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 677

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 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

269

8 July 1880

Thomas Taylor
Mary Jane Shout

Thomas Taylor
Mary Jane Shout
💍 1880/2427

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Servant

23
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
3 years

In the Baptist Chapel, Oxford Terrace

80/2026

8 July 1880

Rev. C. Dallaston, Baptist

No	269
Date of Notice	8 July 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Taylor	Mary Jane Shout
	💍 1880/2427
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Servant
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the Baptist Chapel, Oxford Terrace
Folio	80/2026
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 July 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Dallaston, Baptist

270

8 July 1880

Gilbert Henderson
Margaret Thompson

Gilbert Henderson
Margaret Thompson
💍 1880/237

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer

45
29

Halkett
Halkett

14 years
1 year

In the House of Mrs Thompson, Halkett

80/2782

8 July 1880

Rev. H. B. Burnett, Presbyterian

No	270
Date of Notice	8 July 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gilbert Henderson	Margaret Thompson
	💍 1880/237
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	45	29
Dwelling Place	Halkett	Halkett
Length of Residence	14 years	1 year
Marriage Place	In the House of Mrs Thompson, Halkett
Folio	80/2782
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 July 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. B. Burnett, Presbyterian

271

8 July 1880

Richard Kent
Eliza Charlotte Packham

Richard Kent
Eliza Charlotte Parkham
💍 1880/2431

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

33
20

Heathcote Valley
Christchurch

2 years
2 years

In the Durham Street Wesleyan Chapel

80/2030

No person having authority to consent

8 July 1880

Rev. A. Reid, Wesleyan

No	271
Date of Notice	8 July 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Kent	Eliza Charlotte Packham
BDM Match (98%)	Richard Kent	Eliza Charlotte Parkham
	💍 1880/2431
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	33	20
Dwelling Place	Heathcote Valley	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In the Durham Street Wesleyan Chapel
Folio	80/2030
Consent	No person having authority to consent
Date of Certificate	8 July 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Reid, Wesleyan

272

12 July 1880

Tom Tankard
Louisa Blanche Jackson

Tom Tankard
Louisa Blanche Jackson
💍 1880/2433

Bachelor
Spinster

Bookbinder

25
21

Christchurch
Sydenham

22 years
2 years

In St. Lukes Church Christchurch

80/2032

12 July 1880

Rev. E A Lingard, Church of England

No	272
Date of Notice	12 July 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Tom Tankard	Louisa Blanche Jackson
	💍 1880/2433
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bookbinder
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	22 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In St. Lukes Church Christchurch
Folio	80/2032
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 July 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. E A Lingard, Church of England

273

13 July 1880

Charles Reid
Elizabeth Jackson

[No matching marriage registration has been located]

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Servant

27
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
2 years

In the House of, David Scott, St Asaph Street

80/2038

13 July 1880

Rev. J. Elmslie, Presbyterian

No	273
Date of Notice	13 July 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Reid	Elizabeth Jackson
	💍 [No matching marriage registration has been located]
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Servant
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	In the House of, David Scott, St Asaph Street
Folio	80/2038
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Elmslie, Presbyterian

274

13 July 1880

Michael Costello
Alice Hogan

Michael Costello
Alice Hogan
💍 1880/786

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Servant

26
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
2 years

In the Roman Catholic Church Christchurch

80/2039

13 July 1880

Rev. L. Ginaty, Roman Catholic

No	274
Date of Notice	13 July 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Costello	Alice Hogan
	💍 1880/786
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Servant
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church Christchurch
Folio	80/2039
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Ginaty, Roman Catholic

275

13 July 1880

Henry Harry
Hurry - written in pencil
Mary McNautton

Henry Hurry
Mary McNaulton
💍 1880/318

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Servant

21
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
2 years

In St Andrews Church, Tuam Street

80/2659

No person having authority

13 July 1880

Rev. C. Fraser, Presbyterian

No	275
Date of Notice	13 July 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Harry Hurry - written in pencil	Mary McNautton
BDM Match (92%)	Henry Hurry	Mary McNaulton
	💍 1880/318
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Servant
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In St Andrews Church, Tuam Street
Folio	80/2659
Consent	No person having authority
Date of Certificate	13 July 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser, Presbyterian

276

13 July 1880

Robert Coats
Janet Douglas

Robert Coates
Janet Douglas
💍 1880/784

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Servant

32
21

Papanui
Christchurch

5 years
1 year

In the Presbyterian Church Papanui

80/1998

13 July 1880

Rev. W. H. Horner, Presbyterian

No	276
Date of Notice	13 July 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Coats	Janet Douglas
BDM Match (96%)	Robert Coates	Janet Douglas
	💍 1880/784
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Servant
Age	32	21
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	1 year
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church Papanui
Folio	80/1998
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Horner, Presbyterian

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).