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 552

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1875

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

3524

23 January 1875

Herbert Parker
Anne Margaret Whithair

Herbert Parker
Anne Margaret Whitham
💍 1875/202

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26
19

Pubbletin
Christchurch

3 years
7 years

St Lukes Church

75/1225

Mary and Elizabeth Anne Whithair mother

23 January 1875

Rev. R. G. Lingard

No	3524
Date of Notice	23 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Parker	Anne Margaret Whithair
BDM Match (95%)	Herbert Parker	Anne Margaret Whitham
	💍 1875/202
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Pubbletin	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St Lukes Church
Folio	75/1225
Consent	Mary and Elizabeth Anne Whithair mother
Date of Certificate	23 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. G. Lingard

3525

25 January 1875

Thomas White
Sarah James Amy Taylor

Thomas White
Sarah Ann Taylor
💍 1875/223

Widower
Widow

Engineer

46
41

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 month
1 month

St Michaels Church

75/1230

25 January 1875

Rev. J. J. Glasson

No	3525
Date of Notice	25 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas White	Sarah James Amy Taylor
BDM Match (82%)	Thomas White	Sarah Ann Taylor
	💍 1875/223
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Engineer
Age	46	41
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 month	1 month
Marriage Place	St Michaels Church
Folio	75/1230
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Glasson

3526

25 January 1875

Edward William Roper
Frances Trew

Edward William Roper
Frances Trew
💍 1875/131

Widower
Widow

Auctioneer

49
43

Christchurch
Sumner

6 years
6 years

Mr. Millers

75/136

25 January 1875

Rev. G. Bond

No	3526
Date of Notice	25 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward William Roper	Frances Trew
	💍 1875/131
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Auctioneer
Age	49	43
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sumner
Length of Residence	6 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Mr. Millers
Folio	75/136
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Bond

3527

25 January 1875

Thomas Charles Brazier
Annie Finlay

John Charles Crozier Durham
Annie Finlay
💍 1875/467

Bachelor
Spinster

Medical Practitioner

30
23

Pubbletin
Christchurch

3 months
6 months

Mr. Clark

75/509

25 January 1875

Rev. J. J. Glasson

No	3527
Date of Notice	25 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Charles Brazier	Annie Finlay
BDM Match (74%)	John Charles Crozier Durham	Annie Finlay
	💍 1875/467
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Medical Practitioner
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Pubbletin	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 months	6 months
Marriage Place	Mr. Clark
Folio	75/509
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Glasson

3528

26 January 1875

James Inwood
Anna Macdonell

James Inwood
Anna McDonnell
💍 1875/534

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

35
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
2 months

Merivale

75/656

26 January 1875

Rev. F. Knowles

No	3528
Date of Notice	26 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Inwood	Anna Macdonell
BDM Match (89%)	James Inwood	Anna McDonnell
	💍 1875/534
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	35	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	2 months
Marriage Place	Merivale
Folio	75/656
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Knowles

3529

26 January 1875

Phillip Malone
Mary Appleby

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

26
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
3 months

Roman Catholic Church

75/1174

26 January 1875

Rev. J. J. Belliard

No	3529
Date of Notice	26 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Phillip Malone	Mary Appleby
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	3 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	75/1174
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Belliard

3530

26 January 1875

Timothy James Byrne
Mary Ann Webster

Timothy James Byrne
Mary Ann Webster
💍 1875/122

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Servant

26
24

Shirley
Shirley

1 year
5 weeks

Roman Catholic Church

75/1178

26 January 1875

Rev. J. J. Belliard

No	3530
Date of Notice	26 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Timothy James Byrne	Mary Ann Webster
	💍 1875/122
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Servant
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Shirley	Shirley
Length of Residence	1 year	5 weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	75/1178
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Belliard

3531

26 January 1875

Samuel Sinclair
Caroline Harriet Alpas

Samuel Sinclair
Caroline Harinet Alport
💍 1875/1169

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

27
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
19 years

St Johns Church

75/1092

Herbert Edward Alpas father

26 January 1875

Rev. J. J. Glasson

No	3531
Date of Notice	26 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Sinclair	Caroline Harriet Alpas
BDM Match (89%)	Samuel Sinclair	Caroline Harinet Alport
	💍 1875/1169
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	19 years
Marriage Place	St Johns Church
Folio	75/1092
Consent	Herbert Edward Alpas father
Date of Certificate	26 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Glasson

3532

27 January 1875

Matthew Hill
Mary Maclean Paterson

Matthew Hill
Mary McLean Patterson
💍 1875/1316

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Servant

34
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 days
1 week

In the house

75/1333

27 January 1875

Rev. C. Fraser

No	3532
Date of Notice	27 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Matthew Hill	Mary Maclean Paterson
BDM Match (93%)	Matthew Hill	Mary McLean Patterson
	💍 1875/1316
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Servant
Age	34	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 days	1 week
Marriage Place	In the house
Folio	75/1333
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

3533

28 January 1875

Robert Henry Robinson
Florence Gregory

Robert Henry Robinson
Florence Gregory
💍 1875/1317

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman
Servant

29
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
2 years

In the house

75/1334

There is person having authority

28 January 1875

Rev. C. Fraser

No	3533
Date of Notice	28 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Henry Robinson	Florence Gregory
	💍 1875/1317
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman	Servant
Age	29	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In the house
Folio	75/1334
Consent	There is person having authority
Date of Certificate	28 January 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).