachelor
Spinster

Master Mariner

32
17

Helensville, Auckland District
Kauhapahapa

10 years
2 years

The dwelling house of Mrs Bruce, Victoria Street, Auckland

John James Stanaway, Father

27 April 1864

Rev J. Hill

No	1791
Date of Notice	27 April 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Nelson	Isabella Stonaway
BDM Match (97%)	Charles Nelson	Isabella Stanaway
	💍 1864/4816
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Master Mariner
Age	32	17
Dwelling Place	Helensville, Auckland District	Kauhapahapa
Length of Residence	10 years	2 years
Marriage Place	The dwelling house of Mrs Bruce, Victoria Street, Auckland
Folio
Consent	John James Stanaway, Father
Date of Certificate	27 April 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Hill

1792

29 April 1864

Thomas Tunks
Elizabeth Frances Boylan

Thomas Tunks
Elizabeth Frances Boylan
💍 1864/8926

Widower
Spinster

Captain 1st Regiment Waikato Militia

53
32

Auckland
Newton

3 years
2 years

St. Matthew's Church, Auckland

29 April 1864

Rev D Jones

No	1792
Date of Notice	29 April 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Tunks	Elizabeth Frances Boylan
	💍 1864/8926
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Captain 1st Regiment Waikato Militia
Age	53	32
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Newton
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, Auckland
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 April 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev D Jones

1793

30 April 1864

Daniel Keane
Mary Boyce

Daniel Keane
Mary Boyce
💍 1864/3645

Bachelor
Spinster

Plasterer

26
18

Wellington Street, Auckland
Elliot Street, Auckland

4 years
4 years

The office of the Registrar of Marriages in Auckland

James Boyce, Father

30 April 1864

J M Maryland

No	1793
Date of Notice	30 April 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Keane	Mary Boyce
	💍 1864/3645
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plasterer
Age	26	18
Dwelling Place	Wellington Street, Auckland	Elliot Street, Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of Marriages in Auckland
Folio
Consent	James Boyce, Father
Date of Certificate	30 April 1864
Officiating Minister	J M Maryland

1794

2 May 1864

Henry Powell
Harriett Cook

Henry Powell
Harriett Cook
💍 1864/9314

Bachelor
Spinster

Boatman

23
19

Albert Street, Auckland
Chancery Street, Auckland

1 year
9 months

St. Paul's Church, Auckland

Henry Powell, Bridegroom, in the absence from the Colony of any person with Authority to Consent

2 May 1864

Rev J F Lloyd

No	1794
Date of Notice	2 May 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Powell	Harriett Cook
	💍 1864/9314
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boatman
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Albert Street, Auckland	Chancery Street, Auckland
Length of Residence	1 year	9 months
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Auckland
Folio
Consent	Henry Powell, Bridegroom, in the absence from the Colony of any person with Authority to Consent
Date of Certificate	2 May 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev J F Lloyd

1795

2 May 1864

Elias Benjamine
Sarah Nathan

Elias Benjamin
Sarah Nathan
💍 1864/4235

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant

26
21

Wynyard House, Auckland
Official Bay, Auckland

2 months
2 years

The Private Residence of Mrs D Nathan, Waterloo Quadrant, Auckland

2 May 1864

Rev. M Elkin

No	1795
Date of Notice	2 May 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Elias Benjamine	Sarah Nathan
BDM Match (97%)	Elias Benjamin	Sarah Nathan
	💍 1864/4235
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Wynyard House, Auckland	Official Bay, Auckland
Length of Residence	2 months	2 years
Marriage Place	The Private Residence of Mrs D Nathan, Waterloo Quadrant, Auckland
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 May 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev. M Elkin

1796

3 May 1864

George Rowley
Mary Jane Tate

George Rowley
Jane Tate
💍 1864/9200

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

33
23

Wairoa
Wairoa

3 years
2 weeks

The dwelling of Mr Chas Goodbrand, on the Wairoa River

3 May 1864

Rev T Norrie

No	1796
Date of Notice	3 May 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Rowley	Mary Jane Tate
BDM Match (82%)	George Rowley	Jane Tate
	💍 1864/9200
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	33	23
Dwelling Place	Wairoa	Wairoa
Length of Residence	3 years	2 weeks
Marriage Place	The dwelling of Mr Chas Goodbrand, on the Wairoa River
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 May 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev T Norrie

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).