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 632

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 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
4101	20 May 1876	James Henry Stewart Mary Ann Neary	James Henry Stewart Mary Ann Henry 💍 1876/1622 John Stewart Mary Ann Black 💍 1876/3043	Bachelor Spinster	Barman Servant	21 22	Christchurch Christchurch	3 years 2 years	In the Scotch Church	76/1540		20 May 1876	Rev C. Fraser
4102	20 May 1876	Benjamin Willis Jessie Barrie	Benjamin Ellis Jessie Barrie 💍 1876/1624	Bachelor Spinster	Painter	28 27	Christchurch Addington	15 months 3 weeks	In the House of Rev C. Fraser	76/1542		20 May 1876	Rev C. Fraser
4103	20 May 1876	Zephaniah Aldous Catherine Berry	Zephania Aldons Margaret Berry 💍 1876/1028	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher Servant	32 23	Tai Tapu Tai Tapu	6 months 4 months	In the Roman Catholic Church	76/1452		20 May 1876	Rev J. P. Chareyre
4104	22 May 1876	Robert Adam Forrester Louisa Burrell	Robert Adam Forrester Louisa Burrell 💍 1876/1623	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd Servant	34 22	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 3 days	In the House, Amuri	76/1541		22 May 1876	Rev C. Fraser
4105	23 May 1876	William Cobbold Isabella Campbell	William Abbott Isabella Campbell 💍 1876/1549	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	36 21	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 3 days	Saltwater Creek	76/1465	D. Campbell	23 May 1876	Rev J. Elmslie
4106	25 May 1876	Toledo Frankfort Martha Williamson	Toledo F H Field Martha Williamson 💍 1876/1625	Bachelor Spinster	Printer	37 21	Christchurch Waltham	7 weeks 7 weeks	In the House of Rev C. Fraser	76/1543		25 May 1875	Rev C. Fraser
4107	26 May 1876	Joseph Moffat Ellen Elizabeth Gaskell	Joseph Moffat Ellen Elizabeth Gaskell 💍 1876/914	Bachelor Spinster	Miller	22 20	Riccarton Riccarton	18 months 16 years	In the Church	76/1934	Sarah Lutter, Mother	26 May 1876	Rev F. A. Hare
4108	27 May 1876	Daniel McVeigh Catherine Butler	Daniel McVeigh Catherine Butler 💍 1876/899	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	25 17	Lincoln Lincoln	2 years 9 years	In Roman Catholic Chapel, Thames Track	76/943	Mary Butler, Mother	27 May 1876	Rev J. C. Chervier
4109	27 May 1876	Frederick Barry Sarah Ann Wainwright	Frederick Berry Sarah Ann Wainwright 💍 1876/1365	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	31 18	Lincoln Springston	15 years 12 years	In the House of Mr Wainwright, Springston	76/1436	Charles Wainwright, Father	27 May 1876	Rev W. Cannell
4110	29 May 1876	John Preston Patience Thackwell	John Preston Elizabeth Patience Thackwell 💍 1876/1394	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer Servant	32 19	Christchurch Christchurch	4 months 2 years	In the House of Mrs Thackwell	76/1402	Elizabeth Thackwell, Mother	29 May 1876	Rev B. J. Westbrooke
4111	29 May 1876	Francis Henry Thompson Jane Fabling	Francis Henry Thompstone Jane Fabling 💍 1876/1019	Widower Spinster	Gardener Housekeeper	34 24	Spreydon Spreydon	11 months 5 months	In the Registrar's Office	76/966		29 May 1876	Registrar of Marriages, W. G. Paterson

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).