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 713

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
5108	10 September 1878	Tom Edward Keelley Mary Jeffers Smith	Tom Edward Keetley Mary Teggert Smith 💍 1878/2072	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	21 19	Christchurch Christchurch	5 months 7 days	In the Registrar's Office	78/2024	Ann Smith, Mother	10 September 1878	Registrar of Marriages, M. Atkinson
5109	10 September 1878	Charles Edward Single Elizabeth Ann Salter	Charles Edward Smythe Elizabeth Salter 💍 1878/2121	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	24 24	Christchurch Christchurch	2 Years 1 Year	In the house of R. C. Fraser	78/2043		10 September 1878	R. C. Fraser
5110	10 September 1878	Thomas Horlor Lucy Britton	Thomas Horton Lucy Britton 💍 1878/2082	Bachelor Spinster	Jeweller	27 21	Christchurch Christchurch	3 Years 7 Years	In St Lukes Church	78/2033		10 September 1878	R. S. Slack
5111	11 September 1878	Samuel Belcher Barker Frances Harriette Lean	Samuel Delaben Barker Frances Harriet Lean 💍 1878/3198	Bachelor Spinster	Storekeeper	30 19	Christchurch Riccarton	4 days 19 years	In the Christchurch Church	78/3255	John Lean, Father	11 September 1878	R. C. Bowen
5112	11 September 1878	Thomas Fairweather Partridge Mary Alma Jeffery	Thomas Fairweather Partridge Mary Alma Jeffery 💍 1878/2238	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	39 27	Riccarton Riccarton	1 week 3 weeks	In the Church, Riccarton	78/2243		11 September 1878	R. C. Bowen
5113	11 September 1878	Thomas Ernest Tomlinson Alice Emily Hills	Thomas Ernest Tomlinson Alice Emily Hicks 💍 1878/2260	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	25 22	Christchurch Christchurch	1 Year 22 Years	In the Church, Riccarton	78/2242		11 September 1878	R. C. Bowen
5114	11 September 1878	George William Hartnell Margaret Griffin	George William Hartnoll Margaret Griffin 💍 1878/2073	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	25 20	Avonside Avonside	1 week 1 week	In the Registrar's Office	78/2025	There is no person having authority to consent	13 September 1878	Registrar of Marriages, M. Atkinson
5115	16 September 1878	Henry Clancy Mary Eliza Potter Swale	Henry Clancy Mary Eliza Potter Swale 💍 1878/2824	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	38 28	Christchurch Avonside	5 years 16 years	In the Christchurch Church	78/286		16 September 1878	R. H. Clarkson
5116	17 September 1878	Andrew Archibald Seaton Mary Kate Frances Brady	Andrew Archibald Seaton Mary Kate Frances Brady 💍 1878/2074	Bachelor Spinster	Surveyor	25 22	Christchurch Christchurch	10 weeks 3 Years	Registrar's Office	78/2026		17 September 1878	Registrar of Marriages, M. Atkinson
5117	19 September 1878	Alexander McGeekan Margaret Ford	Alexander McCracken Margaret Ford 💍 1878/2123 David Milne Margaret Ford 💍 1878/3123	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	32 24	Christchurch Christchurch	1 week 1 week	In the house of R. C. Fraser	78/2045		19 September 1878	R. C. Fraser
5118	19 September 1878	James Samuel Radcliffe Mary Glanville	James Samuel Slade Mary Glanville 💍 1878/2158	Bachelor Spinster	Baker	29 35	Christchurch Christchurch	15 Years 7 Years	In the house of H. Glanville	78/2084		19 September 1878	R. S. Clark

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).