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 341

District of Waikouaiti 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

8 January 1864

Levi Bradley
Jane Phillips

Levi Bradley
Jane Phillips
💍 1864/6782

Widower
Spinster

Painter

33
25

Waikouaiti
Waikouaiti

18 months
3 weeks

Episcopal Church Waikouaiti

1234

8 January 1864

Rev. A. Dasent

No	50
Date of Notice	8 January 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Levi Bradley	Jane Phillips
	💍 1864/6782
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Waikouaiti	Waikouaiti
Length of Residence	18 months	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Episcopal Church Waikouaiti
Folio	1234
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 January 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Dasent

19 January 1864

Thomas William Ward
Barbara Campbell

Thomas W Ward
Barbara Campbell
💍 1864/5388

Bachelor
Spinster

Store Keeper
Domestic Servant

24
24

Shag Valley
Shag Valley

15 months
6 months

Mr. Morrison's Hotel Coal Creek

1721

19 January 1864

Rev. J. Christie

No	51
Date of Notice	19 January 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas William Ward	Barbara Campbell
BDM Match (84%)	Thomas W Ward	Barbara Campbell
	💍 1864/5388
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Store Keeper	Domestic Servant
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Shag Valley	Shag Valley
Length of Residence	15 months	6 months
Marriage Place	Mr. Morrison's Hotel Coal Creek
Folio	1721
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Christie

21 January 1864

William Souter
Mary Brooks

William Souter
Mary Brooks
💍 1864/5394

Bachelor
Spinster

Settler
Domestic Servant

28
22

Hawkesbury
Goodwood

2 years
6 months

Mr. Stewards House Green Bank Hawkesbury

1723

21 January 1864

Rev. J. Christie

No	52
Date of Notice	21 January 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Souter	Mary Brooks
	💍 1864/5394
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Settler	Domestic Servant
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Hawkesbury	Goodwood
Length of Residence	2 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Mr. Stewards House Green Bank Hawkesbury
Folio	1723
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 January 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Christie

23 January 1864

John Southerland
Ann Doull

John Sutherland
Ann Doull
💍 1864/5391

Bachelor
Spinster

Settler

27
23

Stony Creek
Pukitaipu

18 months
6 months

Mr. McKenzie's House Pukitaipu

1722

23 January 1864

Rev. J. Christie

No	53
Date of Notice	23 January 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Southerland	Ann Doull
BDM Match (97%)	John Sutherland	Ann Doull
	💍 1864/5391
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Settler
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Stony Creek	Pukitaipu
Length of Residence	18 months	6 months
Marriage Place	Mr. McKenzie's House Pukitaipu
Folio	1722
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Christie

8 February 1864

George Henry Reelman
Mary Dunevon

George Henry Redman
Mary Donovan
💍 1864/6785

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Servant

21
21

Waikouaiti
Waikouaiti

2 years
11 months

Episcopal Church Waikouaiti

1235

8 February 1864

Rev. J. Christie Rev J Dasent ?

No	54
Date of Notice	8 February 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Reelman	Mary Dunevon
BDM Match (83%)	George Henry Redman	Mary Donovan
	💍 1864/6785
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Servant
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Waikouaiti	Waikouaiti
Length of Residence	2 years	11 months
Marriage Place	Episcopal Church Waikouaiti
Folio	1235
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Christie Rev J Dasent ?

23 February 1864

Pierce Power
Eliza McKinstry

Pierce Power
Eliza McKinstry
💍 1864/4891

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman

28
24

Waikouaiti
Waikouaiti

4 days
7 days

Episcopal Church Waikouaiti

1895

23 February 1864

Rev. A. Dasent

No	55
Date of Notice	23 February 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Pierce Power	Eliza McKinstry
	💍 1864/4891
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Waikouaiti	Waikouaiti
Length of Residence	4 days	7 days
Marriage Place	Episcopal Church Waikouaiti
Folio	1895
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Dasent

7 March 1864

Paul Tukeke
Mata Kurukuru

Paul Tukeke
Mata Kurukuru
💍 1864/6794

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd

21
19

Waikouaiti
Waikouaiti

3 years
19 years

Registrars Office Waikouaiti

1239

David Kurukuru, Father

7 March 1864

Francis Franks

No	56
Date of Notice	7 March 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Paul Tukeke	Mata Kurukuru
	💍 1864/6794
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Waikouaiti	Waikouaiti
Length of Residence	3 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Waikouaiti
Folio	1239
Consent	David Kurukuru, Father
Date of Certificate	7 March 1864
Officiating Minister	Francis Franks

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).