1865 Intentions to Marry

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840377, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Page 067

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 Dec 1865 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

2276

3 May 1865

Donald McKay
Isabella McKay

Donald McKay
Isabella McKay
💍 1865/4256

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23
22

Usually at Waipu - in Auckland
Usually at Waipu - in Auckland

1 week
1 week

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Auckland

3 May 1865

Rev. D Bruce

No	2276
Date of Notice	3 May 1865
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald McKay	Isabella McKay
	💍 1865/4256
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Usually at Waipu - in Auckland	Usually at Waipu - in Auckland
Length of Residence	1 week	1 week
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Auckland
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 May 1865
Officiating Minister	Rev. D Bruce

2277

4 May 1865

Henry Day
Mary Ann Barrett

Henry Day
Mary Anne Barrett
💍 1865/5120

Widower
Spinster

Butcher

58
30

Wyndham Street, Auckland
Wyndham Street

14 years
2 years

St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, Auckland

4 May 1865

Very Rev. Jas. McDonald

No	2277
Date of Notice	4 May 1865
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Day	Mary Ann Barrett
BDM Match (97%)	Henry Day	Mary Anne Barrett
	💍 1865/5120
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	58	30
Dwelling Place	Wyndham Street, Auckland	Wyndham Street
Length of Residence	14 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, Auckland
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 May 1865
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Jas. McDonald

2278

5 May 1865

Eugene Carroll
Catherine Higgins

Eugene Cassal
Catherine Higgins
💍 1865/5123

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier 18th Regiment
Servant

25
23

Auckland
Vincent Street, Auckland

5 days
3 months

St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, Auckland

5 May 1865

Very Rev. Jas. McDonald

No	2278
Date of Notice	5 May 1865
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eugene Carroll	Catherine Higgins
BDM Match (86%)	Eugene Cassal	Catherine Higgins
	💍 1865/5123
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier 18th Regiment	Servant
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Vincent Street, Auckland
Length of Residence	5 days	3 months
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, Auckland
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 May 1865
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Jas. McDonald

2279

6 May 1865

Henry Pope
Mary Ann Mill

Henry Pope
Mary Anne Mill
💍 1865/4463

Bachelor
Spinster

Custom House Officer

23
26

Ponsonby Road, Auckland
Remuera

2 years
5 years

House of Mr Geo Mill, Altena Cottage, Remuera

6 May 1865

Rev. A. Sinclair

No	2279
Date of Notice	6 May 1865
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Pope	Mary Ann Mill
BDM Match (96%)	Henry Pope	Mary Anne Mill
	💍 1865/4463
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Custom House Officer
Age	23	26
Dwelling Place	Ponsonby Road, Auckland	Remuera
Length of Residence	2 years	5 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr Geo Mill, Altena Cottage, Remuera
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 May 1865
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Sinclair

2280

8 May 1865

Philip Calloran
Eliza McIlheany

Philip Halloran
Eliza McIlchany
💍 1865/5381

Bachelor
Spinster

Shoemaker

27
21

Cook Street, Auckland
Hobson Street, Auckland

14 years
20 years

Roman Catholic Church, Parnell

8 May 1865

Rev. D. Gallosi

No	2280
Date of Notice	8 May 1865
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Philip Calloran	Eliza McIlheany
BDM Match (90%)	Philip Halloran	Eliza McIlchany
	💍 1865/5381
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shoemaker
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Cook Street, Auckland	Hobson Street, Auckland
Length of Residence	14 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Parnell
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 May 1865
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Gallosi

2281

8 May 1865

Joseph Cavanagh
Sarah McDaniell

Joseph Cavanagh
Sarah McDaniel
💍 1865/5126

Bachelor
Widow

Shoemaker

41
37

Queen Street, Auckland
Panmure

12 days
9 years

St Patricks Roman Catholic Church, Auckland

8 May 1865

Very Rev. James McDonald

No	2281
Date of Notice	8 May 1865
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Cavanagh	Sarah McDaniell
BDM Match (97%)	Joseph Cavanagh	Sarah McDaniel
	💍 1865/5126
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession		Shoemaker
Age	41	37
Dwelling Place	Queen Street, Auckland	Panmure
Length of Residence	12 days	9 years
Marriage Place	St Patricks Roman Catholic Church, Auckland
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 May 1865
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. James McDonald

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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Attribution: This image was digitised by Archives NZ Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga and is republished here under CC BY. It has been cropped and rotated for convenience.

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).