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 710

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
5053	26 July 1878	John Frederick Hiles Eleanor Maude Cane	John Frederick Miles Eleanor Maud Cane 💍 1878/2046	Bachelor Spinster	Merchant	24 19	Opawa Christchurch	2 Years 4 Years	St Michaels Church	78/1996	Thomas Cane, Father	26 July 1878	Rev. R. S. Penny
5054	26 July 1878	William Robert Turner Martha Ann Hoods	William Robert Turner Martha Ann Woods 💍 1878/2051	Bachelor Spinster	Builder Milliner	35 26	Avonside Avon Road	4 Years 4 Months	In the house of Mr. R. Turner	78/2001		26 July 1878	Rev. R. Ford
5055	27 July 1878	James Dukes Mary Jane Logan	James Dukes Mary Jane Logan 💍 1878/2090	Bachelor Spinster	Wellsinker Servant	31 23	Feredon Madras	5 Months 8 Months	Registrars Office	78/2019		27 July 1878	Registrar of Marriages, S.M.Parkeson
5056	29 July 1878	Patrick Madden Ellen Faulkner	Patrick Madden Ellen Faulkner 💍 1878/2131	Bachelor Spinster	Commission Agent Servant	25 24	Christchurch Christchurch	17 Years 17 Years	In the Roman Catholic Chapel	78/2082		29 July 1878	Rev. I. E. Chervier
5057	29 July 1878	Harry Lewis Rogers Ellen Mary Lane	Harry Lewis Rogers May Larkin 💍 1878/3399	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinet Maker Servant	25 25	Christchurch Christchurch	18 Months 18 Months	In the house of Mr. Burnside	78/2110		29 July 1878	Rev. [illegible]
5058	30 July 1878	Edward Hack Melina Watts	Edward Hack Amelia Watts 💍 1878/3181	Widower Spinster	Farmer Servant	42 31	Harewood Road Christchurch	22 Years 3 Years	Conference Street	78/3212		30 July 1878	Rev. H. Glasson
5059	30 July 1878	John Prictor Mullen Annie Wilson	John Proctor Mullen Annie Wilson 💍 1878/2067	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	24 28	Christchurch Christchurch	1 Year 10 Days	St Michaels Church	78/1995		30 July 1878	Rev. R. S. Penny
5060	30 July 1878	John Dempsey Mary Hadfield	John Dempsey Mary Hadfield 💍 1878/3153	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Servant	25 25	Christchurch Sydenham	16 Years 12 Years	Christchurch	78/3206		30 July 1878	Rev. H. B. Cocks
5061	30 July 1878	Joseph Bunch Elizabeth Atkinson	Joseph Genet Elizabeth Atkinson 💍 1878/2144	Bachelor Spinster	Shoemaker Servant	22 17	Christchurch Christchurch	22 Years 4 Years	Peacock Street	78/2096	William Atkinson, Father	30 July 1878	Rev. W. Linsley
5062	31 July 1878	George William Parker Mary Agnes Maker	George William Parker Mary Agnes Maher 💍 1878/2378	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	26 23	Christchurch Christchurch	4 Days 1 Year	Roman Catholic Church, Kaiapoi	78/2367		31 July 1878	Rev. L. Ginaty
5063	2 August 1878	William Jeffrey Steven Barbara Steven	William Jeffrey Norrie Barbara Steven 💍 1878/2062	Minor Spinster	Farmer Milliner	35 33	Christchurch Christchurch	3 Days 10 Days	Lichfield Street	78/1990		2 August 1878	Rev. H. McGregor

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).