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 620

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 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
3983	21 February 1876	George William Hill Ellen Townsend	George William Hill Ellen Townsend 💍 1876/3269	Bachelor Spinster	Engine driver Servant	30 21	Riccarton Upper Riccarton	2 years 2 years	In the house of Rev C. Fraser, Christchurch	76/1541		21 February 1876	Rev C. Fraser
3984	22 February 1876	John McClunan Rosina Talbot	John McLennon Rosina Talbot 💍 1876/3268	Bachelor Spinster	Contractor	33 23	Christchurch Christchurch	6 years 20 months	Residence of Mr Mason, Colombo Road	76/1540		22 February 1876	Rev C. Fraser
3985	22 February 1876	James Fulton Eleanor Watts	James Fulton Eleanor Watts 💍 1876/410	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor	23 22	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 2 years	Baptist Chapel, Christchurch			22 February 1876	Rev R. Morton
3986	22 February 1876	Louis Powell Mary Jane Taafe	Louis Powell Mary Anne Taafe 💍 1876/400	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	22 25	Christchurch Christchurch	4 days 11 years	Roman Catholic Church, Oxford	76/1488		22 February 1876	Rev J. P. Chareyre
3987	23 February 1876	Robert Walls Mary Ann Wilson	Robert Walls Mary Anne Wilson 💍 1876/3267	Bachelor Spinster	Carter	28 25	Christchurch Christchurch	9 months 2 months	In the house of Rev C. Fraser, Christchurch	76/1539		23 February 1876	Rev C. Fraser
3988	23 February 1876	William Brewer Emily Brunton	William Brewen Emily Brunton 💍 1876/3146	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	23 21	Christchurch Christchurch	1 week 1 week	In the house, Ashburton	76/1538		23 February 1876	Rev C. Fraser
3989	26 February 1876	Denis Ryan Mary Bowles	David Ryan Mary Boles 💍 1876/119 Thomas Ryan Mary Buckley 💍 1876/1855	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	26 25	Greenpark Greenpark	1 year 3 weeks	Roman Catholic Chapel, Shand's Track	76/132	John Clarkson, Father	26 February 1876	Rev J. C. Chervier
3990	26 February 1876	Thomas Hussey Lizzie Clarkson	Thomas Hussey Lizzie Clarkson 💍 1876/402	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	27 17	Christchurch Christchurch	1 week 6 days	Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch	76/1449		26 February 1876	Rev J. P. Chareyre
3991	28 February 1876	Hugh Christie Jessie Higgins	Hugh Miller Christie Jessie Charteris Higgins 💍 1876/3270	Bachelor Spinster	Horsebreaker Servant	24 22	Christchurch Christchurch	2 months 2 years	In the house of Rev C. Fraser, Christchurch	76/1542		28 February 1876	Rev C. Fraser
3992	28 February 1876	Patrick Ryan Margaret Lydia Taafe	Patrick Ryan Margaret Lysaght 💍 1876/120 Patrick Ryan Mary Monks 💍 1876/1297	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	22 22	Lincoln Rolleston	9 years 5 months	Roman Catholic Chapel, Banks Peninsula	76/133		28 February 1876	Rev J. C. Chervier
3993	29 February 1876	James Swanson Jane Parke	James Swanson Jane Park 💍 1876/387	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	30 24	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 10 days	Registrar's Office, Leeston	76/1454		29 February 1876	Registrar's Marriage, J.W.A. Marchant

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).