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 679

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

285

19 July 1880

Richard Alsibrook
Mary Ann Watson

Richard Alsebrook
Mary Ann Watson
💍 1880/299

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

27
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

In the house of Rev. C. Fraser, Tuam Street

80/2656

19 July 1880

Rev. C. Fraser, Presbyterian

No	285
Date of Notice	19 July 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Alsibrook	Mary Ann Watson
BDM Match (97%)	Richard Alsebrook	Mary Ann Watson
	💍 1880/299
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the house of Rev. C. Fraser, Tuam Street
Folio	80/2656
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser, Presbyterian

286

19 July 1880

William Earnshaw
Gwendoline Marie Payne

William Earnshaw
Gwendoline Marie Payne
💍 1880/2322

Bachelor
Spinster

Brass Finisher
Servant

28
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
2 years

In the Registrars Office Christchurch

80/1999

No person having authority

19 July 1880

Registrar Marriages, J W Parkerson

No	286
Date of Notice	19 July 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Earnshaw	Gwendoline Marie Payne
	💍 1880/2322
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Brass Finisher	Servant
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	2 years
Marriage Place	In the Registrars Office Christchurch
Folio	80/1999
Consent	No person having authority
Date of Certificate	19 July 1880
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marriages, J W Parkerson

287

19 July 1880

George Elijah Cooksley
Susan Hines

George Elijah Cooksley
Susan Hines
💍 1880/317

Bachelor
Spinster

Tanner

21
16

Woolston
Woolston

5 years
16 years

In the house of Rev. C. Fraser, Tuam Street

80/2658

James Hines, Father

19 July 1880

Rev. C. Fraser, Presbyterian

No	287
Date of Notice	19 July 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Elijah Cooksley	Susan Hines
	💍 1880/317
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tanner
Age	21	16
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Woolston
Length of Residence	5 years	16 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Rev. C. Fraser, Tuam Street
Folio	80/2658
Consent	James Hines, Father
Date of Certificate	19 July 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser, Presbyterian

288

20 July 1880

John Henry Dufty
Amelia Ann Prince

John Henry Dufty
Amelia Ann Prince
💍 1880/2321

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Servant

36
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

In the Registrars Office Christchurch

80/1989

20 July 1880

Registrar Marriages, J W Parkerson

No	288
Date of Notice	20 July 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Dufty	Amelia Ann Prince
	💍 1880/2321
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Servant
Age	36	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the Registrars Office Christchurch
Folio	80/1989
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1880
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marriages, J W Parkerson

289

20 July 1880

Albert Godfrey Saunders
Henrietta Grace Smith

Albert Godfrey Saunders
Henrietta Grace Smith
💍 1880/2408

Widower
Spinster

Commission Agent

35
24

Christchurch
Doyleston

21 years
8 months

In the Leeston Church,

80/2056

20 July 1880

Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

No	289
Date of Notice	20 July 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Godfrey Saunders	Henrietta Grace Smith
	💍 1880/2408
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Commission Agent
Age	35	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Doyleston
Length of Residence	21 years	8 months
Marriage Place	In the Leeston Church,
Folio	80/2056
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

290

21 July 1880

James Heseltine
Mary Caygill

James Haseltine
Mary Caygill
💍 1880/169

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler
Dressmaker

25
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

9 months
10 years

In St. Johns Church Christchurch

80/2732

21 July 1880

Rev. H. C. M. Watson, Church of England

No	290
Date of Notice	21 July 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Heseltine	Mary Caygill
BDM Match (97%)	James Haseltine	Mary Caygill
	💍 1880/169
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler	Dressmaker
Age	25	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 months	10 years
Marriage Place	In St. Johns Church Christchurch
Folio	80/2732
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 July 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. C. M. Watson, Church of England

291

22 July 1880

Richard Dunn Thomas
Edith Mary Thornton

Richard Dunn Thomas
Edith Mary Thornton
💍 1880/2432

Widower
Spinster

Barrister

41
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

14 years
14 years

In the Wesleyan Church, Durham Street

80/2031

George Thornton, Father

22 July 1880

Rev. A. Reid, Wesleyan

No	291
Date of Notice	22 July 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Dunn Thomas	Edith Mary Thornton
	💍 1880/2432
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Barrister
Age	41	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	14 years	14 years
Marriage Place	In the Wesleyan Church, Durham Street
Folio	80/2031
Consent	George Thornton, Father
Date of Certificate	22 July 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Reid, Wesleyan

292

23 July 1880

Michael Devan
Elizabeth Moore

Michael Davan
Elizabeth Moore
💍 1880/2418

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

33
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 days
8 days

In the Roman Catholic Church Christchurch

80/2041

23 July 1880

Rev. L. Ginaty, Roman Catholic

No	292
Date of Notice	23 July 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Devan	Elizabeth Moore
BDM Match (96%)	Michael Davan	Elizabeth Moore
	💍 1880/2418
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	33	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 days	8 days
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church Christchurch
Folio	80/2041
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 July 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Ginaty, Roman Catholic

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).