Intentions to Marry, 1877

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840389, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, April 16 2025

Page 609

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1877

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
4545	May 1877	James Geuh Emma Clarke	James Gent Emma Clarke 💍 1877/1426 Peter McNeil Emma Clarke 💍 1877/141	Bachelor Spinster	Baker Servant	26 25	Christchurch Christchurch	2 years 18 months	St John's Church	77/316		25 May 1877	Rev H. C. M. Watson
4546	May 1877	William McBraith Mary Bright	William McIlraith Mary Bright 💍 1877/2646	Bachelor Spinster	Station Keeper Servant	30 22	Christchurch Christchurch	3 months 3 months	In the house of Rev. C. Fraser	77/2654		28 May 1877	Rev C. Fraser
4547	May 1877	Henry Edward Howard Mary Limmins	Henry Edmund Howard Mary Timmins 💍 1877/1122	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher Servant	30 17	Christchurch Christchurch	7 days 2 years	In the Registrar's Office	77/1042	Ann Lloyd, Mother	28 May 1877	Registrar of Marriages, Markerson
4548	May 1877	Alfred Thomas Moss Mary Jane McRobert	Alfred Thomas Mop Mary Jane McRoberts 💍 1877/1318	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Servant	37 25	Christchurch Christchurch	14 years 4 days	In the residence of Church, Fendalton	77/1204		29 May 1877	Rev. J. T. Glasson
4549	May 1877	Edmund Godwin Austen Elizabeth Ann Maria	Edmond Godwin Austen Elizabeth Annie Warnes 💍 1877/2645	Bachelor Spinster	Stockman Milliner	24 21	Christchurch Christchurch	5 years 3 years	In the house of Mrs. Marue	77/2653		30 May 1877	Rev C. Fraser
4550	May 1877	William Darby Jane McDonald	William Darby Jane McDonald 💍 1877/1089 William Nelson Anne McDonald 💍 1877/2955	Bachelor Spinster	Surveyor	30 29	Christchurch Christchurch	4 days 4 days	In St Luke's Church	77/1009		31 May 1877	Rev. R. A. Lingard
4551	June 1877	Thomas Motton Holland Elizabeth Chapman	Thomas Motton Holland Elizabeth Chapman 💍 1877/1090	Bachelor Widow	Printer	40 36	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 3 days	In St Luke's Church	77/1010		1 June 1877	Rev. R. A. Lingard
4552	June 1877	Alexander McRee Jane Peacock	Alexander McRae Jane Peacock 💍 1877/1097	Bachelor Spinster	Merchant	31 21	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 16 years	In the Besleyan Church	77/1016		5 June 1877	Rev. J. Crump
4553	June 1877	Charles Brown Phoebe Fluety	Charles Brown Phoebe Fluety 💍 1877/1854	Bachelor Widow	Platelayer Farmer	34 33	Christchurch Christchurch	17 days 17 days	Christchurch	77/809		5 June 1877	Rev. E. Muton
4554	June 1877	Stephen Elliott Wisdom Mary Garvey	Stephen Eliott Wisdom Mary Garvey 💍 1877/1131	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Servant	50 30	Christchurch Christchurch	6 years 4 months	Registrar's Office	77/1044		7 June 1877	Registrar of Marriages, Markerson
4555	June 1877	Henry Stanley Lenny Linda Sheppard		Bachelor Spinster	Plumber Servant	25 21	Christchurch Christchurch	3 years 3 years	In the house of Mr. Oakley	77/1024		7 June 1877	Rev. H. Morley

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 1899. More registers are being added almost every week.

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).