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 645

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
4244	15 September 1876	Arthur Spring Mary McCarthy	Arthur Spring Mary McCarthy 💍 1876/2039	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	32 25	Christchurch Christchurch	2 years 2 years	The Roman Catholic Church	76/2002		15 September 1876	J. P. Chareyre, R.C.
4245	16 September 1876	Thomas Electry Mary Shierlaw	Thomas Elmsly Mary Shierlaw 💍 1876/2651	Widower Spinster	Coachbuilder	47 31	Christchurch Christchurch	12 Years 5 Years	House of Mr. Shierlaw, Montreal Road	76/2421		16 September 1876	Rev. J. Berry, Wes
4246	18 September 1876	Samuel Carter Jane Robertson	James Henderson Janet Robertson 💍 1876/547 John Francis Smither Jane Robertson 💍 1876/1494	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher Servant	22 25	Greymouth Christchurch	8 Years 9 months	Wesleyan Church, Durham Street	76/1965		18 September 1876	Rev. J. Berry, Wes
4247	18 September 1876	John Butler Rishe Jane Hughes	John Butler Nisbet Jane Hughes 💍 1876/2518	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	24 20	New Town Kingsland	4 Years 3 weeks	St. John's Church	76/2284	Father	18 September 1876	Rev. H. C. M. Watson, CofE
4248	18 September 1876	Richard Buller Ellen Commers	Richard Butler Ellen Cummons 💍 1876/2040 Richard Humphrey Ellen Morris 💍 1876/536	Bachelor Widow	Labourer Servant	22 30	Waltham Waltham	8 months 4 Years	The Roman Catholic Church	76/2003		18 September 1876	J. P. Chareyre, R.C.
4249	21 September 1876	Henry Wilder Shapley Mary Jane Avery	Henry Wilder Sharp Mary Jane Avery 💍 1876/3010	Bachelor Spinster	Cordial Manufacturer Servant	21 20	Christchurch Christchurch	2 years 2 years	St. John's Church	76/3086	There is no person having authority to consent	21 September 1876	Rev. H. C. M. Watson, CofE
4250	25 September 1876	Robert Russell Mary McColl	Robert Russell Mary McColl 💍 1876/2774	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	22 22	Christchurch Christchurch	9 months 10 months	House of Rev. C. Fraser, Tuam Street	76/2922		25 September 1876	Rev. C. Fraser, Pres
4251	25 September 1876	Frederick James Parsons Elizabeth Helen Campbell	Frederick James Parsons Elizabeth Helen Campbell 💍 1876/2510	Bachelor Spinster	Gentleman	36 25	Christchurch Christchurch	5 days 5 months	Church	76/2264		25 September 1876	Rev. H. Glasson, CofE
4252	26 September 1876	Charles Frank Smith Caroline Chisholm	Charles Frank Pyne Caroline Chisholm Smith 💍 1876/1891	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	27 25	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 8 months	St. Luke's Church	76/1900		25 September 1876	Rev. G. A. Lingard, CofE
4253	26 September 1876	William Henry Ovenden Edith Gertrude Daniels	William Henry Obenden Edith Gertrude Lamb 💍 1876/2499	Bachelor Spinster	Surgeon	27 22	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 2 years	Avonside Church	76/2266		26 September 1876	Rev. H. Glasson, CofE
4254	26 September 1876	Charles William Tompkins Annie Williams	Charles William Tompkins Annie Williams 💍 1876/2593	Bachelor Spinster	Tinsmith Servant	18 18	Christchurch Christchurch	18 years 9 years	The Wesleyan Church	76/2428	Michael Marshall Wyatt, Guardian; Albert Williams, Father	26 September 1876	Rev. J. Berry, Wes

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

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).