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 569

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

3180

26 March 1874

George Cutter
Martha Aylward

George Cutter
Martha Aylward
💍 1874/6955

Bachelor
Spinster

Quarryman

35
19

Ferry Road
Ferry Road

7 years
8 years

In Opawa Church

74/362

Martha Aylward, mother

26 March 1874

Rev. G.J. Cholmondeley

No	3180
Date of Notice	26 March 1874
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Cutter	Martha Aylward
	💍 1874/6955
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Quarryman
Age	35	19
Dwelling Place	Ferry Road	Ferry Road
Length of Residence	7 years	8 years
Marriage Place	In Opawa Church
Folio	74/362
Consent	Martha Aylward, mother
Date of Certificate	26 March 1874
Officiating Minister	Rev. G.J. Cholmondeley

3181

28 March 1874

John Gunter
Johanna Allington

John Gunter
Johanna Allingham
💍 1874/11179

Bachelor
Spinster

Bricklayer
Servant

21
21

Christchurch
River Styx

4 months
4 months

In the house of Rev. C. Fraser, Christchurch

Rev. C. Fraser

No	3181
Date of Notice	28 March 1874
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Gunter	Johanna Allington
BDM Match (91%)	John Gunter	Johanna Allingham
	💍 1874/11179
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer	Servant
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	River Styx
Length of Residence	4 months	4 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Rev. C. Fraser, Christchurch
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

3182

28 March 1874

William Henry Charles Marsh
Betty Priscilla De La Rue

William Henry Charles Marsh
Betsy Priscilla De La Rue
💍 1874/7666

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

25
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 week
1 week

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

74/610

28 March 1874

Rev. C. Fraser

No	3182
Date of Notice	28 March 1874
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Charles Marsh	Betty Priscilla De La Rue
BDM Match (98%)	William Henry Charles Marsh	Betsy Priscilla De La Rue
	💍 1874/7666
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 week	1 week
Marriage Place	In the house of Rev. C. Fraser, Tuam Street
Folio	74/610
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1874
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

3183

30 March 1874

Robert Brown
Matilda Floyd

Robert Brown
Matilda Floyd
💍 1874/6895

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner
Servant

21
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

In St. Michaels Church, Christchurch

74/342

30 March 1874

Rev. H.J. Edwards

No	3183
Date of Notice	30 March 1874
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Brown	Matilda Floyd
	💍 1874/6895
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner	Servant
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In St. Michaels Church, Christchurch
Folio	74/342
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1874
Officiating Minister	Rev. H.J. Edwards

3184

30 March 1874

William Buck
Susan Moore

William Buck
Susan Moore
💍 1874/11185

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

33
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
3 years

In the house of Rev. C. Fraser, Christchurch

74/1810

30 March 1874

Rev. C. Fraser

No	3184
Date of Notice	30 March 1874
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Buck	Susan Moore
	💍 1874/11185
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	33	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Rev. C. Fraser, Christchurch
Folio	74/1810
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1874
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

3185

30 March 1874

Edward Denham
Emily Nalder

Edward Denham
Emily Nalder
💍 1874/9043

Bachelor
Spinster

Civil Service Office

39
32

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
7 years

In St. Luke's Church, Christchurch

In next Quarter

Rev. E.A. Lingard

No	3185
Date of Notice	30 March 1874
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Denham	Emily Nalder
	💍 1874/9043
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Civil Service Office
Age	39	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	7 years
Marriage Place	In St. Luke's Church, Christchurch
Folio	In next Quarter
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	Rev. E.A. Lingard

3186

30 March 1874

William Henry Lodge
Emma Grantham

William Henry Lodge
Emma Grantham
💍 1874/5866

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

14 years
15 years

In the house of Rev. C. Fraser, Christchurch

74/1806

30 March 1874

Rev. C. Fraser

No	3186
Date of Notice	30 March 1874
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Lodge	Emma Grantham
	💍 1874/5866
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	14 years	15 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Rev. C. Fraser, Christchurch
Folio	74/1806
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 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).