Intentions to Marry, 1880

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840392, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Page 642

District of Christchurch Quarter ending Jan - Mar

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

1 January 1880

William Harvey
Alice Baker

William Harvey Collingwood Ody
Alice Baker
💍 1880/1086

Bachelor
Spinster

Master Mariner
Servant

45
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 days
6 days

Registrars office Christchurch

87/434

2 January 1880

Registrar Marriages Markeson

No	1
Date of Notice	1 January 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Harvey	Alice Baker
BDM Match (73%)	William Harvey Collingwood Ody	Alice Baker
	💍 1880/1086
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Master Mariner	Servant
Age	45	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 days	6 days
Marriage Place	Registrars office Christchurch
Folio	87/434
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 January 1880
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marriages Markeson

2 January 1880

Henry Maxwell
Janet Miller Watton

Henry Maxwell
Janet Miller Watson
💍 1880/13

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Machinist

27
21

Christchurch
Sydenham

5 days
4 years

In the house of Mr. Watton Sydenham

89/354

2 January 1880

Rev. J. Smalley

No	2
Date of Notice	2 January 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Maxwell	Janet Miller Watton
BDM Match (97%)	Henry Maxwell	Janet Miller Watson
	💍 1880/13
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Machinist
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	5 days	4 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Watton Sydenham
Folio	89/354
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 January 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Smalley

3 January 1880

James McLaughlin
Eliza Jane Robison

James McLaughlan
Eliza Jane Robinson
💍 1880/986

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Servant

22
20

Christchurch [Courtenay]
Christchurch

3 days
2 years

In the Scotch Church Tuam Street

83/243

No person having authority

3 January 1880

Rev. C. Fraser

No	3
Date of Notice	3 January 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James McLaughlin	Eliza Jane Robison
BDM Match (94%)	James McLaughlan	Eliza Jane Robinson
	💍 1880/986
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Servant
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch [Courtenay]	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	In the Scotch Church Tuam Street
Folio	83/243
Consent	No person having authority
Date of Certificate	3 January 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

4 January 1880

Carl Rohl
Ann Donal

Carl Rohl
Ann Donal
💍 1880/985

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

29
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 days
7 days

In the house Rev. C. Fraser Vicar Street

8/124

3 January 1880

Rev. C. Fraser

No	4
Date of Notice	4 January 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Carl Rohl	Ann Donal
	💍 1880/985
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 days	7 days
Marriage Place	In the house Rev. C. Fraser Vicar Street
Folio	8/124
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

5 January 1880

Henry Davis
Jane Williams

Henry Davis
Mary Jane Williams
💍 1880/1008

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Servant

31
21

Sydenham
Sydenham

4 months
3 weeks

In the House of Rev. G. Dallaston Colombo Street

89/321

3 January 1880

Rev. G. Dallaston

No	5
Date of Notice	5 January 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Davis	Jane Williams
BDM Match (86%)	Henry Davis	Mary Jane Williams
	💍 1880/1008
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Servant
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	4 months	3 weeks
Marriage Place	In the House of Rev. G. Dallaston Colombo Street
Folio	89/321
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Dallaston

6 January 1880

William Hilday
Isabella Smart

William Kilday
Isabella Smart
💍 1880/987

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Servant

26
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
Some months

In the house of Rev. C. Fraser Vicar Street

8/34/6

5 January 1880

Rev. C. Fraser

No	6
Date of Notice	6 January 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hilday	Isabella Smart
BDM Match (96%)	William Kilday	Isabella Smart
	💍 1880/987
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Servant
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	Some months
Marriage Place	In the house of Rev. C. Fraser Vicar Street
Folio	8/34/6
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 January 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

7 January 1880

Charles Phillis
Harriet Timmins

Charles Phillis
Harriet Annie Timmins
💍 1880/989

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer
Housekeeper

31
35

Christchurch
Christchurch

31 years
4 years

In the house of Rev. C. Fraser Tuam Street

89/377

8 January 1880

Rev. C. Fraser

No	7
Date of Notice	7 January 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Phillis	Harriet Timmins
BDM Match (86%)	Charles Phillis	Harriet Annie Timmins
	💍 1880/989
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Housekeeper
Age	31	35
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	31 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Rev. C. Fraser Tuam Street
Folio	89/377
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 January 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

8 January 1880

John Casserly
Margaret O'Connell

John Casserley
Margaret O'Connell
💍 1880/1660

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

28
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 months
12 years

In the Roman Catholic Church Christchurch

8/4/6

10 January 1880

Rev. L. Ginaty

No	8
Date of Notice	8 January 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Casserly	Margaret O'Connell
BDM Match (96%)	John Casserley	Margaret O'Connell
	💍 1880/1660
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 months	12 years
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church Christchurch
Folio	8/4/6
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Ginaty

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

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Attribution: This image was digitised by Archives NZ Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga and is republished here under CC BY. It has been cropped and rotated for convenience.

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 1903. 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).