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 650

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

13 February 1880

William Henry Napier
Angelina Benore

William Henry Napier
Angelina Brown
💍 1880/909

Widower
Widow

Gardener

35
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
7 years

In St Michaels Church

80/423

23 February 1880

Rev E.G. Penny

No	65
Date of Notice	13 February 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Napier	Angelina Benore
BDM Match (87%)	William Henry Napier	Angelina Brown
	💍 1880/909
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Gardener
Age	35	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	7 years
Marriage Place	In St Michaels Church
Folio	80/423
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev E.G. Penny

26 February 1880

Walter Cluston
Mary Brighton

Walter Austin
Mary Ann Brighton
💍 1880/983

Bachelor
Spinster

Pipe maker
Servant

18
18

St Martins
St Martins

3 years
5 years

In the Opawa Church

80/342

John Cluston, Father

26 February 1880

Rev G.J. Cholmondeley

No	66
Date of Notice	26 February 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Cluston	Mary Brighton
BDM Match (78%)	Walter Austin	Mary Ann Brighton
	💍 1880/983
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pipe maker	Servant
Age	18	18
Dwelling Place	St Martins	St Martins
Length of Residence	3 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In the Opawa Church
Folio	80/342
Consent	John Cluston, Father
Date of Certificate	26 February 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev G.J. Cholmondeley

27 February 1880

Thomas Prestwidge
Jane Cain

Thomas Prestidge
Catherine Jane Cain
💍 1880/1006

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Servant

27
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
6 months

In the Congregational Church

80/419

27 February 1880

Rev H. Williams

No	67
Date of Notice	27 February 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Prestwidge	Jane Cain
BDM Match (71%)	Thomas Prestidge	Catherine Jane Cain
	💍 1880/1006
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Servant
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	6 months
Marriage Place	In the Congregational Church
Folio	80/419
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev H. Williams

27 February 1880

John Macfarlane
Susan Carson

John Macfarlane
Susan Carson
💍 1880/957

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

34
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 week
1 year

In the house

80/395

27 February 1880

Rev C Fraser

No	68
Date of Notice	27 February 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Macfarlane	Susan Carson
	💍 1880/957
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	34	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 week	1 year
Marriage Place	In the house
Folio	80/395
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev C Fraser

27 February 1880

Frederick Andrew Guy
Emily Maria Myhie

Frederick Andrew Guy
Emily Marie Myhre
💍 1880/1683

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

28
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
5 years

In St. Pauls Church

80/445

Emily Morgan, Mother

27 February 1880

Rev J. Elmslie

No	69
Date of Notice	27 February 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Andrew Guy	Emily Maria Myhie
BDM Match (94%)	Frederick Andrew Guy	Emily Marie Myhre
	💍 1880/1683
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	28	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In St. Pauls Church
Folio	80/445
Consent	Emily Morgan, Mother
Date of Certificate	27 February 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Elmslie

27 February 1880

Samuel Alfred Ammon
Catherine Nolan

Samuel Alfred Amnon
Catherine Dolan
💍 1880/956

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook
Servant

25
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
1 year

In the house

80/39/thing

authority is by Father

28 February 1880

Rev C Fraser

No	70
Date of Notice	27 February 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Alfred Ammon	Catherine Nolan
BDM Match (94%)	Samuel Alfred Amnon	Catherine Dolan
	💍 1880/956
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook	Servant
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	In the house
Folio	80/39/thing
Consent	authority is by Father
Date of Certificate	28 February 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev C Fraser

1 March 1880

Edward Hamilton
Luie Olive Pitcher

Edward Hamilton
Susie Olive Pitcher
💍 1880/17

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

36
33

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 weeks

In the Wesleyan Church

80/409

1 March 1880

Rev A. Reid

No	71
Date of Notice	1 March 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Hamilton	Luie Olive Pitcher
BDM Match (95%)	Edward Hamilton	Susie Olive Pitcher
	💍 1880/17
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	36	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	In the Wesleyan Church
Folio	80/409
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 March 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev A. Reid

1 March 1880

Alfred Edward Peache
Ida Frances Ford

Alfred Edward Peache
Ida Frances Ford
💍 1880/1022

Bachelor
Spinster

Stationer

26
20

Ashburton
Riccarton

4 years
4 years

In his Church

80/311

Richard Ford, Father

1 March 1880

Rev J.C. Hedley

No	72
Date of Notice	1 March 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Edward Peache	Ida Frances Ford
	💍 1880/1022
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stationer
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Riccarton
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In his Church
Folio	80/311
Consent	Richard Ford, Father
Date of Certificate	1 March 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev J.C. Hedley

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).