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 088

District of Auckland Quarter ending Jan - Dec

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

2403

28 July 1865

Charles Smith
Elizabeth Macateer

Charles Smith Chase
Elizabeth Macateer
💍 1865/4316

Bachelor
Spinster

Fisherman
Servant

21
19

Wyndham Street, Auckland
Wyndham Street, Auckland

1 mth
1 mth

St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Auckland

11 August 1865

Rev. David Bruce

No	2403
Date of Notice	28 July 1865
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Smith	Elizabeth Macateer
BDM Match (84%)	Charles Smith Chase	Elizabeth Macateer
	💍 1865/4316
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fisherman	Servant
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Wyndham Street, Auckland	Wyndham Street, Auckland
Length of Residence	1 mth	1 mth
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Auckland
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1865
Officiating Minister	Rev. David Bruce

2404

31 July 1865

John Broberg
Ellen Mayall

John Broberg
Ellen Mayall
💍 1865/4298

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman
Domestic duties

28
21

Abercrombie St, Auckland
Auckland

10 mths
8 mths

St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Auckland

31 July 1865

Rev. David Bruce

No	2404
Date of Notice	31 July 1865
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Broberg	Ellen Mayall
	💍 1865/4298
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman	Domestic duties
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Abercrombie St, Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	10 mths	8 mths
Marriage Place	St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Auckland
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 July 1865
Officiating Minister	Rev. David Bruce

2405

31 July 1865

Edward John Loner
Jane Shilpot

Edward John Conroy
Jane Philpot
💍 1865/5018

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Dress maker

25
22

Queen Street, Auckland
Wakefield Street, Auckland

18 mths
5 mths

House of Rev. Jas. Hill, Auckland

11 August 1865

Rev. Jas. Hill

No	2405
Date of Notice	31 July 1865
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward John Loner	Jane Shilpot
BDM Match (85%)	Edward John Conroy	Jane Philpot
	💍 1865/5018
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Dress maker
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Queen Street, Auckland	Wakefield Street, Auckland
Length of Residence	18 mths	5 mths
Marriage Place	House of Rev. Jas. Hill, Auckland
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1865
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. Hill

2406

31 July 1865

Thomas Allen
Martha Thompson

Thomas Allen
Martha Thompson
💍 1865/5699

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman
Servant

23
20

Hawleek Street, Auckland
Auckland

2 yrs
10 weeks

St. Pauls Church, Auckland

31 July 1865

Rev. J. F. Lloyd

No	2406
Date of Notice	31 July 1865
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Allen	Martha Thompson
	💍 1865/5699
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman	Servant
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Hawleek Street, Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 yrs	10 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Pauls Church, Auckland
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 July 1865
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Lloyd

2407

31 July 1865

Alexander Brodie
Eliza Davidson

Alexander Brodie
Eliza Davidson
💍 1865/5012

Bachelor
Spinster

Sergeant, Royal Engrs

24
22

Auckland
Barracks Street, Auckland

2 1/2 years
5 years

House of Mr. Davidson, Barracks Street, Auckland

31 July 1865

Rev. Jas. Hill

No	2407
Date of Notice	31 July 1865
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Brodie	Eliza Davidson
	💍 1865/5012
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sergeant, Royal Engrs
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Barracks Street, Auckland
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	5 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Davidson, Barracks Street, Auckland
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 July 1865
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. Hill

2408

1 August 1865

Joseph Sullivan
Margaret Riddick

Joseph Sullivan
Margaret Riddick
💍 1865/5171

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman

32
28

Wyndham Street, Auckland
Wyndham Street, Auckland

2 years
1

St. Patricks R. Catholic Church, Auckland

1 August 1865

Very Rev. Jas. McDonald

No	2408
Date of Notice	1 August 1865
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Sullivan	Margaret Riddick
	💍 1865/5171
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman
Age	32	28
Dwelling Place	Wyndham Street, Auckland	Wyndham Street, Auckland
Length of Residence	2 years	1
Marriage Place	St. Patricks R. Catholic Church, Auckland
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 August 1865
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Jas. McDonald

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

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).