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 482

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
2185	10 May 1870	Edward Crozier Rachael Pepper	Edward Crozier Rachel Pepper 💍 1870/7725	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	28 23	Christchurch, Howai Papanui	4 Days 1 Year	In the Papanui Church		10 May 1870	Revd. L Moore
2186	10 May 1870	James Moore Annie Thompson	James Moore Annie Thompson 💍 1870/7434	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	36 30	Christchurch Christchurch	10 Days 2 Years	In the House of Mr Thompson, Riversleigh		10 May 1870	Revd. J Campbell
2187	11 May 1870	Charles Barnard Elizabeth Holland	Charles Barnard Elizabeth Holland 💍 1870/7356	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	25 18	Rangiora, Christchurch Christchurch	4 Days 3 Years	In the Roman Catholic Chapel, Christchurch	Hugh Holland, Father	11 May 1870	Revd. Father Chervier
2188	14 May 1870	Charles Claxton Margaret Miskelly	Charles Claxton Margaret Miskelly 💍 1870/7812	Bachelor Spinster	Accountant Servant	27 22	Christchurch Riccarton	3 Years 1 Year	In the Church of St Michael, Christchurch		14 May 1870	The Very Revd. Dean Jacobs
2189	14 May 1870	Thomas King Louisa Jane Robinson	Thomas King Louisa Jane Robinson 💍 1870/7545	Bachelor Spinster	Accountant Servant	22 22	Christchurch Christchurch	12 Years 14 Years	In the Scotch Church, Tuam Street		14 May 1870	Revd. C Fraser
2190	14 May 1870	John Jones Ellen Stevens	John Jones Ellen Stephens 💍 1870/7242	Bachelor Spinster	Carrier Servant	27 26	Christchurch, Timaru Christchurch	4 Days 6 Years	In the Church of St John, Christchurch		14 May 1870	Revd. O Bryen Hoare
2191	16 May 1870	John Cunliff Mary Finlay	John Cunniff Mary Findlay 💍 1870/7359	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	23 23	Christchurch Christchurch	1 Week 1 Week	In the Roman Catholic Chapel, Christchurch		16 May 1870	Revd. Father Chervier
2192	17 May 1870	Robert White Clayton Elizabeth McGowan	Robert White Clayton Elizabeth McGowan 💍 1870/7815	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	28 23	Christchurch Christchurch	3 Days 3 Days	In the Church of St Michael, Christchurch		17 May 1870	The Very Revd. Dean Jacobs
2193	17 May 1870	John Charles Hubbard Elizabeth Ann Jebson	John Charles Hubbard Elizabeth Ann Jebson 💍 1870/7875	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 26	Heathcote Malvern Hills	15 Years 3 Years	In the House of Mr Jebson, Malvern Valley		17 May 1870	Revd. T Pember
2194	21 May 1870	Austin Fussel Mary Jane Margaret Preece	Austin Fussell Mary Jane Margaret Preece 💍 1870/7818	Bachelor Spinster	Chemical & Druggist	32 24	Christchurch Addington	6 Years 9 mths	In the Church of St Michael, Christchurch		21 May 1870	The Very Revd. Dean Jacobs
2195	21 May 1870	William Bowden Agnes Baird	William Bowden Agnes Baird 💍 1870/7548	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	30 22	Lincoln Lincoln	7 months 7 months	In the House of Revd. C Fraser, Christchurch		21 May 1870	Revd. 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 1899. 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).