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 656

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

113

25 March 1880

Charles Richard Church
Marian Lane

Charles Richard Church
Marian Jane
💍 1880/899

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

26
20

Christchurch
Tinwald

1 year
10 years

St. Michaels Church

80/740

George Lane, father of [bride]

25 March 1880

Rev. A. Gifford

No	113
Date of Notice	25 March 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Richard Church	Marian Lane
BDM Match (95%)	Charles Richard Church	Marian Jane
	💍 1880/899
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Tinwald
Length of Residence	1 year	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Michaels Church
Folio	80/740
Consent	George Lane, father of [bride]
Date of Certificate	25 March 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Gifford

114

25 March 1880

William Edward Reynolds
Fanny Rushbrook

William Edward De Fontenay Reynolds
Fanny Nash Wood
💍 1880/944

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder

37
35

Lyttleton
Lyttleton

7 years
3 years

St. Lukes Church

81/305

25 March 1880

Rev. E. A. Lingard

No	114
Date of Notice	25 March 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Edward Reynolds	Fanny Rushbrook
BDM Match (66%)	William Edward De Fontenay Reynolds	Fanny Nash Wood
	💍 1880/944
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	37	35
Dwelling Place	Lyttleton	Lyttleton
Length of Residence	7 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Lukes Church
Folio	81/305
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. A. Lingard

115

25 March 1880

John Baillie
Eliza Jane Buchanan

John Baillie
Eliza Jane Buchanan
💍 1880/1023

Bachelor
Spinster

Hawker

26
21

Christchurch
Riccarton

5 weeks

In the Riccarton Church

80/312

25 March 1880

Rev. C. Bowen

No	115
Date of Notice	25 March 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Baillie	Eliza Jane Buchanan
	💍 1880/1023
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hawker
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Riccarton
Length of Residence	5 weeks
Marriage Place	In the Riccarton Church
Folio	80/312
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Bowen

116

27 March 1880

Edward Spences
Emily Blair

Edward Spencer
Emily Blair
💍 1880/1075

Widower
Widow

Carter

40
30

Prebbleton
Prebbleton

5 Months
2 years

In the Prebbleton Church

80/433

27 March 1880

Rev. A. C. Wright

No	116
Date of Notice	27 March 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Spences	Emily Blair
BDM Match (96%)	Edward Spencer	Emily Blair
	💍 1880/1075
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Carter
Age	40	30
Dwelling Place	Prebbleton	Prebbleton
Length of Residence	5 Months	2 years
Marriage Place	In the Prebbleton Church
Folio	80/433
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 March 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. C. Wright

117

27 March 1880

Charles Arthur Gascoigne
Metiabath Bennett

Charles Arthur Gascoigne
Zora Elizabeth Bennett
💍 1880/943

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Servant

24
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

16 months
16 Months

In St. Lukes Church

80/324

27 March 1880

Rev. E. A. Lingard

No	117
Date of Notice	27 March 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Arthur Gascoigne	Metiabath Bennett
BDM Match (80%)	Charles Arthur Gascoigne	Zora Elizabeth Bennett
	💍 1880/943
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Servant
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	16 months	16 Months
Marriage Place	In St. Lukes Church
Folio	80/324
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 March 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. A. Lingard

118

30 March 1880

Robert Smith
Emily Bliss

Robert Smith
Ada Emily Bliss
💍 1880/916

Bachelor
Spinster

Agent

28
18

Christchurch
Christchurch

16 Months
2 years

In St. Michaels Church Christchurch

80/429

[UNCLEAR] Bliss, Mother

30 March 1880

Rev. E. G. Penny

No	118
Date of Notice	30 March 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Smith	Emily Bliss
BDM Match (87%)	Robert Smith	Ada Emily Bliss
	💍 1880/916
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Agent
Age	28	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	16 Months	2 years
Marriage Place	In St. Michaels Church Christchurch
Folio	80/429
Consent	[UNCLEAR] Bliss, Mother
Date of Certificate	30 March 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. G. Penny

119

30 March 1880

William Wickens
Margant Stra

William Wickens
Margaret Strain
💍 1880/107

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Servant

27
22

Cashmere
Cashmere

14 months
4 years

In the Christchurch Church

30 March 1880

Rev. H. C. M. Watson

No	119
Date of Notice	30 March 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Wickens	Margant Stra
BDM Match (87%)	William Wickens	Margaret Strain
	💍 1880/107
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Servant
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Cashmere	Cashmere
Length of Residence	14 months	4 years
Marriage Place	In the Christchurch Church
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. C. M. Watson

120

30 March 1880

Robert Walls
Bessie James

Hubert Watkins
Bessie James
💍 1880/889

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

23
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 week
2 weeks

In the Registrars Office Rangiora having authority to consent

81/[UNCLEAR]

[UNCLEAR] Malleyon

30 March 1880

Registrar Marriages

No	120
Date of Notice	30 March 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Walls	Bessie James
BDM Match (79%)	Hubert Watkins	Bessie James
	💍 1880/889
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 week	2 weeks
Marriage Place	In the Registrars Office Rangiora having authority to consent
Folio	81/[UNCLEAR]
Consent	[UNCLEAR] Malleyon
Date of Certificate	30 March 1880
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marriages

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).