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 305

District of Lyttelton Quarter ending 30 September 1864 Registrar James Townsend

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

1151

1 July 1864

Thomas Preece
Elizabeth Amelia Lownds

Thomas Preece
Elizabeth Amelia Lownds
💍 1864/6984

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman
Domestic Servant

39
21

Lyttelton late of Pigeon Bay
Lyttelton

3 days
3 days

Office of Registrar Lyttelton

64/1161

1 July 1864

James Townsend

No	1151
Date of Notice	1 July 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Preece	Elizabeth Amelia Lownds
	💍 1864/6984
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman	Domestic Servant
Age	39	21
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton late of Pigeon Bay	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar Lyttelton
Folio	64/1161
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 July 1864
Officiating Minister	James Townsend

1152

20 July 1864

John George Murray
Mary Gebbie

John George Murray
Mary Gebbie
💍 1864/7341

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28
22

Lincoln District
Head of the Bay

13 years
19 years

Mrs Gebbie's house, Head of the Bay

64/1026

21 July 1864

Rev. Charles Fraser

No	1152
Date of Notice	20 July 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John George Murray	Mary Gebbie
	💍 1864/7341
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Lincoln District	Head of the Bay
Length of Residence	13 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Mrs Gebbie's house, Head of the Bay
Folio	64/1026
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 July 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev. Charles Fraser

1153

27 July 1864

Gerhard Crone
Susannah Hill

Gerhard Crone
Susannah Hill
💍 1864/6960

Bachelor
Spinster

Master Mariner

31
21 3/4

Dunedin, at present of Lyttelton
Lyttelton

one week
5 years

House of Rev John Crump

64/1152

Mr. O. Hill, father

27 July 1864

Rev. John Crump

No	1153
Date of Notice	27 July 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gerhard Crone	Susannah Hill
	💍 1864/6960
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Master Mariner
Age	31	21 3/4
Dwelling Place	Dunedin, at present of Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	one week	5 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev John Crump
Folio	64/1152
Consent	Mr. O. Hill, father
Date of Certificate	27 July 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Crump

1154

9 August 1864

Henry Falls
Eleanor Jane Little

Henry Falls
Eleanor Jane Little
💍 1864/6963

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26
20

Auckland, at present Lyttelton
Lyttelton

8 days
1 1/2 years

House

64/1153

Eliza Little, mother

9 August 1864

Rev. George Grant

No	1154
Date of Notice	9 August 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Falls	Eleanor Jane Little
	💍 1864/6963
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Auckland, at present Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	8 days	1 1/2 years
Marriage Place	House
Folio	64/1153
Consent	Eliza Little, mother
Date of Certificate	9 August 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Grant

1155

13 August 1864

William Feathery
Mary Douglass

William Feathery
Mary Douglas
💍 1864/6906

Widower
Widow

Engine Fitter
Domestic Servant

35
40

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

4 1/2 years
1 year

Church of England

64/1133

13 August 1864

Rev. Francis Knowles

No	1155
Date of Notice	13 August 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Feathery	Mary Douglass
BDM Match (96%)	William Feathery	Mary Douglas
	💍 1864/6906
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Engine Fitter	Domestic Servant
Age	35	40
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	4 1/2 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Church of England
Folio	64/1133
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 August 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev. Francis Knowles

1156

19 August 1864

Henry Zachary Nichols
Jemima Hall

Henry Zachary Nicholls
Jemima Hall
💍 1864/6918

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

35
22

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

1 year 2 months
4 months

Trinity Church Lyttelton

64/1137

8 September 1864

Rev. F. Knowles

No	1156
Date of Notice	19 August 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Zachary Nichols	Jemima Hall
BDM Match (98%)	Henry Zachary Nicholls	Jemima Hall
	💍 1864/6918
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	35	22
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	1 year 2 months	4 months
Marriage Place	Trinity Church Lyttelton
Folio	64/1137
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 September 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Knowles

1157

22 August 1864

Andrew Sherratt
Mary Ann King

Andrew Sherratt
Mary Ann King
💍 1864/6966

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

24 3/4
22 1/2

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

11 months
2 years

Wesleyan Chapel at Lyttelton

64/1154

22 August 1864

Rev. John Crump

No	1157
Date of Notice	22 August 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Sherratt	Mary Ann King
	💍 1864/6966
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	24 3/4	22 1/2
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	11 months	2 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Chapel at Lyttelton
Folio	64/1154
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 August 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Crump

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).