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 688

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1878

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

4852

13 February 1878

William Henry Squires
Elizabeth Marion Park

William Henry Symes
Elizabeth Marion Park
💍 1878/294

Bachelor
Spinster

Physician

34
19

Christchurch
Wellington

4 years
7 years

St Paul's Church

78/234

Park, Mother

13 February 1878

Rev. B. W. Harvey

No	4852
Date of Notice	13 February 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Squires	Elizabeth Marion Park
BDM Match (91%)	William Henry Symes	Elizabeth Marion Park
	💍 1878/294
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Physician
Age	34	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Wellington
Length of Residence	4 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St Paul's Church
Folio	78/234
Consent	Park, Mother
Date of Certificate	13 February 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. W. Harvey

4853

14 February 1878

John Broome
Caroline Alma Cotton

John Broom
Caroline Ann Cotton
💍 1878/576

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

23
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
3 months

In the house

78/557

14 February 1878

Rev. T. Hodgison

No	4853
Date of Notice	14 February 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Broome	Caroline Alma Cotton
BDM Match (88%)	John Broom	Caroline Ann Cotton
	💍 1878/576
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	3 months
Marriage Place	In the house
Folio	78/557
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Hodgison

4854

15 February 1878

Frederick Draffen
Susan Fahey Greenhead

Frederic Draffen
Susan Fanny Freehead
💍 1878/60

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

27
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

14 days
5 years

St Lukes Church Ashburton

78/569

Evans, Mother

15 February 1878

Rev. W. A. Pascoe

No	4854
Date of Notice	15 February 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Draffen	Susan Fahey Greenhead
BDM Match (88%)	Frederic Draffen	Susan Fanny Freehead
	💍 1878/60
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	14 days	5 years
Marriage Place	St Lukes Church Ashburton
Folio	78/569
Consent	Evans, Mother
Date of Certificate	15 February 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Pascoe

4855

16 February 1878

Michael Charles O'Connell
Isabella Grubb

Michael Charles O'Connel
Isabella Grubb
💍 1878/482

Michael Charles OConnell
Isabella Grubb
💍 1878/579

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

24
17

Christchurch
Christchurch

14 days
1 week

In the House of Rev. C. Fraser

78/462

John Grubb, Father

16 February 1878

Rev. C. Fraser

No	4855
Date of Notice	16 February 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Charles O'Connell	Isabella Grubb
BDM Match (98%)	Michael Charles O'Connel	Isabella Grubb
	💍 1878/482
BDM Match (98%)	Michael Charles OConnell	Isabella Grubb
	💍 1878/579
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	24	17
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	14 days	1 week
Marriage Place	In the House of Rev. C. Fraser
Folio	78/462
Consent	John Grubb, Father
Date of Certificate	16 February 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

4856

16 February 1878

John Braice
Rachel Ann Meenner

John Braid
Rachel Ann Meneer
💍 1878/481

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Servant

25
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
3 years

In the House of Rev. C. Fraser

78/461

16 February 1878

Rev. C. Fraser

No	4856
Date of Notice	16 February 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Braice	Rachel Ann Meenner
BDM Match (85%)	John Braid	Rachel Ann Meneer
	💍 1878/481
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Servant
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Rev. C. Fraser
Folio	78/461
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

4857

19 February 1878

Ludwig Heese
Margaret Campbell

Ludwig Heese
Margaret Campbell
💍 1878/473

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Servant

29
28

Opawa
Opawa

9 months
6 weeks

In the Opawa Church

78/454

19 February 1878

Rev. R. S. Coshomdeley

No	4857
Date of Notice	19 February 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ludwig Heese	Margaret Campbell
	💍 1878/473
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Servant
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Opawa	Opawa
Length of Residence	9 months	6 weeks
Marriage Place	In the Opawa Church
Folio	78/454
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. S. Coshomdeley

4858

20 February 1878

John James Martin
Rebecca Jane Green

John James Martin
Rebecca Jane Green
💍 1878/548

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Servant

23
23

Addington
Addington

6 days
6 days

In the Addington Church

78/511

20 February 1878

Rev. H. B. Cocks

No	4858
Date of Notice	20 February 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James Martin	Rebecca Jane Green
	💍 1878/548
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Servant
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Addington	Addington
Length of Residence	6 days	6 days
Marriage Place	In the Addington Church
Folio	78/511
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. B. Cocks

4859

20 February 1878

Daniel Colville Turner
Harriet Ann Price

Daniel Colville Turner
Harriet Ann Price
💍 1878/474

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

20
19

Christchurch
Riccarton

3 days
5 years

In the Riccarton Church

78/512

Charles Price, Father

20 February 1878

Rev. C. Bowen

No	4859
Date of Notice	20 February 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Colville Turner	Harriet Ann Price
	💍 1878/474
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	20	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Riccarton
Length of Residence	3 days	5 years
Marriage Place	In the Riccarton Church
Folio	78/512
Consent	Charles Price, Father
Date of Certificate	20 February 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Bowen

4860

21 February 1878

Joseph Watson
Jane Williams

Joseph Watson
Jane Williams
💍 1878/549

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor
Servant

31
23

Newtown
Newtown

1 month
2 months

In the Colombo Road Church

78/530

21 February 1878

Rev. H. B. Cocks

No	4860
Date of Notice	21 February 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Watson	Jane Williams
	💍 1878/549
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor	Servant
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Newtown	Newtown
Length of Residence	1 month	2 months
Marriage Place	In the Colombo Road Church
Folio	78/530
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. B. Cocks

4861

22 February 1878

Ching George
Eliza Neal

Ching George
Eliza Neal
💍 1878/555

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Servant

26
22

St Albans
St Albans

18 months
1 month

In the Church of Mr Clark, St Albans

78/512

22 February 1878

Rev. J. Aldred, Wes

No	4861
Date of Notice	22 February 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ching George	Eliza Neal
	💍 1878/555
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Servant
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	St Albans	St Albans
Length of Residence	18 months	1 month
Marriage Place	In the Church of Mr Clark, St Albans
Folio	78/512
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Aldred, Wes

4862

25 February 1878

Robert Page
Jane Beattie

Robert Page
Jane Beattie
💍 1878/577

Bachelor
Spinster

Joiner
Dressmaker

22
22

Christchurch
Addington

14 days
5 years

In the house of Mr Clark

[illegible]

25 February 1878

Rev. T. Hodgison

No	4862
Date of Notice	25 February 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Page	Jane Beattie
	💍 1878/577
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Joiner	Dressmaker
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Addington
Length of Residence	14 days	5 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr Clark
Folio	[illegible]
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 February 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Hodgison

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 1908. 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).