Intentions to Marry, 1876

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840388, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Alexandra at Archives NZ Wellington, January 31 2025

A few of the pages are missing.

Page 643

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 1876

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
4222	26 August 1876	Henry John Shrimpton Caroline Sophie Thoms	Henry Johnston Caroline Sophia Johnston 💍 1876/2767	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	26 24	Christchurch Christchurch	10 months 3 weeks	St Andrews Church Christchurch	76/2915		26 August 1876	Rev. C. Fraser, Pres
4223	28 August 1876	Arthur Morton Ollivier Agnes Thomson	Arthur Morton Ollivier Agnes Thomson 💍 1876/2509	Bachelor Spinster	Accountant	25 26	Ferry Road [illegible]	17 years 10 years	[illegible] Church	76/2294		28 August 1876	Rev. G. J. Cholmondeley, CofE
4224	29 August 1876	Robert Harris Jane O'Connor	Robert Harris Jane O'Connor 💍 1876/1864	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	35 24	Christchurch Christchurch	14 days 4 years	In the Registrar's Office	76/1981		29 August 1876	J. W. A. Marchman, Listarkerson
4225	29 August 1876	Stephen Buckett Galzella Jessie Jones	Stephen Buckett Dalzella Jessie Dick 💍 1876/2768	Bachelor Spinster	Bricklayer Servant	22 21	Christchurch Christchurch	14 years 3 years	In the house of Rev. C. Fraser	76/2916		29 August 1876	Rev. C. Fraser, Pres
4226	30 August 1876	John Kerr Edith Hamilton	John Kerr Edith Hamilton 💍 1876/2189	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	22 23	Christchurch Christchurch	22 years 12 years	Church	76/2245		30 August 1876	Rev. W. Glasson, CofE
4227	31 August 1876	Walter Bowing Scott Elizabeth Black Brown	Walter Boning Scott Elizabeth Black Brown 💍 1876/1847	Bachelor Spinster	Builder	26 23	Christchurch Christchurch	18 months 3 years	In the Primitive Methodist Chapel	76/1984		31 August 1876	Rev. B. J. Westbrook, Prim
4228	1 September 1876	William Bowen Ellen Cox	William Bowen Ellen Cox 💍 1876/1894	Bachelor Spinster	Shingler Servant	22 20	Christchurch Christchurch	3 years 3 years	Wesleyan Church	76/1963	Reuben Newman, Father	1 September 1876	Rev. J. Berry, Wes
4229	4 September 1876	Alfred Woods Ellen Newryan	Alfred Woods Ellen Newman 💍 1876/2769	Bachelor Spinster	Slater Servant	28 19	Christchurch Christchurch	1 year 1 year	In the house of Rev. C. Fraser	76/2914		4 September 1876	Rev. C. Fraser, Pres
4230	4 September 1876	Richard Greenaway Sarah Moodie	Francis Gread Sarah Moodie 💍 1876/2019	Bachelor Spinster	Lighterman Servant	24 26	Little River Papanui	2 years 3 years	Church	76/2006		4 September 1876	Rev. F. G. Brittan, CofE
4231	4 September 1876	Peter Heddell Janet Clark	Peter Heddel Janet Clark 💍 1876/2501	Bachelor Spinster	Customhouse Officer Milliner	44 24	Christchurch Christchurch	3 years 3 years	In the house of Miss Clark	76/2286		4 September 1876	Rev. J. Elmslie, Pres
4232	4 September 1876	Frederick Edwin Parsons Katherine Emma Chapman	Frederick Edwin Parsons Katherine Emma Champneys 💍 1876/1895	[illegible] Spinster	Clerk Governess	28 27	Christchurch Christchurch	10 years 2 years	In Mr. Smerdwood's house, Colombo Road	76/1964		4 September 1876	Rev. J. Berry, Wes

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).