Intentions to Marry, 1866

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840378, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Page 229

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 September 1866 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

254

6 August 1866

Henry Short
Margaret Mason

Henry Short
Margaret Mason
💍 1866/6481

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23 years
16 years

Ohrio
Wellington

about 12 years
many years

St Peters Church, Te Aro

66/718

Jane Elizabeth Houldy, mother

21 August 1866

The Rev. Arthur Stock, B.A., and others

No	254
Date of Notice	6 August 1866
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Short	Margaret Mason
	💍 1866/6481
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23 years	16 years
Dwelling Place	Ohrio	Wellington
Length of Residence	about 12 years	many years
Marriage Place	St Peters Church, Te Aro
Folio	66/718
Consent	Jane Elizabeth Houldy, mother
Date of Certificate	21 August 1866
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Arthur Stock, B.A., and others

255

9 August 1866

William Leach
Margaret Collins

William Leach
Margaret Collins
💍 1866/6520

Bachelor
Spinster

Grazier

28 years
28 years

Wairarapa, at present of Wellington
Mangaroa

3 days
many years

Roman Catholic Cathedral, known as "St Mary's", Wellington

66/732

9 August 1866

The Right Rev. Dr. Viard, Catholic Bishop of Wellington and others

No	255
Date of Notice	9 August 1866
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Leach	Margaret Collins
	💍 1866/6520
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grazier
Age	28 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Wairarapa, at present of Wellington	Mangaroa
Length of Residence	3 days	many years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, known as "St Mary's", Wellington
Folio	66/732
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 August 1866
Officiating Minister	The Right Rev. Dr. Viard, Catholic Bishop of Wellington and others

256

9 August 1866

John Parker Macdonald
Josephine Venables

John Parker Macdonald
Josephine Venables
💍 1866/6475

Bachelor
Widow

Commercial Traveller

40 years
33 years

Wellington
Wellington

about 8 years
upwards of 20 months

St Peters Church, Willis Street, Wellington

66/716

9 August 1866

The Rev. Arthur Stock, B.A., and others

No	256
Date of Notice	9 August 1866
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Parker Macdonald	Josephine Venables
	💍 1866/6475
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Commercial Traveller
Age	40 years	33 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	about 8 years	upwards of 20 months
Marriage Place	St Peters Church, Willis Street, Wellington
Folio	66/716
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 August 1866
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Arthur Stock, B.A., and others

257

14 August 1866

Alexander McDonald
Charlotte Margaret Teresa Gibbs

Alexander McDonald
Charlotte Margaret Teresa Gibbs
💍 1866/6523

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

31 years
23 years

Wellington
Wellington

2 years
many years

Roman Catholic Cathedral, known as "St Mary's", Thorndon

66/733

14 August 1866

The Right Rev. Dr. Viard, and others

No	257
Date of Notice	14 August 1866
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander McDonald	Charlotte Margaret Teresa Gibbs
	💍 1866/6523
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	31 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	2 years	many years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, known as "St Mary's", Thorndon
Folio	66/733
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 August 1866
Officiating Minister	The Right Rev. Dr. Viard, and others

258

15 August 1866

Robert Goodisson
Emma Ann Mitchell

Robert Goodison
Emma Ann Mitchell
💍 1866/6409

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier

20 years
20 years

Otaki
Wellington

2 1/2 years
1 year

St Paul's Church, Thorndon

66/694

Thomas Goodisson, father. John Mitchell, father

15 August 1866

The Rev. P.H. Maxwell, M.A., and others

No	258
Date of Notice	15 August 1866
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Goodisson	Emma Ann Mitchell
BDM Match (97%)	Robert Goodison	Emma Ann Mitchell
	💍 1866/6409
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier
Age	20 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Otaki	Wellington
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	1 year
Marriage Place	St Paul's Church, Thorndon
Folio	66/694
Consent	Thomas Goodisson, father. John Mitchell, father
Date of Certificate	15 August 1866
Officiating Minister	The Rev. P.H. Maxwell, M.A., and others

259

18 August 1866

Thomas King
Mary McGowan

Thomas King
Mary McGowan
💍 1866/6427

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman

32 years
24 years

Hutt

6 months
8 months

House of the Green Island, Rev. Wm McGowan, Hutt Valley

66/700

18 August 1866

The Rev. William McGowan, and others

No	259
Date of Notice	18 August 1866
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas King	Mary McGowan
	💍 1866/6427
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman
Age	32 years	24 years
Dwelling Place		Hutt
Length of Residence	6 months	8 months
Marriage Place	House of the Green Island, Rev. Wm McGowan, Hutt Valley
Folio	66/700
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 August 1866
Officiating Minister	The Rev. William McGowan, and others

260

20 August 1866

Nathaniel Williams
Sarah Fletcher

Nathaniel Williams
Sarah Fletcher
💍 1866/6334

Widower
Spinster

Painter

29 years
19 years

Napier, at present of Wellington
Napier, at present of Wellington

4 days
4 days

Residence of the Rev. John Moir Wellington

66/668

William Fletcher, father

20 August 1866

The Rev. John Moir, and others

No	260
Date of Notice	20 August 1866
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Nathaniel Williams	Sarah Fletcher
	💍 1866/6334
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	29 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Napier, at present of Wellington	Napier, at present of Wellington
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Residence of the Rev. John Moir Wellington
Folio	66/668
Consent	William Fletcher, father
Date of Certificate	20 August 1866
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).