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 187

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 June 1865 Registrar John Elisha Smith

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

13 April 1865

Herbert Thomas Phillips
Louisa Harris

Herbert Thos Phillips
Louisa Harris
💍 1865/6158

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

22
25

Wellington
Wellington

8 years
4 years

Scotch Church, Lambton Quay

65/698

13 April 1865

The Rev. James Stirling Muir, and others

No	30
Date of Notice	13 April 1865
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Thomas Phillips	Louisa Harris
BDM Match (96%)	Herbert Thos Phillips	Louisa Harris
	💍 1865/6158
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	22	25
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	8 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Scotch Church, Lambton Quay
Folio	65/698
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 April 1865
Officiating Minister	The Rev. James Stirling Muir, and others

15 April 1865

William McPhun
Sarah Buckeridge

William McPhinn
Sarah Buckeridge
💍 1865/6203

Widower
Spinster

Carpenter

40 years & 7 months
30 years

Wellington
Wellington

2 years
1 year

Private Residence of William McPhun, Gluznee Street

65/715

15 April 1865

The Rev. John Moir, and others

No	31
Date of Notice	15 April 1865
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McPhun	Sarah Buckeridge
BDM Match (93%)	William McPhinn	Sarah Buckeridge
	💍 1865/6203
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	40 years & 7 months	30 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	2 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Private Residence of William McPhun, Gluznee Street
Folio	65/715
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1865
Officiating Minister	The Rev. John Moir, and others

18 April 1865

William Buttler Buick
Elizabeth Collett

William Butler Buick
Elizabeth Collett
💍 1865/4193

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23
20

Pitone, Hutt
Pitone, Hutt

12 years
18 years

St. James' Church Lower Hutt

Henry Collett, father

18 April 1865

The Rev. John Edward Herring, and others

No	32
Date of Notice	18 April 1865
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Buttler Buick	Elizabeth Collett
BDM Match (98%)	William Butler Buick	Elizabeth Collett
	💍 1865/4193
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Pitone, Hutt	Pitone, Hutt
Length of Residence	12 years	18 years
Marriage Place	St. James' Church Lower Hutt
Folio
Consent	Henry Collett, father
Date of Certificate	18 April 1865
Officiating Minister	The Rev. John Edward Herring, and others

1 May 1865

William McIntosh Muir
Mary Louisa Chappell

William McIntosh Muir
Mary Louisa Chappell
💍 1865/6206

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor

22
24

Wellington
Wellington

many years
8 years

Residence of Mr. Henry Chappell Wellington

65/716

1 May 1865

The Rev. John Moir, and others

No	33
Date of Notice	1 May 1865
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McIntosh Muir	Mary Louisa Chappell
	💍 1865/6206
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	many years	8 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Henry Chappell Wellington
Folio	65/716
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 May 1865
Officiating Minister	The Rev. John Moir, and others

1 May 1865

John William Matthews
Christina Isabella Stoddart

John William Matthews
Christina Isabella Stoddart
💍 1865/4367

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

24
17

Wellington
Wellington

18 mos
17 years

Residence of Mrs. James Stoddart Wellington

Christina Stoddart, mother

1 May 1865

The Rev. Isaac Harding, and others

No	34
Date of Notice	1 May 1865
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Matthews	Christina Isabella Stoddart
	💍 1865/4367
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	24	17
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	18 mos	17 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. James Stoddart Wellington
Folio
Consent	Christina Stoddart, mother
Date of Certificate	1 May 1865
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Isaac Harding, and others

2 May 1865

Robert Mabey
Mary Winteringham

Robert Mabey
Mary Winteringham
💍 1865/6290

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

21 years & upwards
20 years

Hutt
Hutt

many years
about 9 years

Residence of Mr. Job Mabey, Hutt

65/746

Henry Winteringham, father

2 May 1865

The Rev. John Edward Herring, and others

No	35
Date of Notice	2 May 1865
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Mabey	Mary Winteringham
	💍 1865/6290
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	21 years & upwards	20 years
Dwelling Place	Hutt	Hutt
Length of Residence	many years	about 9 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Job Mabey, Hutt
Folio	65/746
Consent	Henry Winteringham, father
Date of Certificate	2 May 1865
Officiating Minister	The Rev. John Edward Herring, and others

5 May 1865

Walter Grey
Margaret Griffiths

Walter Grey
Margaret Griffiths
💍 1865/6209

Bachelor
Spinster

Gentleman

22 1/2 years
20 years & upwards

Wellington
Wellington

3 months
3 months

Residence of Mrs. Styles, Molesworth Street

65/717

No person resident within the Colony of New Zealand authorized by law to give consent to the marriage of Margaret Griffiths

5 May 1865

The Rev. John Moir, and others

No	36
Date of Notice	5 May 1865
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Grey	Margaret Griffiths
	💍 1865/6209
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gentleman
Age	22 1/2 years	20 years & upwards
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 months	3 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Styles, Molesworth Street
Folio	65/717
Consent	No person resident within the Colony of New Zealand authorized by law to give consent to the marriage of Margaret Griffiths
Date of Certificate	5 May 1865
Officiating Minister	The Rev. John Moir, and others

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 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).