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 712

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
5086	20 August 1878	James Hamilton Harriet Maria Hills	James Hamilton Harriet Maria Mills 💍 1878/2141 James Hamilton Jessie Wallace Malcolm 💍 1878/1650	Bachelor Spinster	Carter Servant	24 21	Christchurch Christchurch	1 Year 4 Years	St Pauls Church	78/2085		20 August 1878	Rev. H. J. C. Westenra [?spelling]
5087	20 August 1878	Henry Joseph Jekyll Margaret Washbourne	Henry Joseph Jekyll Margaret Washbourn 💍 1878/2258	Bachelor Spinster	Civil Service Officer	35 22	Lincoln Road Riccarton	5 weeks 12 Years	Riccarton Church	78/2240		20 August 1878	Rev. E. Bowen
5088	21 August 1878	Thomas Henry Anthony Lydia Whiffen	William Henry Anthony Lydia Whiffen 💍 1878/2164	Bachelor Spinster	Chemist	28 25	Christchurch Christchurch	15 Years 9 Years	St. John's Church, Christchurch	78/2093		21 August 1878	Rev. H. C. M. Watson
5089	21 August 1878	Charles Price Susan Cusack	Charles Prin Susan Cusack 💍 1878/2071	Bachelor Spinster	Painter Machinist	24 20	Christchurch Knightstown	15 months 12 months	Registrar's Office, Christchurch	78/2023	Susan Cusack, Mother of [illegible]	21 August 1878	Registrar of Marriages, [illegible]
5090	22 August 1878	Adam Frier Annie Ketting	Adam Frier Annie Kething 💍 1878/2138	Bachelor Spinster	Mechanic Servant	28 22	Waltham Christchurch	6 months 4 months	In the house of Rev. R. S. Cowie, Lincoln Street	78/2066		22 August 1878	Rev. C. Fraser
5091	23 August 1878	William James McKernan Eliza Boggs	William James McKernan Eliza Boggs 💍 1878/2048	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	26 22	Christchurch Christchurch	3 months 3 days	St. Michael's Church, Christchurch	78/1998		23 August 1878	Rev. R. S. Penny
5092	26 August 1878	William Lee Janet Anderson	William Lee Janet Anderson 💍 1878/2140	Bachelor Spinster	Contractor Servant	28 27	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 4 years	In the house, Insley's	78/2068		26 August 1878	Rev. C. Fraser
5093	26 August 1878	John Cother Emily Mayors Perine	John Cother Emily Margaret Percival 💍 1878/2080	Bachelor Spinster	Baker Shopkeeper	28 25	Christchurch Christchurch	2 years 5 days	St. Luke's Church, Christchurch	78/2031		26 August 1878	Rev. L. [illegible]
5094	26 August 1878	Daniel O'Connor Bridget Linley	Daniel O'Connor Brigid Tinley 💍 1878/2356 Maurice O'Connor Bridgett Gorman 💍 1878/2938	Bachelor Spinster	Storeman Servant	25 22	Christchurch Christchurch	7 months 5 months	Roman Catholic Church	78/2369		26 August 1878	Rev. L. [illegible]
5095	27 August 1878	John Stojarthe Kate Bray	John Hogarth Kate Bray 💍 1878/2142	Bachelor Spinster	Currier Servant	27 23	Woolston Woolston	1 Year 4 Years	St. John's Church, Christchurch	78/2094		27 August 1878	Rev. H. C. M. Watson
5096	28 August 1878	Francis Edward Trudden Elizabeth Broadbelt	Francis Edward Buckland Elizabeth Broadbelt 💍 1878/3182	Bachelor Spinster	Collector	27 23	Christchurch Christchurch	2 years 1 year	Trinity Church	78/3213		28 August 1878	Rev. H. Glasson

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).