Intentions to Marry, 1875

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840387, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, May 16 2025.

This register is quite fragile and some of the pages are damaged or even missing.

Page 268

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 March 1875

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 February 1875

David Quinlan
Annie Mulvanny

David Quinlan
Annie Mulvanny
💍 1875/536

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Servant

34
30

Hutt
Wellington

12 months
2 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Hill Street

75/1345

5 February 1875

Rev. I. B. Petet Jean, R.C.

No	36
Date of Notice	5 February 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Quinlan	Annie Mulvanny
	💍 1875/536
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Servant
Age	34	30
Dwelling Place	Hutt	Wellington
Length of Residence	12 months	2 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Hill Street
Folio	75/1345
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. B. Petet Jean, R.C.

8 February 1875

Richard Blincoe
Susannah Mary Wells

Richard Blincoe
Susannah Mary Wells
💍 1875/312

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor
Housemaid

29
28

Wellington
Wellington

8 months
2 years

St. Paul's Church, Thorndon

75/1346

8 February 1875

Rev. B. H. Harvey, C. of E.

No	37
Date of Notice	8 February 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Blincoe	Susannah Mary Wells
	💍 1875/312
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor	Housemaid
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	8 months	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Thorndon
Folio	75/1346
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. H. Harvey, C. of E.

8 February 1875

Charles Bates Knocker
Fanny Elizabeth Mills

Charles Bates Knocker
Fanny Elizabeth Mills
💍 1875/314

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk, Press Telegraph Agency
daughter of Thomas Mills, Wellington Merchant

26
21

Wellington
Wellington

3 years
21 years

St. Paul's Church, Thorndon

75/1348

8 February 1875

Rev. B. H. Harvey, C. of E.

No	38
Date of Notice	8 February 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Bates Knocker	Fanny Elizabeth Mills
	💍 1875/314
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk, Press Telegraph Agency	daughter of Thomas Mills, Wellington Merchant
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 years	21 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Thorndon
Folio	75/1348
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. H. Harvey, C. of E.

8 February 1875

Thomas McCarthy
Jessie Harris

Thomas McCarthy
Jessie O'Harris
💍 1875/966

Bachelor
Spinster

Wheelwright
daughter of Samuel Harris, Picton Builder

26
22

Wellington
Wellington

11 years
6 days

Roman Catholic Church, Boulcott St

75/985

8 February 1875

Rev. I. I. P. O'Reilly, R.C.

No	39
Date of Notice	8 February 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas McCarthy	Jessie Harris
BDM Match (93%)	Thomas McCarthy	Jessie O'Harris
	💍 1875/966
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wheelwright	daughter of Samuel Harris, Picton Builder
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	11 years	6 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Boulcott St
Folio	75/985
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. I. P. O'Reilly, R.C.

9 February 1875

William Stark
Fanny Parker

William Hart
Fanny Parker
💍 1875/100

Bachelor
Spinster

Master Mariner

32
18

Wellington
Wellington

1 day
15 years

Wesleyan Chapel, Manners Street

75/1156

M. A. Parker, Mother

9 February 1875

Rev. W. Morley, Wes.

No	40
Date of Notice	9 February 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Stark	Fanny Parker
BDM Match (88%)	William Hart	Fanny Parker
	💍 1875/100
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Master Mariner
Age	32	18
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	1 day	15 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Chapel, Manners Street
Folio	75/1156
Consent	M. A. Parker, Mother
Date of Certificate	9 February 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Morley, Wes.

10 February 1875

Thomas Salley
Janet Futteing

Thomas Jolley
Janet Nutteing
💍 1875/418

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

31
24

Taita
Wellington

14 years
2 years

Registrar's Office, Wellington

75/450

24 February 1875

R. C. Hammerton

No	41
Date of Notice	10 February 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Salley	Janet Futteing
BDM Match (89%)	Thomas Jolley	Janet Nutteing
	💍 1875/418
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Taita	Wellington
Length of Residence	14 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Wellington
Folio	75/450
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1875
Officiating Minister	R. C. Hammerton

12 February 1875

James Stevens
Jane Eliza Spackman

James Stevens
Jane Eliza Spackman
💍 1875/150

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
daughter of George Spackman, Otaki Carrier

22
20

Porirua
Porirua

16 years
20 years

Primitive Methodist Chapel, Wellington

75/131

George Spackman, Father

12 February 1875

Rev. R. Ward, Prim.

No	42
Date of Notice	12 February 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Stevens	Jane Eliza Spackman
	💍 1875/150
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	daughter of George Spackman, Otaki Carrier
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Porirua	Porirua
Length of Residence	16 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Chapel, Wellington
Folio	75/131
Consent	George Spackman, Father
Date of Certificate	12 February 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ward, Prim.

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

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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).