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 592

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1877 Registrar W Parkerson

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

4375

9 January 1877

Charles Kerr
Maria Amelia Avery

Charles Kerr
Maria Amelia Avery
💍 1877/491

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

36
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 days
8 days

In the house of Rev. I. Eleuther

77/394

9 January 1877

Rev. I. Eleuther

No	4375
Date of Notice	9 January 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Kerr	Maria Amelia Avery
	💍 1877/491
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	36	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 days	8 days
Marriage Place	In the house of Rev. I. Eleuther
Folio	77/394
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. Eleuther

4376

9 January 1877

Edward John Martin
Louisa Elira Drivey

Edward John Martin
Louisa Eliza Viney
💍 1877/785

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Servant

35
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
5 years

St. Michael's Church

77/680

9 January 1877

Rev. E. S. Penny

No	4376
Date of Notice	9 January 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward John Martin	Louisa Elira Drivey
BDM Match (89%)	Edward John Martin	Louisa Eliza Viney
	💍 1877/785
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Servant
Age	35	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church
Folio	77/680
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. S. Penny

4377

11 January 1877

John Shean
Maria Fee

John Hern
Maria Fee
💍 1877/485

Bachelor
Spinster

Smith

26
24

Christchurch
Riccarton

3 years
10 years

Wesleyan Chapel

77/391

11 January 1877

Rev. I. Crump

No	4377
Date of Notice	11 January 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Shean	Maria Fee
BDM Match (85%)	John Hern	Maria Fee
	💍 1877/485
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Smith
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Riccarton
Length of Residence	3 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Chapel
Folio	77/391
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 January 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. Crump

4378

12 January 1877

John Steele Guthrie
Catherine Mary Reyndts

John Steele Guthrie
Catherine Mary Reynolds
💍 1877/503

Bachelor
Widow

Journalist

36
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

13 years
2 years

St. Luke's Church

77/402

12 January 1877

Rev. E. A. Lingard

No	4378
Date of Notice	12 January 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Steele Guthrie	Catherine Mary Reyndts
BDM Match (94%)	John Steele Guthrie	Catherine Mary Reynolds
	💍 1877/503
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Journalist
Age	36	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	13 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church
Folio	77/402
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. A. Lingard

4379

12 January 1877

James Irvin
Ellen Hopkins

James Irvine
Ellen Hopkins
💍 1877/784

Bachelor
Spinster

Surveyor
Servant

36
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
4 years

St. Michael's Church

77/679

12 January 1877

Rev. E. S. Penny

No	4379
Date of Notice	12 January 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Irvin	Ellen Hopkins
BDM Match (96%)	James Irvine	Ellen Hopkins
	💍 1877/784
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surveyor	Servant
Age	36	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church
Folio	77/679
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. S. Penny

4380

12 January 1877

Federick Joseph King
Rose Anne Tepperell

Frederick Joseph King
Rose Anne Pepperell
💍 1877/455

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

21
21

Christchurch
Templeton

18 years
15 months

In the house of Mr. Pope

77/361

12 January 1877

Rev. J. Berry

No	4380
Date of Notice	12 January 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Federick Joseph King	Rose Anne Tepperell
BDM Match (95%)	Frederick Joseph King	Rose Anne Pepperell
	💍 1877/455
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Templeton
Length of Residence	18 years	15 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Pope
Folio	77/361
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Berry

4381

12 January 1877

Simeon Cundy
Louisa Richards Warren

Simeon Cundy
Louisa Richards Warren
💍 1877/506

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Dressmaker

25
18

Christchurch
Christchurch

13 months
4 years

Registry Office

77/414

Mary Catherine Wacker, Mother

12 January 1877

J. Parkinson

No	4381
Date of Notice	12 January 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Simeon Cundy	Louisa Richards Warren
BDM Match (63%)	Simeon Cundy	Louisa Richards Warren
	💍 1877/506
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Dressmaker
Age	25	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	13 months	4 years
Marriage Place	Registry Office
Folio	77/414
Consent	Mary Catherine Wacker, Mother
Date of Certificate	12 January 1877
Officiating Minister	J. Parkinson

4382

13 January 1877

John Moses Riding
Marion Leach

John Moses Riding
Marian Luck
💍 1877/1468

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Servant

25
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 months
3 years

In the house of Rev. Crees

77/394

13 January 1877

Rev. C. Crees

No	4382
Date of Notice	13 January 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Moses Riding	Marion Leach
BDM Match (83%)	John Moses Riding	Marian Luck
	💍 1877/1468
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Servant
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 months	3 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Rev. Crees
Folio	77/394
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Crees

4383

15 January 1877

Charles Coombs
Marion Emma Morton

Charles Coombs
Marion Emma Morton
💍 1877/513

Widower
Spinster

Merchant

31
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

18 years
12 years

In the Addington Church

77/421

15 January 1877

Very Rev. Dean Jacobs

No	4383
Date of Notice	15 January 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Coombs	Marion Emma Morton
	💍 1877/513
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Merchant
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	18 years	12 years
Marriage Place	In the Addington Church
Folio	77/421
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1877
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Dean Jacobs

4384

15 January 1877

Walter Thomas
Matilda Sarah Restell

Walter Thomas
Matilda Sarah Restall
💍 1877/786

Bachelor
Spinster

Medical Practitioner

28
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
18 years

St. Michael's Church

77/681

15 January 1877

Rev. E. S. Penny

No	4384
Date of Notice	15 January 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Thomas	Matilda Sarah Restell
BDM Match (98%)	Walter Thomas	Matilda Sarah Restall
	💍 1877/786
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Medical Practitioner
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	18 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church
Folio	77/681
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. S. Penny

4385

16 January 1877

John Carter
Jane Withers

John Carter
Jane Withell
💍 1877/478

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23
23

Riccarton
Riccarton

14 years
8 years

St. Anne's Church

77/360

16 January 1877

Rev. F. A. Hare

No	4385
Date of Notice	16 January 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Carter	Jane Withers
BDM Match (92%)	John Carter	Jane Withell
	💍 1877/478
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Riccarton
Length of Residence	14 years	8 years
Marriage Place	St. Anne's Church
Folio	77/360
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 January 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. A. Hare

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 1908. 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).