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 475

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 1868 Registrar B Parkerson Jnr.

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

427

5 June 1868

Edward Horens
Amelia Heighton

Edward Hiorns
Amelia Heighton
💍 1868/6500

644

14 July 1868

Rev. L. Moore

No	427
Date of Notice	5 June 1868
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Horens	Amelia Heighton
BDM Match (92%)	Edward Hiorns	Amelia Heighton
	💍 1868/6500
Condition
Profession
Age
Dwelling Place
Length of Residence
Marriage Place
Folio	644
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1868
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Moore

428

23 June 1868

Henry Slater
Ellen Susannah Palaret

Henry Slater
Ellen Susanna Palairet
💍 1868/4955

8 July 1868

Rev. J. Bagshaw

No	428
Date of Notice	23 June 1868
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Slater	Ellen Susannah Palaret
BDM Match (95%)	Henry Slater	Ellen Susanna Palairet
	💍 1868/4955
Condition
Profession
Age
Dwelling Place
Length of Residence
Marriage Place
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 July 1868
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Bagshaw

428

23 June 1868

Albert Miles Philips
Rhoda Rapley

Albert Miles Philpott
Rhoda Rapley
💍 1868/5912

441

5 July 1868

Rev. J. Aldred

No	428
Date of Notice	23 June 1868
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Miles Philips	Rhoda Rapley
BDM Match (91%)	Albert Miles Philpott	Rhoda Rapley
	💍 1868/5912
Condition
Profession
Age
Dwelling Place
Length of Residence
Marriage Place
Folio	441
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1868
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Aldred

428

30 June 1868

Charles Benjamin Taylor
Mary Elizabeth Allerton

Charles Benjamin Taylor
Mary Elizabeth Overton
💍 1868/5915

442

14 July 1868

Rev. J. Buddle

No	428
Date of Notice	30 June 1868
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Benjamin Taylor	Mary Elizabeth Allerton
BDM Match (94%)	Charles Benjamin Taylor	Mary Elizabeth Overton
	💍 1868/5915
Condition
Profession
Age
Dwelling Place
Length of Residence
Marriage Place
Folio	442
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1868
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Buddle

429

1 July 1868

James Davis
Jane Hamilton

James Davis
Jane Hamilton
💍 1868/9638

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Servant

28
28

Ellesmere
Do

4 years
8 months

In the English Church

2335

7 July 1868

Rev. C. Bowen

No	429
Date of Notice	1 July 1868
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Davis	Jane Hamilton
	💍 1868/9638
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Servant
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Ellesmere	Do
Length of Residence	4 years	8 months
Marriage Place	In the English Church
Folio	2335
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 July 1868
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Bowen

430

2 July 1868

George Jobson
Elizabeth Jacobs Smith

George Jobcen
Elizabeth Jacobs
💍 1868/6224

Widower
Spinster

Groom
Housekeeper

50
43

Christchurch
Do

6 years
4 years

In the House of Mrs Smith, Gloucester Street, Christchurch

549

2 July 1868

Rev. C. Fraser

No	430
Date of Notice	2 July 1868
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Jobson	Elizabeth Jacobs Smith
BDM Match (79%)	George Jobcen	Elizabeth Jacobs
	💍 1868/6224
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Groom	Housekeeper
Age	50	43
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Do
Length of Residence	6 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Mrs Smith, Gloucester Street, Christchurch
Folio	549
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 July 1868
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

431

3 July 1868

Murdock Bruce
Catherine Polson

Murdock Bruce
Catherine Polson
💍 1868/6293

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Servant

28
25

Templeton
Christchurch

2 years
4 years

In the House of Rev. G. Grant, Christchurch

572

3 July 1868

Rev. G. Grant

No	431
Date of Notice	3 July 1868
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Murdock Bruce	Catherine Polson
	💍 1868/6293
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Servant
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Templeton	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Rev. G. Grant, Christchurch
Folio	572
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1868
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Grant

432

4 July 1868

Henry Lewis
Margaret Davis

Henry Lewis
Margaret Davis
💍 1868/6377

Bachelor
Spinster

Publican

38
24

Christchurch
Do

5 years
4 years

In the Church of St. Michael, Christchurch

602

4 July 1868

The Very Rev. Dean Jacobs

No	432
Date of Notice	4 July 1868
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Lewis	Margaret Davis
	💍 1868/6377
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Publican
Age	38	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Do
Length of Residence	5 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the Church of St. Michael, Christchurch
Folio	602
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 July 1868
Officiating Minister	The Very Rev. Dean Jacobs

433

7 July 1868

Thomas Earnshaw
Jessie Hertz

Thomas Earnshaw
Jessie Halse
💍 1868/6227

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Servant

23
20

St. Albans
Papanui

2 years
6 years

In the House of Rev. C. Fraser, Christchurch

548

There is no person in the colony having power to give consent

7 July 1868

Rev. C. Fraser

No	433
Date of Notice	7 July 1868
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Earnshaw	Jessie Hertz
BDM Match (83%)	Thomas Earnshaw	Jessie Halse
	💍 1868/6227
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Servant
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Papanui
Length of Residence	2 years	6 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Rev. C. Fraser, Christchurch
Folio	548
Consent	There is no person in the colony having power to give consent
Date of Certificate	7 July 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).