Intentions to Marry, 1868

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840380, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Page 459

District of Quarter ending

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

9 March 1868

James Shoolbred
Junie Buist

James Shoolbraid
Ann Buist
💍 1868/6101

Bachelor
Widow

Carpenter
Servant

28
29

Christchurch
Do

4 years
4 years

In the House of C G Fraser

505

9 March 1868

Rev. C. Fraser

No	1
Date of Notice	9 March 1868
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Shoolbred	Junie Buist
BDM Match (76%)	James Shoolbraid	Ann Buist
	💍 1868/6101
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Carpenter	Servant
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Do
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the House of C G Fraser
Folio	505
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 March 1868
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

9 March 1868

Joseph Bruch
Margaret McDonald

Joseph Brunt
Margaret McDonald
💍 1868/6104

Bachelor
Spinster

Hotelkeeper
Dressmaker

23
21

Christchurch
Do

5 years
4 years

In the House of Rev. C. Fraser

506

9 March 1868

Rev. C. Fraser

No	2
Date of Notice	9 March 1868
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Bruch	Margaret McDonald
BDM Match (92%)	Joseph Brunt	Margaret McDonald
	💍 1868/6104
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hotelkeeper	Dressmaker
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Do
Length of Residence	5 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Rev. C. Fraser
Folio	506
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 March 1868
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

11 March 1868

John James Mumford
Lucy Thompson

John James Mumford
Lucy Thompson
💍 1868/6347

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

25
23

Hoonhay
Christchurch

2 years
4 months

In the Church of St. Michael

592

11 March 1868

The Very Rev. Dean Jacobs

No	3
Date of Notice	11 March 1868
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James Mumford	Lucy Thompson
	💍 1868/6347
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Hoonhay	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	4 months
Marriage Place	In the Church of St. Michael
Folio	592
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 March 1868
Officiating Minister	The Very Rev. Dean Jacobs

12 March 1868

Charles Walter Scott-Purdie
Sarah Anne Chapman

Charles Walter Scott Purdie
Sarah Ann Chapman
💍 1868/6434

Widower
Spinster

Gardener
Servant

32
24

Papanui Road
Do

9 years
2 years

In the Church of St. Luke

621

12 March 1868

Rev. E. A. Lingard

No	4
Date of Notice	12 March 1868
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Walter Scott-Purdie	Sarah Anne Chapman
BDM Match (95%)	Charles Walter Scott Purdie	Sarah Ann Chapman
	💍 1868/6434
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Servant
Age	32	24
Dwelling Place	Papanui Road	Do
Length of Residence	9 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In the Church of St. Luke
Folio	621
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 March 1868
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. A. Lingard

14 March 1868

Edward Thomas Revell
Mina Louisa Helying

Edward Thomas Revell
Nina Louisa Tipping
💍 1868/6722

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Clerk

34
31

Kaiapoi
Rangiora

8 years
4 years

In the Church [UNCLEAR] Wooden

722

14 March 1868

Rev. J. Stack

No	5
Date of Notice	14 March 1868
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Thomas Revell	Mina Louisa Helying
BDM Match (87%)	Edward Thomas Revell	Nina Louisa Tipping
	💍 1868/6722
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Clerk
Age	34	31
Dwelling Place	Kaiapoi	Rangiora
Length of Residence	8 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the Church [UNCLEAR] Wooden
Folio	722
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1868
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Stack

16 March 1868

Percy Gostwick
Harriet Price

Percy Gastwick
Harriet Price
💍 1868/6107

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinetmaker

24
22

Christchurch
Do

6 mths
8 years

In the House of Rev. C Fraser

507

16 March 1868

Rev. C. Fraser

No	6
Date of Notice	16 March 1868
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Gostwick	Harriet Price
BDM Match (96%)	Percy Gastwick	Harriet Price
	💍 1868/6107
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinetmaker
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Do
Length of Residence	6 mths	8 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Rev. C Fraser
Folio	507
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1868
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

16 March 1868

Charles Crane
Catherine Francis

Charles Crane
Catherine Francis
💍 1868/5963

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

26
21

Christchurch
Do

4 Days
4 Days

In the Roman Catholic Chapel

458

16 March 1868

Rev. Father Chataigner

No	7
Date of Notice	16 March 1868
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Crane	Catherine Francis
	💍 1868/5963
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Do
Length of Residence	4 Days	4 Days
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Chapel
Folio	458
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1868
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Chataigner

17 March 1868

Walter Blake
Anne Kate Bishop

Walter Blake
Agnes Kate Bishop
💍 1868/6428

Bachelor
Spinster

Surveyor

34
23

Christchurch
Do

5 years
10 years

In the Church of St. Luke

619

17 March 1868

Rev. E. A. Lingard

No	8
Date of Notice	17 March 1868
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Blake	Anne Kate Bishop
BDM Match (94%)	Walter Blake	Agnes Kate Bishop
	💍 1868/6428
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surveyor
Age	34	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Do
Length of Residence	5 years	10 years
Marriage Place	In the Church of St. Luke
Folio	619
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 March 1868
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. A. Lingard

17 March 1868

Evan Rees
Lizzie Jacobs

Evan Ries
Lizzy Jacobs
💍 1868/6110

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinetmaker
Servant

24
21

Christchurch
Do

7 years
12 years

In the Scotch Church

508

17 March 1868

Rev. C. Fraser

No	9
Date of Notice	17 March 1868
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Evan Rees	Lizzie Jacobs
BDM Match (87%)	Evan Ries	Lizzy Jacobs
	💍 1868/6110
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinetmaker	Servant
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Do
Length of Residence	7 years	12 years
Marriage Place	In the Scotch Church
Folio	508
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 March 1868
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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Attribution: This image was digitised by Archives NZ Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga and is republished here under CC BY. It has been cropped and rotated for convenience.

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).