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 188

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 June 1865

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

5 May 1865

William Leslie Dorset
Mary Emily Mathews

William Leslie Dorset
Mary Emily Matthews
💍 1865/6161

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer

22 years
21 years & upwards

Wellington
Wellington

about 5 weeks
4 mos

Private Residence of the Rev. James S. Muir, Ghuznee Street

65/699

5 May 1865

The Rev. James Stirling Muir, and others

No	37
Date of Notice	5 May 1865
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Leslie Dorset	Mary Emily Mathews
BDM Match (97%)	William Leslie Dorset	Mary Emily Matthews
	💍 1865/6161
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer
Age	22 years	21 years & upwards
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	about 5 weeks	4 mos
Marriage Place	Private Residence of the Rev. James S. Muir, Ghuznee Street
Folio	65/699
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 May 1865
Officiating Minister	The Rev. James Stirling Muir, and others

9 May 1865

Henry Dryden
Mary Ann Eagle

Henry Dryden
Mary Ann Eagle
💍 1865/6164

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

24
22

Wellington
Wellington

4 mos.
about 7 years

Private Residence of Henry Dryden, Molesworth St., Thorndon

65/700

Notice withdrawn May 12th 1865 - see no.39

No	38
Date of Notice	9 May 1865
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Dryden	Mary Ann Eagle
	💍 1865/6164
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	4 mos.	about 7 years
Marriage Place	Private Residence of Henry Dryden, Molesworth St., Thorndon
Folio	65/700
Consent	Notice withdrawn May 12th 1865 - see no.39
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister

12 May 1865

Henry Dryden
Mary Ann Eagle

Henry Dryden
Mary Ann Eagle
💍 1865/6164

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

24
22

Wellington
Wellington

4 mos
About 7 years

Residence of Mr Stephen Lancaster, Karori

65/700

27 May 1865

The Rev. James Stirling Muir, and others

No	39
Date of Notice	12 May 1865
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Dryden	Mary Ann Eagle
	💍 1865/6164
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	4 mos	About 7 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Stephen Lancaster, Karori
Folio	65/700
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 May 1865
Officiating Minister	The Rev. James Stirling Muir, and others

16 May 1865

William John Burrows
Mary Jane Sharp

William John Burrows
Mary Jane Sharp
💍 1865/6212

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

28 years
20 years and 9 months

Wellington
Wellington

6 days
6 days

Residence of the Rev. John Moir, Wellington

65/718

No person resident within the Colony authorized by law, to give consent to the marriage of Mary Jane Sharp.

16 May 1865

The Rev. John Moir, and others

No	40
Date of Notice	16 May 1865
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Burrows	Mary Jane Sharp
	💍 1865/6212
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	28 years	20 years and 9 months
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	6 days	6 days
Marriage Place	Residence of the Rev. John Moir, Wellington
Folio	65/718
Consent	No person resident within the Colony authorized by law, to give consent to the marriage of Mary Jane Sharp.
Date of Certificate	16 May 1865
Officiating Minister	The Rev. John Moir, and others

17 May 1865

Patrick Brannigan
Margaret Bennard

Patrick Brannigan
Margaret Bernard
💍 1865/3939

Bachelor
Spinster

Stockholder

35
18

Wellington
Wellington

14 days
18 years

Roman Catholic Chapel, Manners Street

65/689

William Bennard, Father

17 May 1865

The Rev. J.J. P. O'Reilly, and others

No	41
Date of Notice	17 May 1865
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Brannigan	Margaret Bennard
BDM Match (97%)	Patrick Brannigan	Margaret Bernard
	💍 1865/3939
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stockholder
Age	35	18
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	14 days	18 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Chapel, Manners Street
Folio	65/689
Consent	William Bennard, Father
Date of Certificate	17 May 1865
Officiating Minister	The Rev. J.J. P. O'Reilly, and others

18 May 1865

Thomas Sparks
Mary Ann Robinson

Thomas Sparks
Mary Ann Robinson
💍 1865/6314

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

26
17

Stokes Valley
Stokes Valley

2 years
5 years

Primitive Methodist Chapel, Sydney Street

65/755

William Robinson, Father

5 June 1865

The Rev. Charles Waters, and others.

No	42
Date of Notice	18 May 1865
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Sparks	Mary Ann Robinson
	💍 1865/6314
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	26	17
Dwelling Place	Stokes Valley	Stokes Valley
Length of Residence	2 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Chapel, Sydney Street
Folio	65/755
Consent	William Robinson, Father
Date of Certificate	5 June 1865
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Charles Waters, and others.

19 May 1865

William Fitchett
Annie Louisa Hawkins

William Fitchett
Louisa Annie Hawkins
💍 1865/6167

Bachelor
Spinster

Dealer

28
23

Ohiro
Wellington

about 16 years
many years

Residence of George Hawkins Webb Street

Notice withdrawn June 8th 1865. See no. 50

No	43
Date of Notice	19 May 1865
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Fitchett	Annie Louisa Hawkins
BDM Match (75%)	William Fitchett	Louisa Annie Hawkins
	💍 1865/6167
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dealer
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Ohiro	Wellington
Length of Residence	about 16 years	many years
Marriage Place	Residence of George Hawkins Webb Street
Folio
Consent	Notice withdrawn June 8th 1865. See no. 50
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister

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).