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 1367

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

2 February 1885

William Scott Lyell
Mary Brown

William Scott Lyell
Mary Brown
💍 1885/178

William Henry Shadbolt
Mary Brown
💍 1885/2424

Bachelor
Widow

Gentleman

42
45

North Shore
North Shore

20 years
25 years

Dwelling of Mr. Henry Brown

85/170

2 February 1885

Rev. R. F. Macnicoll, Presbyterian

No	64
Date of Notice	2 February 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Scott Lyell	Mary Brown
	💍 1885/178
BDM Match (73%)	William Henry Shadbolt	Mary Brown
	💍 1885/2424
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Gentleman
Age	42	45
Dwelling Place	North Shore	North Shore
Length of Residence	20 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr. Henry Brown
Folio	85/170
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1885
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. F. Macnicoll, Presbyterian

3 February 1885

John Page
Hannah Gardiner

John Page
Hannah Gardiner
💍 1885/223

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

26
23

Auckland
Parnell

26 years
20 years

St. Mary's Church

85/24

3 February 1885

Rev. G. H. S. Walpole, Church of England

No	65
Date of Notice	3 February 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Page	Hannah Gardiner
	💍 1885/223
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Parnell
Length of Residence	26 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church
Folio	85/24
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1885
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. H. S. Walpole, Church of England

3 February 1885

Alfred Charles Hunt
Bridget Dinner

Alfred Charlton Hunt
Bridget Dinnen
💍 1885/231

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
19

Onehunga
Onehunga

15 years
19 years

Dwelling of James [illegible]

85/32

Catherine [illegible], Mother

3 February 1885

Rev. G. B. Munro, Presbyterian

No	66
Date of Notice	3 February 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Charles Hunt	Bridget Dinner
BDM Match (89%)	Alfred Charlton Hunt	Bridget Dinnen
	💍 1885/231
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Onehunga	Onehunga
Length of Residence	15 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of James [illegible]
Folio	85/32
Consent	Catherine [illegible], Mother
Date of Certificate	3 February 1885
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Munro, Presbyterian

4 February 1885

Frederick Edwin Good
Elizabeth Jane Harwill

Frederick Edwin Good
Jessie Elizabeth Havill
💍 1885/141

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill hand

25
20

Dargaville
Ponsonby

6 years
2 years

All Saints Church

85/64

William Harwill, Father

4 February 1885

Rev. W. Calder, Church of England

No	67
Date of Notice	4 February 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Edwin Good	Elizabeth Jane Harwill
BDM Match (70%)	Frederick Edwin Good	Jessie Elizabeth Havill
	💍 1885/141
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill hand
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Dargaville	Ponsonby
Length of Residence	6 years	2 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church
Folio	85/64
Consent	William Harwill, Father
Date of Certificate	4 February 1885
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Calder, Church of England

4 February 1885

William George Tatzer
Frances Slattery

William George Fortzerl
Frances Slattery
💍 1885/187

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer

27
22

Symonds St
Auckland

6 years
8 years

St. Patrick's Church

85/106

4 February 1885

Rev. W. Macdonald, Roman Catholic

No	68
Date of Notice	4 February 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Tatzer	Frances Slattery
BDM Match (91%)	William George Fortzerl	Frances Slattery
	💍 1885/187
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Symonds St	Auckland
Length of Residence	6 years	8 years
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Church
Folio	85/106
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1885
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Macdonald, Roman Catholic

5 February 1885

Henry Dawson Johnson
Agnes Mary Hull

Henry Lawson Johnson
Agnes Mary Hall
💍 1885/45

Bachelor
Spinster

Gentleman

25
21

Southland
Auckland

3 1/2 years
3 1/2 years

Office of the Reg. of Marriages

85/119

5 February 1885

J. Orman Lord, Reg.

No	69
Date of Notice	5 February 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Dawson Johnson	Agnes Mary Hull
BDM Match (94%)	Henry Lawson Johnson	Agnes Mary Hall
	💍 1885/45
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gentleman
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Southland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	3 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Reg. of Marriages
Folio	85/119
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1885
Officiating Minister	J. Orman Lord, Reg.

7 February 1885

Henry Stokes
Susan Massey

Henry Stokes
Susan Saussey
💍 1885/256

Widower
Widow

Plasterer

28
29

Auckland
Hobson St

28 years
9 months

St. Matthew's Church

85/205

7 February 1885

Rev. W. Tebbs, Church of England

No	70
Date of Notice	7 February 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Stokes	Susan Massey
BDM Match (92%)	Henry Stokes	Susan Saussey
	💍 1885/256
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Plasterer
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Hobson St
Length of Residence	28 years	9 months
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church
Folio	85/205
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1885
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Tebbs, Church of England

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).