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 650

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
4291	30 October 1876	John Gleckin Mayan McAleer	John Gleekin Margaret McAleer 💍 1876/2895	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	25 20	Waltham Phillipstown	6 months 5 months	Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch	76/2994	There is no person having authority to give consent	30 October 1876	Rev I.P. Chareyre, CofE
4292	30 October 1876	James William Gladstone Caroline Agnes Taylor	James William Gladstone Wheatley Caroline Agnes Taylor 💍 1876/2530	Bachelor Spinster	Constable	31 21	Christchurch Christchurch	19 months 17 months	Registrar's Office, Christchurch	76/2348		30 October 1876	Registrar of Marriages, S.L.Parkerson
4293	30 October 1876	Moses Mouldey Martha Fletcher	Moses Monldey Martha Fletcher 💍 1876/25	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	36 23	Christchurch Christchurch	1 week 1 week	Leeston, Arowside Church	76/2753		30 October 1876	Rev H. Glasson, CofE
4294	30 October 1876	Nathan Lowthian Thompson Georgina Frounce	Nathan Lowthian Thompson Georgina Trounce 💍 1876/2614	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	25 22	Fendalton Fendalton	3 months 5 weeks	Riccarton Church	76/2735		30 October 1876	Rev F.A. Hare, CofE
4294	30 October 1876	Thomas Breachop				33	Christchurch	3 days	Southbridge Church	76/3115		30 October 1876	Rev C.J. Merton, CofE
4295	31 October 1876	Rachel Stewars		Spinster		24	Heathcote Valley	10 years	Heathcote Valley Church			31 October 1876	Rev C.J. Merton, CofE
4296	31 October 1876	John Rawson Tulley Kate Louisa Gilchrist	John Ransome Tulley Kate Louisa Gilchrist 💍 1876/2594	Bachelor Spinster	Publisher Machinist	20 21	Christchurch New Town	[illegible] 4 years	Wesleyan Chapel, Harper Street	76/2738	John Lawrence Tulley, Father	31 October 1876	Rev S. Berry, Wes
4297	1 November 1876	John Hamilton Mary Moffatt	John Hamilton Mary Moffat 💍 1876/2537 John Hamilton Annie Maria Ferns Clark 💍 1876/2058	Bachelor Spinster	Miller	37 38	Riccarton Riccarton	3 years 3 years	Registrar's Office, Christchurch	76/2349		1 November 1876	Registrar of Marriages, S.L.Parkerson
4298	1 November 1876	John Muirhead Elizabeth Emerson	John Muirhead Elizabeth Emerson 💍 1876/2962	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	30 21	Templeton Templeton	3 months 3 months	Scotch Church, Tuam Street	76/2934		1 November 1876	Rev C. Fraser, P.C.
4299	2 November 1876	Matthew Cowan Harriet Elizabeth Webb		Bachelor Spinster	Groom Servant	32 22	Christchurch Christchurch	15 years 3 years	In the house, Armaside	76/2754		2 November 1876	Rev C. Fraser, P.C.
4300	3 November 1876	James McConachie Lucy Johnston	John McHarrie Mary Johnston 💍 1876/3054	Bachelor Spinster	Ploughman Servant	29 22	Tai Tapu Christchurch	1 year 3 weeks	St Paul's Church			3 November 1876	Rev H. Glasson, CofE
4301	3 November 1876	William Briggs Martha Mary Lloyd	William Briggs Martha Mary Lloyd 💍 1876/2610	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Dressmaker	31 30	Christchurch Christchurch	3 months 2 years	Wesleyan Church, Durham Street	76/2730		3 November 1876	Rev S. 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).