Marriage Indexes & Licences in New Zealand

Births, Deaths & Marriages  indexes published on microfiche start from 1840 through to 1990 but should only be consulted as a guide to the registrations. Marriages between migrants and Europeans, European and Maori appear throughout the indexes.

In the early registry indexes, the men whose surnames start with 'A' are followed by the women whose surname start with 'A' and so on through the alphabet. There is no cross-reference between husband and wife.

From 1947 the grooms are gathered together in one alphabetical list followed by the brides in another alphabetical list.

Marriage Registrations for the Maori people were compiled in separate registers from 1911 - 1952.

From 1957 each index entry has beside it the surname of the partner. The entry can then be matched against the partner’s surname, as each spouse will have the same allocation number.

A number of errors and omissions were found in the registry indexes and these were corrected when the New Zealand Society of Genealogists published in 2006 a C.D. "New Zealand Marriage Index 1836 – 1856". This index deals with the difficulty of matching brides and grooms and corrected many errors.

Notices of Intention to Marry

This series contains the quarterly returns sent to the Registrar General of notices received and issued by the district registrars under the Marriage Act 1854 and eight subsequent marriage acts. Registrations of marriages were compulsory as from 1847 many registrations are not complete. Very few marriages were registered until 1854. Registrations of Maori marriages did not become compulsory until 1911.

From 1854 one member of the couple intending to marry was required to complete a notice of Intention to Marry for the local registrar, pay the set fee, receive a marriage licence before either a civil or religious ceremony could take place.

Records are held at Archives New Zealand (Wellington)

Circumstances that allowed Marriage

An ordinance of the Governor in 1855 established that males could marry at and after the age of 14 while girls could marry at and after the age of 12. The consent of parents or guardians was required for people under the age of 21. When consent from the parents was not possible, a couple could make application to a magistrate to be allowed to marry.

The 1933 Marriage Amendment Act stated that  "A marriage between persons either of whom is under the age of 16 years shall be void". However anyone who was married prior to the new legislation below the age of 16 were protected. "Nothing in this section shall affect any marriage solemnised or contracted before the passing of the act".

The marriage of a man to his deceased wife's sister was legalised in 1881 while the marriage of a woman to her deceased husband's brother was legalised in 1901. The 1881 and 1901 acts were retrospective, enabling couples to legalise already de facto situations and give legitimacy to children of such liaisons. Marriage to the niece of a deceased wife or the nephew of a deceased husband was legalised in 1929.

Divorce Records New Zealand

The first New Zealand law allowing people to obtain a divorce was passed in 1867 and was similar to the 1857 English act. The grounds for divorce was adultery on the part of the husband or wife but only if their were additional aggravating circumstances.

A post-1880 marriage that ended in divorce will have a notation recorded on the document held at the Central Registry which will show, name of the court, date if decree. If the divorce occurred outside New Zealand then a notation would not be recorded.

In post 1880 marriages a widower will often have included the date when his first wife died. A widow will usually carry the surname of the first husband. A divorced man will have included the date when his divorce became absolute. A divorced woman will have the same.

In the early years of the 20th century divorced women often reverted back to their maiden name. When they married for the second time although the names of their parents were recorded, nothing is shown detailing their former married name.

From 1898 the wife no longer needed to prove that there were additional circumstances beyond her husband's adultery. As well, grounds were extended to include failure to comply with a decree for the restitution of conjugal rights and desertion for five years. In 1919 this was reduced three years.

From 1928 the grounds were further extended to include habitual drunkenness for four years coupled in the case of a husband with habitual cruelty or habitual failure to support. In the case of a wife coupled with the neglect of domestic duties, seven years for attempted murder of a child, detention in a mental hospital for seven years or more.

The regional offices of Archives New Zealand located in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin hold the divorce registers in many instances.

Restrictions apply. Access is not available to any registers less than 100 years old

An application needs to be made to the High Court in area the divorce took place for permission to gain access to files and also for relevant file numbers. The content may contain correspondence, which gives a great deal of information about the family involved.

Records are held by Archives New Zealand at all their Regional Offices

Important Dates in New Zealand Civil Registration

1848    Registration of European births and deaths commenced

1854   Registration of European marriages commenced

1856   Registration of European births, deaths, marriages became compulsory

1867    Legislation passed providing for divorce

1876    Additional information recorded on birth and death registrations

1880   Additional information recorded on marriage registrations

1881   Adoption Act passed – legal to adopt children under the age of 15

1894   Legitimation Act passed allowed for the re-registration where a child was

Born out of wedlock and the parents had subsequently married

1907    Infant Life Protection Act passed

1911    Registration of Maori marriages became compulsory

1912   Additional information recorded on birth and death registrations

1913   Registration of Maori births & deaths became compulsory

Registration of stillbirths became compulsory

1915   Births of adopted children able to be re-registered under adoptive parent’s names

1924   Re-registration permitted of ex nuptial births where parents have subsequently

remarried

1933   Marriage of persons under 16 years of age prohibited

1944   Marriage Emergency Regulations empowered the Registrar General to register

           overseas marriages of New Zealand service personnel

1951   Births & Deaths Act 1951 allowed for late registrations of births not previously

           registered

1952    Registration of European and Maori marriages amalgamated into one system

1954   Change of name by deed poll registered with the Registrar – General

1961    Registration of European & Maori births and deaths amalgamated into one system

1978     Deaths of New Zealanders while overseas no longer able to be registered in NZ

1995   Births of all children born before 1972 whose parents were not married, where the

child was registered in the fathers surname have been converted back to the Mother’s maiden name (Microfiche indexes have not been changed)

1998   All District Registers closed and their paper based records transferred to Archives NZ  where the registry began digitizing over 10 million records

2002     Now named the Central Registry and part of the Identity Services Department.