Intentions to Marry, 1875

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840387, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, May 16 2025.

This register is quite fragile and some of the pages are damaged or even missing.

Page 560

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1875 Registrar W. Passmore

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

3612

25 March 1875

John Peel Brown
Catherine McCloy

John Peel Brown
Catharine McCloy
💍 1875/211

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

27
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 months
7 years

In St Michael's Church

75/2143

25 March 1875

Rev. H. J. Edwards

No	3612
Date of Notice	25 March 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Peel Brown	Catherine McCloy
BDM Match (97%)	John Peel Brown	Catharine McCloy
	💍 1875/211
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 months	7 years
Marriage Place	In St Michael's Church
Folio	75/2143
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. J. Edwards

3613

27 March 1875

Harry Murray and George [illegible]
Annie Philippa Edwards

Harry Munyard Goodger
Annie Philippa Edmunds
💍 1875/209

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

21
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
3 years

In the house of Rev. C. Fraser

75/240

27 March 1875

Rev. C. Fraser

No	3613
Date of Notice	27 March 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Murray and George [illegible]	Annie Philippa Edwards
BDM Match (66%)	Harry Munyard Goodger	Annie Philippa Edmunds
	💍 1875/209
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Rev. C. Fraser
Folio	75/240
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 March 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

3614

31 March 1875

James Fullock
Ann Lack

James Tulloch
Ann Jack
💍 1875/2831

Bachelor
Spinster

Joiner
Cook

26
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 months
6 months

In the house of Mr. Angus

75/3084

31 March 1875

Rev. A. F. Douglas

No	3614
Date of Notice	31 March 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Fullock	Ann Lack
BDM Match (86%)	James Tulloch	Ann Jack
	💍 1875/2831
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Joiner	Cook
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 months	6 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Angus
Folio	75/3084
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 March 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. F. Douglas

3615

31 March 1875

John Arrier Field
Augusta Emily Page

John Aiken Field
Augusta Emily Pye
💍 1875/1174

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

22
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

In St John's Port Levy Church

75/1096

31 March 1875

Rev. H. C. Watson

No	3615
Date of Notice	31 March 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Arrier Field	Augusta Emily Page
BDM Match (83%)	John Aiken Field	Augusta Emily Pye
	💍 1875/1174
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In St John's Port Levy Church
Folio	75/1096
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 March 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. C. Watson

3616

31 March 1875

Alexander Hutchinson
Jane Chillingworth

Alexander McKinnon
Jane Maria Chillingworth
💍 1875/212

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

25
18

Christchurch
Christchurch

25th March
2 years

In St Michael's Church

75/1243

There is a report from the Registrar having authority

31 March 1875

Rev. H. J. Edwards

No	3616
Date of Notice	31 March 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Hutchinson	Jane Chillingworth
BDM Match (75%)	Alexander McKinnon	Jane Maria Chillingworth
	💍 1875/212
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	25	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25th March	2 years
Marriage Place	In St Michael's Church
Folio	75/1243
Consent	There is a report from the Registrar having authority
Date of Certificate	31 March 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. J. Edwards

3617

31 March 1875

Charles Bushery
Ellen Maloney

Charles Burberry
Ellen Maloney
💍 1875/955

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

27
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
8 years

In St Michael's Church

75/994

31 March 1875

Rev. H. J. Edwards

No	3617
Date of Notice	31 March 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Bushery	Ellen Maloney
BDM Match (91%)	Charles Burberry	Ellen Maloney
	💍 1875/955
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	8 years
Marriage Place	In St Michael's Church
Folio	75/994
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 March 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. J. Edwards

3618

31 March 1875

Luke Youngs
Annie Summerton

Luke Youngs
Annie Summerton
💍 1875/1461

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

27
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 months
8 months

In the house of Rev. C. Fraser

75/1386

31 March 1875

Rev. C. Fraser

No	3618
Date of Notice	31 March 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Luke Youngs	Annie Summerton
	💍 1875/1461
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 months	8 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Rev. C. Fraser
Folio	75/1386
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 March 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

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 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).