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 0700

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 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
4965	13 May 1878	Andrew Todd Mary Ann Pentecost		Widower Widow	Farmer	38 35	Addington Christchurch	12 weeks In the house	Colonist Street, Saint Mary	78/1236		13 May 1878	Rev W. J. Habens
4966	13 May 1878	John Thomas Cooch Philippa Jane Cooch	John Thomas Cooch Philippa Jane Lewis 💍 1878/1492	Bachelor Spinster	Ironmoulder	31 22	Christchurch Timaru	5 months 2 years	St Mary's Church, Timaru	78/1356		15 May 1878	Ven Archdeacon Harper
4967	14 May 1878	Henry Cheesman Fanny Nicholas	Henry Cheesman Fanny Nicholas 💍 1878/1278	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	29 20	Lincoln Lincoln	4 years 3 months	Residence in the Tram Street	78/1279	N. Z. having authority	14 May 1878	Rev C. Fraser
4968	14 May 1878	Thomas Reader Mary Elsie Butler	Thomas Reader Mary Eliza Butler 💍 1878/1226	Bachelor Spinster	Painter	20 20	Christchurch Knightstown	3 days 12 years	In the Fendalton Church	78/1248	Charles John Reader, Father	14 May 1878	Rev C. Bowen, C of E
4969	15 May 1878	Sylvanus Howell Fanny Bishop	Sylvanius Howell Mortimer Jones Fanny Bishop 💍 1878/1232	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	36 30	Christchurch Christchurch	14 years 7 years	Residence in St. Lukes Church	78/1231	William Henry Butler, Father	15 May 1878	Rev H. A. Pascoe
4970	16 May 1878	William Thomas Joan Davis	William Thomas Joan Cradock David 💍 1878/1279	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	40 30	Christchurch Christchurch	4 days 4 days	Residence in the Tram Street	78/1280		16 May 1878	Rev C. Fraser
4971	17 May 1878	William Wharton Mary Jane White	William Madill Mary Jane White 💍 1878/2768 William Bolton Anne White 💍 1878/1779	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	30 23	Christchurch Christchurch	4 months 4 months	Residence in the Pre de la Tour	78/1282		17 May 1878	Rev C. Fraser
4972	20 May 1878	Edwin Harris Alice Laycock	Edwin Harris Alice Lurcock 💍 1878/1205	Bachelor Spinster	Compositor Servant	23 20	Christchurch Christchurch	11 months 1 year	Residence in the Merivale Church	78/1220	Mary Shoebridge, Mother	20 May 1878	Rev S. Flavely
4973	20 May 1878	George Stapley Margaret Elizabeth Pearce	George Stanbury Margaret Belcher 💍 1878/74	Bachelor Widow	Bricklayer Housekeeper	28 36	Christchurch Christchurch	14 days 3 months	Residence in the Tram Street	78/1281		20 May 1878	Rev C. Fraser
4974	21 May 1878	Edwin Boon Clara Harriett Clarke	Edwin Boon Clara Harriet Clarke 💍 1878/1433	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener Servant	19 18	Riccarton Riccarton	19 years 15 years	Registrar's Office, Christchurch	78/1300	Charles Boon, Father; Elizabeth Topham, Mother	21 May 1878	Registrar of Marriages, Christchurch
4975	22 May 1878	Charles Henry Jeffers Mary Jane Huston	Charles Henry Vigers Mary Jane Newton 💍 1878/3270	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	32 20	Christchurch Phillipstown	3 days 8 months	Residence in the Phillipstown Church	78/1330	Governors, Robert Huston, Father	22 May 1878	Rev H. B. Cocks

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).