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 648

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1880 Registrar J W Parkerson

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

12 February 1880

David Henry Cuff
Kate Vogen

David Henry Cuff
Kate Vogan
💍 1880/95

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabman
Servant

22
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
3 years

St Johns Church Christchurch

80/2706

12 February 1880

Rev H.C.M. Watson

No	49
Date of Notice	12 February 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Henry Cuff	Kate Vogen
BDM Match (95%)	David Henry Cuff	Kate Vogan
	💍 1880/95
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabman	Servant
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St Johns Church Christchurch
Folio	80/2706
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev H.C.M. Watson

13 February 1880

Samuel Webster Smith
Alice Howard

Samuel Webster Smith
Alice Howard
💍 1880/867

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer

41
28

St Albans
St Albans

2 years
12 years

The house of Rev J.B Richardson St Albans

80/352

13 February 1880

Rev J.B Richardson

No	50
Date of Notice	13 February 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Webster Smith	Alice Howard
	💍 1880/867
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer
Age	41	28
Dwelling Place	St Albans	St Albans
Length of Residence	2 years	12 years
Marriage Place	The house of Rev J.B Richardson St Albans
Folio	80/352
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev J.B Richardson

16 February 1880

Alfred Derbidge
Margaret Elizabeth Wishart

Alfred Derbidge
Margaret Elizabeth Wishart
💍 1880/1019

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23
21

Rangiora
Christchurch

5 years
3 weeks

In St Johns Church Rangiora

80/308

16 February 1880

Ven. Archdn Dudley

No	51
Date of Notice	16 February 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Derbidge	Margaret Elizabeth Wishart
	💍 1880/1019
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Rangiora	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	In St Johns Church Rangiora
Folio	80/308
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1880
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdn Dudley

16 February 1880

James Henry Cain
Susan Wilson

James Henry Cain
Susan Wilson
💍 1880/976

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

31
30

Lyttleton
Christchurch

5 years
1 week

In the house of Rev C Fraser Tuam Street

80/390

16 February 1880

Rev C. Fraser

No	52
Date of Notice	16 February 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry Cain	Susan Wilson
	💍 1880/976
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	31	30
Dwelling Place	Lyttleton	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	1 week
Marriage Place	In the house of Rev C Fraser Tuam Street
Folio	80/390
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev C. Fraser

16 February 1880

James Overend
Annie Powell

James Overend
Annie Powell
💍 1880/1206

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

25
21

Woolston
Woolston

20 years
6 months

In the Registrars Office, Christchurch

80/673

16 February 1880

J W Parkerson, Registrar Marriages

No	53
Date of Notice	16 February 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Overend	Annie Powell
	💍 1880/1206
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Woolston
Length of Residence	20 years	6 months
Marriage Place	In the Registrars Office, Christchurch
Folio	80/673
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1880
Officiating Minister	J W Parkerson, Registrar Marriages

16 February 1880

John Davies
Ellen Mary Cecil Evans

John Davies
Helen Mary Cecilia Evans
💍 1880/924

Widower
Spinster

Newspaper Proprietor

40
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

14 days
14 days

In Cokers Hotel, Christchurch

80/414

16 February 1880

Rev W.E. Mulgan

No	54
Date of Notice	16 February 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Davies	Ellen Mary Cecil Evans
BDM Match (92%)	John Davies	Helen Mary Cecilia Evans
	💍 1880/924
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Newspaper Proprietor
Age	40	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	14 days	14 days
Marriage Place	In Cokers Hotel, Christchurch
Folio	80/414
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev W.E. Mulgan

17 February 1880

Alfred Herman Nordstrom
Annie Kepple

Alfred Herman Nardstrom
Annie Kipple
💍 1880/953

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner
Dressmaker

23
25

Addington
Addington

3 weeks
3 weeks

In the House of Rev C. Fraser, Tuam Street

80/391

17 February 1880

Rev C. Fraser

No	55
Date of Notice	17 February 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Herman Nordstrom	Annie Kepple
BDM Match (94%)	Alfred Herman Nardstrom	Annie Kipple
	💍 1880/953
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner	Dressmaker
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Addington	Addington
Length of Residence	3 weeks	3 weeks
Marriage Place	In the House of Rev C. Fraser, Tuam Street
Folio	80/391
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev C. Fraser

17 February 1880

Josiah Alfred Willey
Amelia Ann Amey

Josiah Alfred Willey
Amelia Ann Amey
💍 1880/855

Widower
Widow

Coachmaker
Housekeeper

50
40

St Albans
Sydenham

14 years
7 years

In the Merivale Church

80/341

17 February 1880

Rev. T. Flavell

No	56
Date of Notice	17 February 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Josiah Alfred Willey	Amelia Ann Amey
	💍 1880/855
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Coachmaker	Housekeeper
Age	50	40
Dwelling Place	St Albans	Sydenham
Length of Residence	14 years	7 years
Marriage Place	In the Merivale Church
Folio	80/341
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Flavell

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).

Primary digitisation of registers between 1855 and 1925 is now complete. Our digitisation volunteers are now working on verifying the currently digitised pages against printed district/page indexes, to identify pages which may have been missed or out of focus. These pages can be re-imaged as required.

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.

How can I help?

You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

You can also support this project by ☕ Buying us a coffee 🌳

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).