Intentions to Marry, 1864

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840376, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Page 284

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 1864

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

623

12 July 1864

George Oak
Jesse Lindsay

George Oak
Jessie Lindsay
💍 1864/7326

Widower
Spinster

Joiner
Servant

39
27

Christchurch
Do

9 years
1 year

Rev. C Frasers house

1020

July 1864

Rev. C Fraser

No	623
Date of Notice	12 July 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Oak	Jesse Lindsay
BDM Match (96%)	George Oak	Jessie Lindsay
	💍 1864/7326
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Joiner	Servant
Age	39	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Do
Length of Residence	9 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Rev. C Frasers house
Folio	1020
Consent
Date of Certificate	July 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev. C Fraser

624

12 July 1864

Arthur Lilley
Jane Ward

Arthur Lilley
Annie Ward
💍 1864/7179

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

21
22

Christchurch
Do

3 mos
13 years

Christchurch Church

1105

July 1864

Rev. C Bowen

No	624
Date of Notice	12 July 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Lilley	Jane Ward
BDM Match (85%)	Arthur Lilley	Annie Ward
	💍 1864/7179
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Do
Length of Residence	3 mos	13 years
Marriage Place	Christchurch Church
Folio	1105
Consent
Date of Certificate	July 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev. C Bowen

625

14 July 1864

Patrick William Foley
Margaret Houlihan

Patrick William Foley
Margaret Houlihan
💍 1864/7410

Bachelor
Spinster

Plasterer
Servant

29
21

Christchurch
Do

7 years
5 years

Roman Catholic Church

934

July 1864

Rev. Chataigner

No	625
Date of Notice	14 July 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick William Foley	Margaret Houlihan
	💍 1864/7410
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plasterer	Servant
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Do
Length of Residence	7 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	934
Consent
Date of Certificate	July 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev. Chataigner

626

15 July 1864

David Douglas
Agnes Colhart

David Douglas
Agnes Collart
💍 1864/7329

Bachelor
Spinster

Coachman
Servant

22
23

Papauni
Do

9 mos
9 mos

Rev. C Frasers house

1021

July 1864

Rev. C Fraser

No	626
Date of Notice	15 July 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Douglas	Agnes Colhart
BDM Match (96%)	David Douglas	Agnes Collart
	💍 1864/7329
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coachman	Servant
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Papauni	Do
Length of Residence	9 mos	9 mos
Marriage Place	Rev. C Frasers house
Folio	1021
Consent
Date of Certificate	July 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev. C Fraser

627

16 July 1864

George James Whitehead
Mary Ann Clark

George Whitehead
Mary Ann Clark
💍 1864/7493

Bachelor
Spinster

baker

28
22

Do
Christchurch

9 or 3 days
13 days

Green Cottage St Albans

962

July 1864

Rev. St Barbe

No	627
Date of Notice	16 July 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George James Whitehead	Mary Ann Clark
BDM Match (86%)	George Whitehead	Mary Ann Clark
	💍 1864/7493
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	baker
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Do	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 or 3 days	13 days
Marriage Place	Green Cottage St Albans
Folio	962
Consent
Date of Certificate	July 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev. St Barbe

629

18 July 1864

Henry Edward Keightly
Margaret Hirris

Henry Edward Keighley
Margaret Hirst
💍 1864/7332

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner
Servant

26
22

Christchurch
Do

3 days
1 year

Scotch Church

1022

July 1864

Rev. C Fraser

No	629
Date of Notice	18 July 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Edward Keightly	Margaret Hirris
BDM Match (85%)	Henry Edward Keighley	Margaret Hirst
	💍 1864/7332
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner	Servant
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Do
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	Scotch Church
Folio	1022
Consent
Date of Certificate	July 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev. C Fraser

630

18 July 1864

Thomas Blay
Mary Napley

Thomas Blay
Mary Rapley
💍 1864/7155

Bachelor
Spinster

Milkman
Servant

26
20

Avonside
Christchurch

3-1/2 years
2 mos

Avonside Church

William Napley father

Aug 1864

Rev. Dashaw

No	630
Date of Notice	18 July 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Blay	Mary Napley
BDM Match (95%)	Thomas Blay	Mary Rapley
	💍 1864/7155
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Milkman	Servant
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Avonside	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3-1/2 years	2 mos
Marriage Place	Avonside Church
Folio
Consent	William Napley father
Date of Certificate	Aug 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dashaw

631

19 July 1864

William Jenner
Isabella Jane Mahon

William James Brooker
Isabella Jane Mahon
💍 1864/7508

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

21
22

Christchurch
Do

3 years
2 years

Mr. Brookers house

961

Aug 4 1864

Rev. J Buller

No	631
Date of Notice	19 July 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Jenner	Isabella Jane Mahon
BDM Match (79%)	William James Brooker	Isabella Jane Mahon
	💍 1864/7508
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Do
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Mr. Brookers house
Folio	961
Consent
Date of Certificate	Aug 4 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev. J Buller

632

18 July 1864

Best Joshua Hamilton
Anna Meany Carew

Bent Joshua Hamilton Ball Carew
Anna Mary Carew
💍 1864/7616

Bachelor
Spinster

Stockowner

38
26

Loscairne
Do

4 days
3 years

St Michaels Church

885

July 18 1864

Rev. H Jacobs

No	632
Date of Notice	18 July 1864
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Best Joshua Hamilton	Anna Meany Carew
BDM Match (74%)	Bent Joshua Hamilton Ball Carew	Anna Mary Carew
	💍 1864/7616
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stockowner
Age	38	26
Dwelling Place	Loscairne	Do
Length of Residence	4 days	3 years
Marriage Place	St Michaels Church
Folio	885
Consent
Date of Certificate	July 18 1864
Officiating Minister	Rev. H Jacobs

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).