Intentions to Marry, 1878

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840390, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, March 5 2025

Page 709

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 1878

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
5064	3 August 1878	James McCauce Anne Finlay	James McCann Johnston Anna Finlay 💍 1878/2134	Bachelor Spinster	Insurance Agent [illegible]	29 21	Rolleston West Melton	2 months 3 years	In the Manse, Christchurch	78/2062		3 August 1878	Rev. C. Fraser, Pres
5065	3 August 1878	Daniel Carvies Susan Ann Barrett	Danl Carney Susan Ann Barrett 💍 1878/2358	Bachelor Spinster	Porter Servant	20 19	Christchurch Christchurch	5 years 5 years	In the Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch	78/1934	There is no person whose consent is required	3 August 1878	Rev. L. L. Ginaty, [illegible]
5066	5 August 1878	James Skelly Mary Ann Quiller	James Skelly Mary Anne Quigley 💍 1878/2379	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	30 20	Christchurch Christchurch	9 months 9 months	In the Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch	78/2368	There is no person whose consent is required	6 August 1878	Rev. L. L. Ginaty, [illegible]
5067	5 August 1878	Robert Johnston Mary Ann Sinclair	Robert Johnston Mary Anna Sinclair 💍 1878/2116	Bachelor Spinster	Porter [illegible]	29 29	Christchurch Christchurch	3 weeks 1 week	In the Manse, Christchurch	78/2060		5 August 1878	Rev. C. Fraser, Pres
5068	5 August 1878	Albert John William Jane Matthews Patton	Albert John Williams Jane Matthew Patten 💍 1878/3409	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher [illegible]	22 23	Christchurch St Albans	3 months 6 years	Wesleyan Church, Christchurch	78/2114		5 August 1878	Rev. C. [illegible], Wes
5069	5 August 1878	Arthur William Butler Alice Free	Arthur William Yarrell Alice Burchell 💍 1878/2010	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk [illegible]	25 26	Christchurch Durham Street	4 years 5 years	Wesleyan Church, Christchurch	78/2113		5 August 1878	Rev. W. Morley, Wes
5070	6 August 1878	John Seabourn Ellen Pollock	John Seabourn Ellen Pollock 💍 1878/2127	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer [illegible]	28 18	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 4 years	In the Manse, Malvern, Christchurch	78/2061	Father	6 August 1878	Rev. C. Fraser, Pres
5071	8 August 1878	Henry Alexander Catherine Irvine	George Harper Catherine Irvine 💍 1878/2128	Bachelor Spinster	Hotelkeeper Servant	29 19	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 3 days	In the Registrar's Office, Christchurch	78/2049	There is no person whose consent is required	8 August 1878	R. H. A. Paice, Registrar of Marriages
5072	8 August 1878	Antonio Reynolds Dora Rightengale	Antonio Megaldo Dora Nightingale 💍 1878/2091	Bachelor Widow	Fisherman Housekeeper	30 32	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 8 weeks	In the Registrar's Office, Christchurch	78/2020		8 August 1878	M. Parkinson, Registrar of Marriages
5073	9 August 1878	Henry Alexander Rachel Hyams	Henry Alexander Rachel Hyams 💍 1878/2156	Bachelor Spinster	Bookbinder [illegible]	22 20	Christchurch Christchurch	4 years 15 months	In the Jewish Synagogue, Christchurch	78/2104		9 August 1878	Rev. L. Zachariah, Heb
5074	10 August 1878	George Henry Ayton Louisa Read Garraway	George Henry Ayten Louisa Mead Ganaway 💍 1878/2163	Widower Widow	Overseer Housekeeper	31 27	Cashmere Cashmere	2 years 2 years	In St. John's Church, Christchurch	78/2092		10 August 1878	Rev. H. C. M. Watson, CofE

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).