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 649

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 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
4280	17 October 1876	Alexander Weir Agnes Gilbertson	Alexander Weir Agnes Gilbertson 💍 1876/2956	Bachelor Spinster	Station Master Servant	25 19	Christchurch Addington	3 days 1 week	In the house of Rev. Fraser	76/2931	Mary Ann Gilbertson, Mother	17 October 1876	Rev. C. Fraser
4281	18 October 1876	Henry Clark Ellen Matilda Matthews	Henry Clark Ellen Matilda Matthews 💍 1876/2899	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	28 21	Christchurch Christchurch	5 days 5 days	St Lukes Church	76/2980	Other	18 October 1876	Rev. G. A. Lingard
4282	18 October 1876	Richard Charles Lite Roseannah Round	Richard Charles Pitt Rosannah Round 💍 1876/3109	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	21 16	Woolston Woolston	3 months 9 years	In the Church	76/3116	Elisha Round, Father	18 October 1876	Rev. C. I. Merton
4283	19 October 1876	Thomas Frame Fanny Harris	Thomas Frame Fanny Harris 💍 1876/2656	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 23	Papanui Papanui	2 years 20 years	Church	76/2925	Other	19 October 1876	Rev. F. G. Brittan
4284	20 October 1876	John Arthur Savage Isabella Gray Hunter	John Arthur Savage Isa Grey Hunter 💍 1876/2868	Bachelor Spinster	Machinist Servant	22 19	Christchurch Christchurch	11 years 1 year	In the house of Mr Hunter	76/2964	There is no person having authority to consent	20 October 1876	Rev. J. Elmslie
4285	21 October 1876	Richard Chaplyn Rebecca Hillis Carter	Richard Chaplyn Prate Rebecca Willis Carter 💍 1876/2649	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	27 24	Christchurch Templeton	4 years 13 years	Church	76/2719	Other	21 October 1876	Rev. Herbert Howell
4286	21 October 1876	Arthur Matthew Webb Eliza Louisa Hay	Arthur Matthew Webb Elisa Louisa Makeig 💍 1876/2906	Bachelor Spinster	Salesman	27 26	Christchurch Christchurch	3 years 8 years	St Lukes Church	76/2981	Other	21 October 1876	Rev. G. A. Lingard
4287	21 October 1876	Belavius Edward Adnams Rosa Ellen Andrea		Bachelor Spinster	Painter Servant	21 18	Christchurch Christchurch	2 years 1 year	In the house of Rev. C. Fraser	76/2934	There is no person having authority to consent	21 October 1876	Rev. C. Fraser
4288	26 October 1876	Alexander Frederick Mitchell Emily Hensley	Alexander Frederick Mitchell Emily Hensley 💍 1876/2960	Bachelor Spinster	Boilermaker Servant	24 22	Christchurch Christchurch	6 months 6 months	In the house of Rev. C. Fraser	76/2933	Other	26 October 1876	Rev. C. Fraser
4289	28 October 1876	William Shain Annie Curragh	William Shaw Annie Curragh 💍 1876/2961	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Servant	26 22	Christchurch Christchurch	3 years 3 years	In the Scotch Church	76/2934	Other	28 October 1876	Rev. C. Fraser
4290	28 October 1876	William Bailey Amy Jane Mayo	William Bailey Amy Jane Mayo 💍 1876/2648	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	22 20	Templeton Templeton	12 years 18 months	In Church	76/2718	Gilbert Mayo, Father	28 October 1876	Rev. Herbert Howell

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).