Intentions to Marry, 1871

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840383, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

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

Page 469

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1871

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
2372	2 March 1871	Robert Anderson Lucinda Sophia Brown	Robert Anderson Lucinda Sophia Browne 💍 1871/5814	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	27 20	Courtenay Do	3 years 4 years	In the House of Rev C Fraser	M 71/653	William Buchan Hather	6 April 1871	Rev C Fraser
2384	24 March 1871	Alfred Augustus North Laura Ann Banground	Alfred Augustus North Laura Anne Bargrove 💍 1871/8310						Christchurch	M 72-510	Re? A Lingard	8 April 1871	Rev A Lingard
2388	3 April 1871	William Mclelland Ellen Buchan	William McClelland Ellen Buchan 💍 1871/5808	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	24 21	Courtenay Christchurch	3 years 4 years	In the Roman Catholic Chapel	M 71/610		18 April 1871	Rev Father Chevier
2389	3 April 1871	James Reuncle Julia Martin	James Rennell Julia Martin 💍 1871/5706	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	28 21	Addington Christchurch	6 mths 3 years	Christchurch	M 71/616		18 April 1871	Rev C Fraser
2390	4 April 1871	William Jordan Elizabeth Atherton	William Jordan Elizabeth Hatherton 💍 1871/5811	Widower Spinster	Farmer Housekeeper	55 35	Moerdki Plain Do	3 years 6 mths	In Recorders Church	M 71/595		19 April 1871	Rev J Wilson
2391	4 April 1871	Henry Jacobs Emily Rose Thouper	Henry Jacobs Emily Rose Thompson 💍 1871/5643	Widower Spinster	Clerk in Holy Orders	49 22	Christchurch Do	19 years 16 years	In the Church of St Michael	M 71/594		19 April 1871	Very Rev Dean Jacobs
2392	5 April 1871	Henry Hampton Euphemia Stephenor	Henry Hampton Euphemia Stephenson 💍 1871/5640	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	29 20	Christchurch Do	4 days 4 weeks	Christchurch	M 71/656		21 April 1871	Rev C Fraser
2393	6 April 1871	William Legderwood Flora Campbell	William Ledgerwood Flora Campbell 💍 1871/5823 William John Port Georgina Campbell 💍 1872/4968	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	30 23	Leeston Christchurch	6 years 1 year	In the House of Rev C Fraser	M 71/654	Mother	6 April 1871	Rev C Fraser
2394	6 April 1871	Joseph Donald Ellen Gunnerson	Joseph Donald Ellen Emmerson 💍 1871/5817	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	22 19	Springston Do	1 year 9 mths	In the House of John Mc Kear	M 71/666		6 April 1871	Rev W Kirk
2395	6 April 1871	William Stewart Shierlaw Margaret Scott	William Stewart Shirelaw Margaret Scott 💍 1871/5853	Widower Widow	Farmer	45 44	Christchurch Do	2 mths 4 years	Christchurch	M 71/672		6 April 1871	Rev M Baster
2396	7 April 1871	David Anderson Charlotte Mary Mason	David Anderson Charlotte Mary Mason 💍 1871/8805	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	27 18	Christchurch Do	2 years 2 years	Christchurch	M 71/678	Mother	7 April 1871	Rev M Baster

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).