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 1369

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

27 January 1885

John Webb
Jane O'Brien

John Webb
Jane O'Brien
💍 1885/390

Bachelor
Spinster

Millhand

24
23

Auckland
Auckland

6 years
15 years Newton

St Benedicts Church

85/95

27 January 1885

Very Rev. J. C. Croning Roman Catholic

No	50
Date of Notice	27 January 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Webb	Jane O'Brien
	💍 1885/390
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Millhand
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	6 years	15 years Newton
Marriage Place	St Benedicts Church
Folio	85/95
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1885
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. J. C. Croning Roman Catholic

27 January 1885

William Hunter
Margaret Musgrave

William Hunter
Margaret Jane Musgrave
💍 1885/171

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

30
25

Newton
Newton

6 years
2 years Higher Pass

St Sepulchres Church

85/164

27 January 1885

Ven. B. Y. Dudley Church of England

No	51
Date of Notice	27 January 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hunter	Margaret Musgrave
BDM Match (89%)	William Hunter	Margaret Jane Musgrave
	💍 1885/171
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Newton	Newton
Length of Residence	6 years	2 years Higher Pass
Marriage Place	St Sepulchres Church
Folio	85/164
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1885
Officiating Minister	Ven. B. Y. Dudley Church of England

28 January 1885

Isaac Wilcox
Hannah Peters

Isaac Wilcox
Hannah Peters
💍 1885/39

Bachelor
Widow

Bricklayer

40
45

Newton
Newton

20 years
20 years Auckland

Office of the Regr of Marriages

85/113

28 January 1885

J. Owen Lord Regr.

No	52
Date of Notice	28 January 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Isaac Wilcox	Hannah Peters
	💍 1885/39
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Bricklayer
Age	40	45
Dwelling Place	Newton	Newton
Length of Residence	20 years	20 years Auckland
Marriage Place	Office of the Regr of Marriages
Folio	85/113
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1885
Officiating Minister	J. Owen Lord Regr.

28 January 1885

John Griffin
Mary McLaughlin

John Griffin
Mary McLaughlin
💍 1885/40

Bachelor
Widow

Carter

35
35

Newton
Newton

9 years
9 years Auckland

Office of the Regr of Marriages

85/114

28 January 1885

J. Owen Lord Regr.

No	53
Date of Notice	28 January 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Griffin	Mary McLaughlin
	💍 1885/40
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Carter
Age	35	35
Dwelling Place	Newton	Newton
Length of Residence	9 years	9 years Auckland
Marriage Place	Office of the Regr of Marriages
Folio	85/114
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1885
Officiating Minister	J. Owen Lord Regr.

28 January 1885

William Henry Andrews
Lydia Hopkins

William Henry Andrews
Lydia Hopkins
💍 1885/381

Bachelor
Spinster

Book Keeper

22
20

Ponsonby
Ponsonby

11 mos
3 days Wellesley St

Baptists Church

85/84

11 February 1885

Rev. W. E. Rice Baptist

No	54
Date of Notice	28 January 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Andrews	Lydia Hopkins
	💍 1885/381
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Book Keeper
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Ponsonby	Ponsonby
Length of Residence	11 mos	3 days Wellesley St
Marriage Place	Baptists Church
Folio	85/84
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1885
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. E. Rice Baptist

28 January 1885

Michael Henry Evoy
Mary Ann Underhill

Michael McAvoy
Mary Anne Mulvihill
💍 1885/227

Bachelor
Spinster

Labour

30
30

Otahuhu
Otahuhu

11 years
15 years Auckland

St Patricks Church

85/82

28 January 1885

Rev. R. O. Hara Roman Catholic

No	55
Date of Notice	28 January 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Henry Evoy	Mary Ann Underhill
BDM Match (65%)	Michael McAvoy	Mary Anne Mulvihill
	💍 1885/227
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labour
Age	30	30
Dwelling Place	Otahuhu	Otahuhu
Length of Residence	11 years	15 years Auckland
Marriage Place	St Patricks Church
Folio	85/82
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1885
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. O. Hara Roman Catholic

28 January 1885

John Knox Makin
Rachel Harriet Roberts

John Knott Makin
Rachel Harriet Roberts
💍 1885/142

Bachelor
Spinster

Journeyman

30
18

Ponsonby
Ponsonby

2 years Dwelling of Mrs W. H. Harvey
1 month Drummond St

Dwelling of Mrs W. H. Harvey

85/65

11 February 1885

Revd J. Hamer Congregational

No	56
Date of Notice	28 January 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Knox Makin	Rachel Harriet Roberts
BDM Match (94%)	John Knott Makin	Rachel Harriet Roberts
	💍 1885/142
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Journeyman
Age	30	18
Dwelling Place	Ponsonby	Ponsonby
Length of Residence	2 years Dwelling of Mrs W. H. Harvey	1 month Drummond St
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mrs W. H. Harvey
Folio	85/65
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1885
Officiating Minister	Revd J. Hamer 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).