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 479

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 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
2481	18 August 1871	George Adams Emily Christian Riddin	George Adams Emily Christian 💍 1871/8352	Widower Spinster	Handresser	36 21	Christchurch Do	2 years	In the Church St Luke Christchurch	M2 524		2 September 1871	Rev. 2 A. Lingard
2482	18 August 1871	John Frederick Christ Riddin Helen Mary Suork	John Frederick Christof Ridder Helen Mary Snook 💍 1871/7167	Widower Spinster	Farmer Servant	40 30	Lincoln Road Christchurch	5 years 2 years	In the Church St Luke Christchurch	7/1121		2 September 1871	Rev. 2 A. Lingard
2483	23 August 1871	Albert Smith Jackson Elizabeth Ann Wilson	Albert Smith Jackson Elizabeth Ann Wilson 💍 1871/8346	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher Dressmaker	26 20	Christchurch Do	2 years 6 years	In the Church St Luke Christchurch	M2 522	Isaac Wilson, Father	23 August 1871	Rev. 2 A. Lingard
2484	26 August 1871	Alexander Saunders Davidson Ellen Catherine Dozigeas	Alexander Saunders Davidson Helen Catherine Douglas 💍 1871/8409	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	36 14	Lincoln Do	3 years 1 year	In the House R. B. Fraser Christchurch	M2 544	There is no person having authority to give consent	13 September 1871	Rev. B Fraser
2485	26 August 1871	Henry Daeton Rachael Cross	Henry Dalton Rachel Cross 💍 1871/9264	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	36 25	Courtenay Burnham	2 years	In the Church Burnham	M2		26 August 1871	Rev. H. Peuchber
2486	28 August 1871	John Harris Catherine Allen	John Harris Catherine Allen 💍 1871/8400	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd Servant	28 22	Christchurch Do	1 week 4 months	In the Scotch Church	M2 540		2 September 1871	Rev. B Fraser
2487	29 August 1871	George Thomas Seale Marion Edith Cookson	George Thomas Seale Marion Edith Cookson 💍 1871/8835	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep Farmer	27 19	Christchurch Do	10 Days 10 Days	In the Riccarton Church	7/1690	Marion R. Cookson, Mother	29 August 1871	Rev. B Bowen
2488	29 August 1871	George Faber Billman Dora Georgina Sara Cookson	George Fabes Gillman Dora Georgina Sara Cookson 💍 1871/9066	Bachelor Spinster	Gentleman	26 14	Christchurch Do	10 Days 10 Days	In the Riccarton Church	7/1707	Marion R. Cookson, Mother	29 August 1871	Rev. B Bowen
2489	29 August 1871	Thomas Watson Kate Davis	Thomas Watson Kate Davis 💍 1871/8847	Bachelor Spinster	Publican	21 23	Courtenay Do	5 years 5 years	In the Riccarton Church	7/1009		29 August 1871	Rev. B Bowen

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).