Intentions to Marry, 1870

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840382, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke Howison at Archives NZ Wellington, November 15 2024

Page 483

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1870

No	Date of Notice	Names and Surnames of Parties	BDM Match	Condition	Calling or Profession	Age	Dwelling Place	Length of Residence	Marriage Place	Consent	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
2196	23 May 1870	Walter George Wacker Ellen Martin	Walter George Walker Ellen Martin 💍 1870/3830	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	21 22	Christchurch Levvy Road, Avonside	2 years 3 years	Church		26 May 1870	R. H. Ligard
2197	23 May 1870	Samuel Ellis Margaret Malone	Samuel Ellis Margaret Malone 💍 1870/7365	Bachelor Spinster	Carrier Servant	32 19	Christchurch Christchurch	1 year 5 years	In the Roman Catholic Chapel		23 May 1870	Rev. Father Chervin
2198	26 May 1870	Ireland Henry Macarthy Maud Missen	Ireland Henry Macarthy Maud Caroline Nissen 💍 1870/7551	Bachelor Spinster	Manager of Christy Minstrels	34 22	Christchurch Do	1 week 3 Days	In the House of Rev. C Fraser		26 May 1870	Rev. C Fraser
2199	27 May 1870	John Archer Ann Burdling	John Archer Ann Birdling 💍 1870/7554	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	31 29	Christchurch Do	3 Days 6 months	In the House of Rev. C Fraser		27 May 1870	Rev. C Fraser
2200	31 May 1870	James Mazey Mary Ann Pike	James Mazey Mary Ann Pike 💍 1870/7821	Bachelor Spinster	Publican Dressmaker	23 22	Christchurch Do	6 years 4 years	In the Church of St. Michael		31 May 1870	The Very Rev. Dean Jacobs
2201	31 May 1870	Charles William Purdie Eliza Wilson	Charles William Purnell Flavia Marie Hyde Wilson 💍 1870/3802	Bachelor Widow	Journalist	28 31	Christchurch Do	4 Days 5 years	In the Church of St. Michael		31 May 1870	Rev. Bryn Koare
2202	31 May 1870	John Avis Pannett Louisa Jane Stevens	John Avis Pannett Louisa Jane Stevens 💍 1870/7557	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	20 21	Lincoln Christchurch	6 years 8 years	In the House of Mr. Stevens	Thomas Avis Pannett, Father	31 May 1870	Rev. C Fraser
2203	1 June 1870	James Patterson Mary Ann Maguire	Samuel Patterson Mary Jane Davies 💍 1870/4965	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	30 20	Ellesmere Do	3 years 2 months	Wesleyan Chapel		1 June 1870	Rev. W Oliver
2204	2 June 1870	Frederick Schmidt Meta Loffhagen	Frederick Schmidt Meta Loffhagen 💍 1870/7560	Bachelor Widow	Labourer	35 37	Lincoln Road, Smith Do	2 months 6 years	In the House of Rev. C Fraser		2 June 1870	Rev. C Fraser
2205	11 June 1870	John Gowers Kate Osburn	John Cowens Kate Orsbourn 💍 1870/7824	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	25 19	Leeston Halswell	1 year 3 months	In the Church of St. Michael	John Osbourn, Father	11 June 1870	The Very Rev Dean Jacobs
2206	13 June 1870	Frederick Charles Walker Sarah Ann Roil	Frederick Charles Walker Sarah Ann Roil 💍 1870/7827	Bachelor Spinster	Photographer	21 16	Christchurch Do	4 years 2 years	In the Church of St. Michael	Sarah Roil, Mother	13 June 1870	The Very Rev. Dean 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 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).