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 233

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 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

15 September 1866

Edward Harvey Thomas
Harriett Edwards

Edward Harvey Thomas
Harriett Edwards
💍 1866/6484

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

32 year
22 year

Wellington
Wellington

18 months
many years

St Peter's Church, Te Aro

66/720

1 October 1866

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

No	92
Date of Notice	15 September 1866
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Harvey Thomas	Harriett Edwards
	💍 1866/6484
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	32 year	22 year
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	18 months	many years
Marriage Place	St Peter's Church, Te Aro
Folio	66/720
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 October 1866
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Arthur Stock, B.A., and others

100

2 October 1866

Walter Laurie Christie
Elizabeth McKain

Walter Laurie
Elizabeth McKain
💍 1866/6340

Bachelor
Spinster

Trooper, Wanganui, Yeomanry Cavalry

24 year
18 years

Wellington
Wellington

7 months
For life

Residence of Mrs McKain, Murphy Street Wellington

66/670

Harriet McKain, mother

4 October 1866

The Rev. John Moir, and others

No	100
Date of Notice	2 October 1866
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Laurie Christie	Elizabeth McKain
BDM Match (80%)	Walter Laurie	Elizabeth McKain
	💍 1866/6340
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Trooper, Wanganui, Yeomanry Cavalry
Age	24 year	18 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	7 months	For life
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs McKain, Murphy Street Wellington
Folio	66/670
Consent	Harriet McKain, mother
Date of Certificate	4 October 1866
Officiating Minister	The Rev. John Moir, and others

101

3 October 1866

James Cotter
Rosina Williams

James Cotter
Rosina Williams
💍 1866/6604

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

23 years
18 years

Upper Hutt
Upper Hutt

16 yrs.
8 yrs.

Residence of the Rev. William J Watkin, Lower Hutt

66/760

H Williams, father

5 October 1866

The Rev. William J. Watkin, and others

No	101
Date of Notice	3 October 1866
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Cotter	Rosina Williams
	💍 1866/6604
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	23 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Upper Hutt	Upper Hutt
Length of Residence	16 yrs.	8 yrs.
Marriage Place	Residence of the Rev. William J Watkin, Lower Hutt
Folio	66/760
Consent	H Williams, father
Date of Certificate	5 October 1866
Officiating Minister	The Rev. William J. Watkin, and others

102

3 October 1866

Henry John Perham
Marion Olivia Macy

Henry John Perham
Marion Olivia Macy
💍 1866/4156

Bachelor
Spinster

Barrister and Solicitor
Gentlewoman

full age
full age

At present at Wellington
Wellington

3 days
3 days

St Peter's Church, Wellington

66/719

3 October 1866

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

No	102
Date of Notice	3 October 1866
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry John Perham	Marion Olivia Macy
	💍 1866/4156
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barrister and Solicitor	Gentlewoman
Age	full age	full age
Dwelling Place	At present at Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St Peter's Church, Wellington
Folio	66/719
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 October 1866
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Arthur Stock, B.A., and others

103

5 October 1866

Michael Joseph Mulligan
Catherine Morrissey

Michael Joseph Mulligan
Catherine Morrisey
💍 1866/6535

Bachelor
Widow

Jeweller

34 years
28 years

Wellington
Wellington

3 years
about 9 years

St Mary's Cathedral Thorndon

66/737

5 October 1866

The Rt Rev. Dr. Viard and others

No	103
Date of Notice	5 October 1866
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Joseph Mulligan	Catherine Morrissey
BDM Match (97%)	Michael Joseph Mulligan	Catherine Morrisey
	💍 1866/6535
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Jeweller
Age	34 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 years	about 9 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's Cathedral Thorndon
Folio	66/737
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 October 1866
Officiating Minister	The Rt Rev. Dr. Viard and others

104

13 October 1866

Edmund Buckeridge
Jane Burnett

Edmund Buckridge
Jane Burnett
💍 1866/6343

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

21 years & 4 mos.
21 years & 8 months

Taita
Taita

about 14 years
about 14 years

Private Residence of the Rev. John Moir, Wellington

66/671

13 October 1866

The Rev. John Moir, and others

No	104
Date of Notice	13 October 1866
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edmund Buckeridge	Jane Burnett
BDM Match (97%)	Edmund Buckridge	Jane Burnett
	💍 1866/6343
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	21 years & 4 mos.	21 years & 8 months
Dwelling Place	Taita	Taita
Length of Residence	about 14 years	about 14 years
Marriage Place	Private Residence of the Rev. John Moir, Wellington
Folio	66/671
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 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).