Intentions to Marry, 1885

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840397, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, April 30 2025

Page 1355

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 1885

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

148

20 March 1885

Edward Chapman
Mary Barbara Harriett Gray

Edward Chapman
Mary Barbara Harriett Gray
💍 1885/391

Bachelor
Spinster

Gentleman

29
23

Auckland
Otahuhu

29 years
4 years

Church of England

85/19

20 March 1885

Rev. F. Gould

No	148
Date of Notice	20 March 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Chapman	Mary Barbara Harriett Gray
	💍 1885/391
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gentleman
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Otahuhu
Length of Residence	29 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Church of England
Folio	85/19
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1885
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Gould

149

23 March 1885

John Dodd
Ada Elinor Smith

John Dodd
Ada Ellinor Smithe
💍 1885/154

Bachelor
Spinster

Bush Contractor

34
26

Auckland
Auckland

3 months
7 years

Primitive Methodist Chapel

85/94

23 March 1885

Rev. W. S. Potter

No	149
Date of Notice	23 March 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Dodd	Ada Elinor Smith
BDM Match (94%)	John Dodd	Ada Ellinor Smithe
	💍 1885/154
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bush Contractor
Age	34	26
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 months	7 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Chapel
Folio	85/94
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 March 1885
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Potter

150

23 March 1885

Herbert John William George Daniel
Jane Hinch

Herbert John William George Daniel
Jane Hinch
💍 1885/36

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer

21
19

5 years
19 years

St Benedict's Church

85/101

Catherine Hinch, mother

23 March 1885

Very Rev. T. O'Conney

No	150
Date of Notice	23 March 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert John William George Daniel	Jane Hinch
	💍 1885/36
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place
Length of Residence	5 years	19 years
Marriage Place	St Benedict's Church
Folio	85/101
Consent	Catherine Hinch, mother
Date of Certificate	23 March 1885
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. T. O'Conney

151

23 March 1885

William Stephen Nicholson
Susan Crozier

William Stephen Nicholson
Susan Crozier
💍 1885/1086

Bachelor
Spinster

Joiner

24
23

24 years
23 years

Dwelling of Charles Crozier

85/1048

23 March 1885

Rev. R. Bain

No	151
Date of Notice	23 March 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Stephen Nicholson	Susan Crozier
	💍 1885/1086
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Joiner
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place
Length of Residence	24 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Charles Crozier
Folio	85/1048
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 March 1885
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Bain

152

23 March 1885

Philip Single Broddwood
Eliza Alice Baker

Philip Sleigh Broadwood
Eliza Alice Baker
💍 1885/160

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24
27

West Tamaki
Auckland

2 years
2 years

Dwelling of Wm Hy Single Baker

85/59

23 March 1885

Rev. Robertson

No	152
Date of Notice	23 March 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Philip Single Broddwood	Eliza Alice Baker
BDM Match (87%)	Philip Sleigh Broadwood	Eliza Alice Baker
	💍 1885/160
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	27
Dwelling Place	West Tamaki	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Wm Hy Single Baker
Folio	85/59
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 March 1885
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robertson

153

24 March 1885

John Martin
Elizabeth Martin

John Martin
Elizabeth Martin
💍 1885/230

Bachelor
Spinster

Mate

26
19

5 years
19 years

St Mary's Church

85/31

Thomas Martin, father

24 March 1885

Rev. G. H. S. Walpole

No	153
Date of Notice	24 March 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Martin	Elizabeth Martin
	💍 1885/230
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mate
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place
Length of Residence	5 years	19 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church
Folio	85/31
Consent	Thomas Martin, father
Date of Certificate	24 March 1885
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. H. S. Walpole

154

24 March 1885

Charles Woodward
Casandria Williams

Charles Woodward
Casandra Stickner Williams
💍 1885/139

Bachelor
Widow

26
26

Sydney
Sydney

3 years
2 years

All Saints Church

85/53

24 March 1885

Rev. W. Calder

No	154
Date of Notice	24 March 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Woodward	Casandria Williams
BDM Match (83%)	Charles Woodward	Casandra Stickner Williams
	💍 1885/139
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Sydney	Sydney
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church
Folio	85/53
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1885
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Calder

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).