Intentions to Marry, 1874

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840386, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Page 568

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1874 Registrar B. Parkerson

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

3169

16 March 1874

John McCrory
Mary Walker

John McCrory
Mary Walker
💍 1874/7651

Bachelor
Widow

Laborer
Servant

35
34

Riccarton
Riccarton

2 years
3 years

In the house of Rev. C. Fraser, Christchurch

74/606

16 March 1874

Rev. C. Fraser

No	3169
Date of Notice	16 March 1874
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McCrory	Mary Walker
	💍 1874/7651
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Laborer	Servant
Age	35	34
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Riccarton
Length of Residence	2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Rev. C. Fraser, Christchurch
Folio	74/606
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1874
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

3170

16 March 1874

Francis Henry Tayler
Sarah Parker

Francis Henry Taylor
Sarah Parker
💍 1874/11791

Bachelor
Spinster

Bookkeeper

24
18

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
12 years

In the Wesleyan Church, Durham Street

74/2021

William Parker, father

16 March 1874

Rev. J. Buller

No	3170
Date of Notice	16 March 1874
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Henry Tayler	Sarah Parker
BDM Match (98%)	Francis Henry Taylor	Sarah Parker
	💍 1874/11791
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bookkeeper
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	12 years
Marriage Place	In the Wesleyan Church, Durham Street
Folio	74/2021
Consent	William Parker, father
Date of Certificate	16 March 1874
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Buller

3171

19 March 1874

Cyprian Wynyard Bridge
Georgina Barker

Cyprian Wyngard Bridge
Georgina Mary Barker
💍 1874/13234

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant

28
26

Akaroa, Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
2 years

In St. John's Church, Christchurch

74/2518

19 March 1874

Rev. H. C. M Watson

No	3171
Date of Notice	19 March 1874
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cyprian Wynyard Bridge	Georgina Barker
BDM Match (85%)	Cyprian Wyngard Bridge	Georgina Mary Barker
	💍 1874/13234
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Akaroa, Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	In St. John's Church, Christchurch
Folio	74/2518
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1874
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. C. M Watson

3172

20 March 1874

Thomas Andrews
Rebecca Craze

Thomas Andrews
Rebecca Craze
💍 1874/6841

Bachelor
Spinster

Plasterer
Dressmaker

21
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 years
1 year

In the Church of St. Luke, Christchurch

74/323

20 March 1874

Rev. E. A. Lingard

No	3172
Date of Notice	20 March 1874
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Andrews	Rebecca Craze
	💍 1874/6841
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plasterer	Dressmaker
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 years	1 year
Marriage Place	In the Church of St. Luke, Christchurch
Folio	74/323
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1874
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. A. Lingard

3173

21 March 1874

John Coldstream
Eda Williams

John Coldstream
Ida Williams
💍 1874/7657

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

32
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

In the Scotch Church, Tuam Street

74/606

There is no person having authority to consent

21 March 1874

Rev. C. Fraser

No	3173
Date of Notice	21 March 1874
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Coldstream	Eda Williams
BDM Match (96%)	John Coldstream	Ida Williams
	💍 1874/7657
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	32	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the Scotch Church, Tuam Street
Folio	74/606
Consent	There is no person having authority to consent
Date of Certificate	21 March 1874
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

3174

21 March 1874

Arthur John Wilkinson
Rachel Churchill

Arthur John Watkinson
Rachel Churchill
💍 1874/7660

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook
Nurse

27
22

Templeton
Templeton

2 months
2 months

In the house of Rev. C. Fraser, Tuam Street

74/607

21 March 1874

Rev. C. Fraser

No	3174
Date of Notice	21 March 1874
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur John Wilkinson	Rachel Churchill
BDM Match (95%)	Arthur John Watkinson	Rachel Churchill
	💍 1874/7660
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook	Nurse
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Templeton	Templeton
Length of Residence	2 months	2 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Rev. C. Fraser, Tuam Street
Folio	74/607
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 March 1874
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

3175

23 March 1874

Stephen William Mitchell
Celia Anna Northey

Stephen William Mitchell
Celia Anna Northey
💍 1874/9040

Bachelor
Spinster

Brickmaker
Cook

21
21

Waltham
Waltham

7 months
7 months

In St. Luke's Church, Christchurch

In June Quarter

Rev. E. A. Lingard

No	3175
Date of Notice	23 March 1874
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stephen William Mitchell	Celia Anna Northey
	💍 1874/9040
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Brickmaker	Cook
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Waltham	Waltham
Length of Residence	7 months	7 months
Marriage Place	In St. Luke's Church, Christchurch
Folio	In June Quarter
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. A. Lingard

3176

24 March 1874

William Jonathan Tabor
Mary Theresa Connolly

William J Fabor
Mary Theresa Connolly
💍 1874/6874

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

30
25

Christchurch [former] Wellington
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

In the Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch

74/334

24 March 1874

Rev. J. M. Ecuyer

No	3176
Date of Notice	24 March 1874
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Jonathan Tabor	Mary Theresa Connolly
BDM Match (82%)	William J Fabor	Mary Theresa Connolly
	💍 1874/6874
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch [former] Wellington	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch
Folio	74/334
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1874
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Ecuyer

3177

24 March 1874

Joseph Noone
Euphemia Cooper

Joseph Noone
Euphemia Cooper
💍 1874/6877

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer

38
35

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

In the Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch

74/335

24 March 1874

Rev. J. M. Ecuyer

No	3177
Date of Notice	24 March 1874
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Noone	Euphemia Cooper
	💍 1874/6877
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	38	35
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch
Folio	74/335
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1874
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Ecuyer

3178

25 March 1874

Henry Killner
Jessie McHutcheson

Henry Killner
Jessie McHutcheson
💍 1874/6916

Widower
Spinster

Clerk

39
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
11 years

In the house of Mr. McHutcheson, Christchurch

74/349

25 March 1874

Rev. R. Thornton

No	3178
Date of Notice	25 March 1874
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Killner	Jessie McHutcheson
	💍 1874/6916
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	39	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	11 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. McHutcheson, Christchurch
Folio	74/349
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1874
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Thornton

3179

25 March 1874

John Holmes
Julia Diggle

John Holmes
Julia Diggle
💍 1874/7663

Bachelor
Spinster

Stone Cutter
Machinist

24
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
13 years

In the house of Rev. C. Fraser, Christchurch

74/608

25 March 1874

Rev. C. Fraser

No	3179
Date of Notice	25 March 1874
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Holmes	Julia Diggle
	💍 1874/7663
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stone Cutter	Machinist
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	13 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Rev. C. Fraser, Christchurch
Folio	74/608
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1874
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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Attribution: This image was digitised by Archives NZ Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga and is republished here under CC BY. It has been cropped and rotated for convenience.

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 1903. 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).