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 287

District of Christ Church Quarter ending 30 September 1864

No	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
651	15 August 1864	Thomas Dickery Clara Beaman	Thomas Vickery Clara Bearman 💍 1864/3669	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	22 18	Thandos Track Riccarton	1 year 6 years	Pebble Church Christchurch	1030	none	Aug 16 1864	Rev. C Haven
652	16 August 1864	William Hayward Ellen Ganey	William Hayward Ellen Ganey 💍 1864/6800	Bachelor Spinster	Jeweller Servant	22 20	Coal Track Christchurch	1 Year 2 years	St Michaels Church Christchurch	1899	none	Aug 29 1864	Rev. H. Jacobs.
653	16 August 1864	John Carter Mary Tupler	John Mercer Mary Murray 💍 1864/8323 John Hartley Mary Crann 💍 1864/4038	Widower Spinster	Stockowner Servant	55 31	Waimakeriri Do	7 years 2 weeks	Harewood Road Church	1079		Aug 18 1864	Rev. L. Morro
654	22 August 1864	John McLauchlin Elizabeth McCormick	John McLachlan Elizabeth McCormick 💍 1864/7353	Bachelor Spinster	Barman Barmaid	22 22	Lower Lincoln Rd Lower Lincoln Rd	2 Mos 5 weeks	Rev. Frasers house, Christchurch	1031		Aug 27 1864	Rev. C Fraser
655	25 August 1864	Richard Davies Jane Smith	Richard Davis Jane Smith 💍 1865/7109 Richard Rathbone Mary Smith 💍 1864/8889	Widower Spinster	Clerk	36 29	Heatheste Do	18 Mos 3 years	St Johns Church	1023		Sept 7 1864	Rev Cholmondely
656	29 August 1864	William Moorhouse Elizabeth Highsted	William Moorhouse Elizabeth Jane Highsted 💍 1864/7123	Bachelor Spinster	Drayman Servant	23 18	Lincoln Road Papanui	1 15	Papanui Church	1080	John Higsted father of [bride]	Sept 10 1864	Rev. L. Morro,
657	29 August 1864	William Henderson Annie Johnston	William Henderson Meikleham Annie Johnston 💍 1864/7356	Bachelor Spinster	Dairyman	28 20	Christchurch Do	14 days 1 Mt	Mc Johnstone house	1032	James Johnston father	Aug 29 1864	Rev. C Fraser
658	29 August 1864	William Duffeld Eliza Deal	William Duffell Eliza Deal 💍 1864/3724	Widower Widow	Farmer	52 53	Papanui Do	12 year 3 years	Rev. Frasers House	1033		Aug 29 1864	Rev. C Fraser
659	29 August 1864	William McBrunie Catherine Campbell	William McKinnie Catherine Campbell 💍 1864/7359	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd Servant	24 28	Papanui Rd Do	3 days 2 weeks	Rev. C. Frasers house	1034		Sept 10 1864	Rev. C. Fraser

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 1894. More registers will be added as the project continues.

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).