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 630

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 1877 Registrar J.J.Malkerson

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
4743	24 November 1877	Matthew Euy Christina Strake	Matthew Guy Christina Straker 💍 1877/2613	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	24 26	Burnham Burnham	4 months 6 weeks	In the Registrar's Office	77/2011		24 November 1877	Registrar of Marriages J.J. Malkerson
4744	24 November 1877	Dudley Hampton Margaret Cassidy	Dudley Hampton Margaret Cassidy 💍 1877/2573	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	24 22	Christchurch Christchurch	2 years 1 year	In the Roman Catholic Church	77/2549		24 November 1877	Rev. C. Fraser
4745	24 November 1877	Robert Andrew Loughnan Victoire de Malmanche	Robert Andrew Loughnan Victoria de Malmanche 💍 1877/2669	Bachelor Spinster	Journalist	36 27	Christchurch Akaroa	2 years 13 years	Call the Church	77/2614		24 November 1877	Rev. I. Souvain
4746	26 November 1877	Arthur Robert Empson Elizabeth Frances Atkinson	Arthur Overton Empson Elizabeth Francis Atkinson 💍 1877/2950	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinet Maker Servant	22 20	Christchurch Christchurch	4 years 5 years	In the house of Rev. I. Eusbie	77/2953	Thomas Atkinson, Father	26 November 1877	Rev. I. Eusbie
4747	26 November 1877	Johan Schäfer Honora Councle	Johann Schafer Honora Connell 💍 1877/3133	Bachelor Spinster	Baker Servant	23 22	Christchurch Christchurch	7 months 14 days	German Church	77/2625		26 November 1877	Rev. L. Lohr
4748	29 November 1877	Charles Parker Ayling Elizabeth Maxine Hamilton	Charles Parker Ayling Elizabeth Maxcine Horne 💍 1877/2961	Bachelor Spinster	Hotel Keeper	46 33	Christchurch Christchurch	2 weeks 2 weeks	In the house of Rev. I. Eusbie	77/2954		29 November 1877	Rev. I. Eusbie
4749	29 November 1877	James Stone Mary Ellen Webb	James Stones Mary Ellen Webb 💍 1877/2575	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher Dressmaker	23 18	Christchurch Christchurch	1 year 8 months	In the Roman Catholic Church	77/2580	There is no person having authority	29 November 1877	Rev. C. Fraser
4750	30 November 1877	David Roach Henrietta Hallett	David Baird Henrietta Halkett 💍 1877/2624	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	35 40	Christchurch Christchurch	4 days 4 days	In the Registrar's Office	77/2612		30 November 1877	Registrar of Marriages J.J. Malkerson
4751	30 November 1877	John Abbott Mary Gilbert	John Abbott Mary Gilbert 💍 1877/3150	Bachelor Spinster	Groom Laundress	46 36	Christchurch Christchurch	1 year 1 year	Catholic Church	77/3036		30 November 1877	Rev. L. Swaty
4752	03 December 1877	Samuel Carter Emma Essery	Samuel Carter Emma Essex 💍 1877/2617	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer Servant	28 26	Templeton Templeton	7 years 6 weeks	Templeton	77/2623		03 December 1877	Rev. S. B. Houlte
4753	04 December 1877	Charles Smith Ann Logan	Charles Smith Ann Logan 💍 1877/2977	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	38 34	Christchurch Christchurch	5 days 5 days	Michael Church	77/2988		04 December 1877	Rev. E. G. Penny

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 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).