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 057

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 June 1864 Registrar John M. Wayland

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

1785

22 April 1864

James McGuire
Ellen Sullivan

James McGuire
Ellen Sullivan
💍 1864/8739

Bachelor
Spinster

Well sinker
Domestic Servant

22
17

Newton
Chancery Lane, Auckland

9 years
10 years

St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, Auckland

James McGuire, Bridegroom, in absence from the Colony of any other person with Authority to Consent

22 April 1864

Rev J McDonald

No	1785
Date of Notice	22 April 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James McGuire	Ellen Sullivan
	💍 1864/8739
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Well sinker	Domestic Servant
Age	22	17
Dwelling Place	Newton	Chancery Lane, Auckland
Length of Residence	9 years	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, Auckland
Folio
Consent	James McGuire, Bridegroom, in absence from the Colony of any other person with Authority to Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev J McDonald

1786

25 April 1864

Henry Edwards
Catherine Jones
formerly Kelly

Henry Edwards
Catherine Jones
💍 1864/4306

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
-

38
38

Durham Street, Auckland
High Street, Auckland

19 years
16 years

The dwelling house of the Rev T. Buddle, Auckland

25 April 1864

Rev T. Buddle

No	1786
Date of Notice	25 April 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Edwards	Catherine Jones formerly Kelly
	💍 1864/4306
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	-
Age	38	38
Dwelling Place	Durham Street, Auckland	High Street, Auckland
Length of Residence	19 years	16 years
Marriage Place	The dwelling house of the Rev T. Buddle, Auckland
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 April 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev T. Buddle

1787

25 April 1864

James Canning
Mary Ann Josephine Field

James Canning
Mary Anne Josephine Field
💍 1864/9032

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

36
21

Parnell
Parnell

6 years
18 years

St. John Baptist, Roman Catholic Church, Parnell

25 April 1864

Rev O Barsanti

No	1787
Date of Notice	25 April 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Canning	Mary Ann Josephine Field
BDM Match (98%)	James Canning	Mary Anne Josephine Field
	💍 1864/9032
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	36	21
Dwelling Place	Parnell	Parnell
Length of Residence	6 years	18 years
Marriage Place	St. John Baptist, Roman Catholic Church, Parnell
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 April 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev O Barsanti

1788

25 April 1864

John McCutchen
Ellen Russell
formerly Codey

John McCutchen
Ellen Russell
💍 1864/8811

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
-

37
29

Onehunga
Onehunga

3 weeks
3 weeks

Roman Catholic Church, Onehunga

25 April 1864

Rev J Paul

No	1788
Date of Notice	25 April 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McCutchen	Ellen Russell formerly Codey
	💍 1864/8811
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	-
Age	37	29
Dwelling Place	Onehunga	Onehunga
Length of Residence	3 weeks	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Onehunga
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 April 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev J Paul

1789

26 April 1864

William Gunson
Mary Dwyer

William Gunson
Mary Dwyer
💍 1864/4452

Bachelor
Spinster

Military Settler
-

27
22

Auckland Hotel, Auckland
Barrack Street, Auckland

10 days
6 weeks

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Auckland

26 April 1864

Registrar of Marriages

No	1789
Date of Notice	26 April 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Gunson	Mary Dwyer
	💍 1864/4452
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Military Settler	-
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland Hotel, Auckland	Barrack Street, Auckland
Length of Residence	10 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Auckland
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 April 1864
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

1790

27 April 1864

Stephen Patrick South
Elizabeth Josephine White

Stephen Patrick South
Elizabeth Josephine White
💍 1864/8748

Widower
Spinster

Storekeeper
Domestic Servant

30
18

Otahuhu
Spring Bank, Auckland

3 years
6 months

St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Auckland

Richard Wadeson White, Father

27 April 1864

Rev J McDonald

No	1790
Date of Notice	27 April 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stephen Patrick South	Elizabeth Josephine White
	💍 1864/8748
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Domestic Servant
Age	30	18
Dwelling Place	Otahuhu	Spring Bank, Auckland
Length of Residence	3 years	6 months
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Auckland
Folio
Consent	Richard Wadeson White, Father
Date of Certificate	27 April 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev J McDonald

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).