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 471

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
2408	29 April 1871	Michael Connor Margaret Wheelan	Michael Connor Margaret Phelan 💍 1871/3878	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	34 32	Naeswell Christchurch	4 years 6 years	Roman Catholic Chapel	M 71/619		29 April 1871	Rev Father Chevier
2409	1 May 1871	John Blackler Jessie Doyle	John Blackler Jessie Doyle 💍 1871/9285	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	24 18	Doyleston Do	years near Church	In the Church Southbridge	M 71/774	Jane Doyle, mother	1 May 1871	Rev J G Bluett
2410	1 May 1871	John Henry Yeager Clara Furseman	John Henry Seager Clara Farslinan Andrews 💍 1871/9087	Bachelor Spinster	Law writer Milliner	22 20	Waltham Christchurch	6 mths 4 mths	In the Church of St John Christchurch	M 71/657	There is no person having authority to give consent	16 May 1871	Rev C E Bailey
2411	2 May 1871	Thomas Anderson Jessie McKay	Thomas Anderson Jessie McKay 💍 1871/5826	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Servant	28 21	Christchurch Do	5 years 2 years	In the House of Mr C Fraser Christchurch	M 71/572		2 May 1871	Rev C Fraser
2412	5 May 1871	Joseph Coles Mary Ann Selears	Joseph Coles Mary Ann Sellars 💍 1871/8316	Bachelor Spinster	Publican	41 31	Christchurch Do	years 10 years	In the House of Mr Coles Christchurch	M 71/596		5 May 1871	Rev C Fraser
2413	8 May 1871	David Thorn Annie Driscole	David Thow Annie Driscoll 💍 1871/5646	Bachelor Spinster	Hotelkeeper Servant	36 25	Christchurch Do	2 years 4 years	In the Church of St Michael Christchurch	M 71/627		8 May 1871	Very Rev Dean Jacobs
2414	8 May 1871	James Donaldson Mary Kane	James Donaldson Mary Kane 💍 1871/5718	Bachelor Spinster	Fruit-dealer Servant	27 22	Smiths Do	5 mths 5 years	In the Roman Catholic Chapel Christchurch	M 71/622		8 May 1871	Rev Father Chevier
2415	9 May 1871	Samuel Finlay Susannah Thomson	Samuel Finlay Susannah Thompson 💍 1871/9060	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 21	Courtenay Do	4 years 3 mths	In the Church Templeton	M 71/705		10 May 1871	Rev E Paige
2416	10 May 1871	James Houston Eliza Jane Miller	James Houston Eliza Jane Miller 💍 1871/9261	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	30 22	Leeston Do	2 years 2 weeks	In the Church Prebbleton			10 May 1871	Rev F Pember
2417	15 May 1871	William Shanley Isabella Wilson	William Shanley Isabella Wilson 💍 1871/5721	Widower Spinster	Coachbuilder Dressmaker	55 28	Christchurch Do	5 years 8 years	In the Roman Catholic Chapel	M 71/622		15 May 1871	Rev Father Chevier
2418	10 May 1871	James Levitt Maria M Connell	James Levett Maria McConnell 💍 1871/5829	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	31 21	Leeston Do	1 year 6 years	In the House of William Moore	M 71/658		18 May 1871	Rev I Campbell

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).