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 1361

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

106

25 February 1885

George Little Shaw
Sarah Ann Lawrence

George William Shaw
Sarah Ann Lawrence
💍 1885/213

Bachelor
Spinster

Stonemason

21
19

Auckland
New Market

21 years
11

Dwelling of Cornelius Lawrence

85/104

Cornelius Lawrence, father

23 February 1885

Rev. S. H. C. K. Frazer, Presbyterian

No	106
Date of Notice	25 February 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Little Shaw	Sarah Ann Lawrence
BDM Match (84%)	George William Shaw	Sarah Ann Lawrence
	💍 1885/213
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stonemason
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Auckland	New Market
Length of Residence	21 years	11
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Cornelius Lawrence
Folio	85/104
Consent	Cornelius Lawrence, father
Date of Certificate	23 February 1885
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. H. C. K. Frazer, Presbyterian

107

23 February 1885

Henry Davis
Ada Duffill

Henry Davis
Sarah Ann Duffill
💍 1885/59

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24
27

Auckland
Auckland

2
10

Office of the Regr. of Mrgs. Auckland

85/133

23 February 1885

J. Owen Lord, Regr.

No	107
Date of Notice	23 February 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Davis	Ada Duffill
BDM Match (76%)	Henry Davis	Sarah Ann Duffill
	💍 1885/59
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	27
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	2	10
Marriage Place	Office of the Regr. of Mrgs. Auckland
Folio	85/133
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1885
Officiating Minister	J. Owen Lord, Regr.

108

24 February 1885

Thomas Catherena Broadwood
Lydia Ann Baker

Thomas Catherena Broadwood
Lydia Susan Baker
💍 1885/157

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28
27

West Taranaki
Auckland

2
2

Dwelling of Mr. H. O. Baker, Upper Symonds St.

85/54

24 February 1885

Revd. J. Robertson, Congregational

No	108
Date of Notice	24 February 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Catherena Broadwood	Lydia Ann Baker
BDM Match (88%)	Thomas Catherena Broadwood	Lydia Susan Baker
	💍 1885/157
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	West Taranaki	Auckland
Length of Residence	2	2
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr. H. O. Baker, Upper Symonds St.
Folio	85/54
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1885
Officiating Minister	Revd. J. Robertson, Congregational

109

24 February 1885

Walter Howard Dawson
Elizabeth Ann Stocken

Walter Howard Dawson
Elizabeth Ann Stocken
💍 1885/210

Bachelor
Widow

Chemist

28
30

Auckland
Auckland

20
15

St. Pauls Church Auckland

85/180

24 February 1885

Revd. C. M. Nelson, Church of England

No	109
Date of Notice	24 February 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Howard Dawson	Elizabeth Ann Stocken
	💍 1885/210
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Chemist
Age	28	30
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	20	15
Marriage Place	St. Pauls Church Auckland
Folio	85/180
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1885
Officiating Minister	Revd. C. M. Nelson, Church of England

110

24 February 1885

John Brown
Eliza Russell

John Brown
Eliza Russell
💍 1885/60

Bachelor
Spinster

Stonemason

37
26

Parnell
North Shore

30
1

Office of the Regr. of Mrgs. Auckland

85/134

24 February 1885

J. Owen Lord, Regr.

No	110
Date of Notice	24 February 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Brown	Eliza Russell
	💍 1885/60
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stonemason
Age	37	26
Dwelling Place	Parnell	North Shore
Length of Residence	30	1
Marriage Place	Office of the Regr. of Mrgs. Auckland
Folio	85/134
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1885
Officiating Minister	J. Owen Lord, Regr.

111

26 February 1885

Joseph Walter Griggs
Alice Maude Smith

Joseph Walter Wigg
Alice Maud Smith
💍 1885/173

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

25
20

Onehunga
Onehunga

1
10 years

St. Sepulchres Church Onehunga

85/166

Jane Staples, mother

26 February 1885

Ven. B. T. Dudley, Church of England

No	111
Date of Notice	26 February 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Walter Griggs	Alice Maude Smith
BDM Match (90%)	Joseph Walter Wigg	Alice Maud Smith
	💍 1885/173
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Onehunga	Onehunga
Length of Residence	1	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Sepulchres Church Onehunga
Folio	85/166
Consent	Jane Staples, mother
Date of Certificate	26 February 1885
Officiating Minister	Ven. B. T. Dudley, Church of England

112

26 February 1885

John Spragg
Agnes Kate Hemmett

John Spinley
Agnes Kate Hunnisett
💍 1885/161

Bachelor
Spinster

Clicker

21
21

Onehunga
Cobden St.

10 years
21

Dwelling of John Hemmett, Cobden St.

85/160

26 February 1885

Revd. J. Robertson, Congregational

No	112
Date of Notice	26 February 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Spragg	Agnes Kate Hemmett
BDM Match (67%)	John Spinley	Agnes Kate Hunnisett
	💍 1885/161
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clicker
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Onehunga	Cobden St.
Length of Residence	10 years	21
Marriage Place	Dwelling of John Hemmett, Cobden St.
Folio	85/160
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1885
Officiating Minister	Revd. J. Robertson, Congregational

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).