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 695

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 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

385

19 October 1880

Frank Stavers Whithair
Kate Jackson

Frank Steven William
Kate Jackson
💍 1880/686

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

20
21

Riccarton
Bingsland

4 years
9 months

In the Avonside Church

80/2684

Margaret Elizabeth Whithair, mother

19 October 1880

Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Church of England

No	385
Date of Notice	19 October 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Stavers Whithair	Kate Jackson
BDM Match (80%)	Frank Steven William	Kate Jackson
	💍 1880/686
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	20	21
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Bingsland
Length of Residence	4 years	9 months
Marriage Place	In the Avonside Church
Folio	80/2684
Consent	Margaret Elizabeth Whithair, mother
Date of Certificate	19 October 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Church of England

386

23 October 1880

William Treglown Thomas
Elizabeth Walls

William Treglown Thomas
Elizabeth Walls
💍 1880/721

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Servant

23
23

Sydenham
Sydenham

2 years
2 years

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

80/3128

23 October 1880

Rev. C. Fraser, Presbyterian

No	386
Date of Notice	23 October 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Treglown Thomas	Elizabeth Walls
	💍 1880/721
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Servant
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Rev. C. Fraser, Tuam Street
Folio	80/3128
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 October 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser, Presbyterian

387

23 October 1880

Henry Cotterill
Nancy Elizabeth Stokes

Henry Cotterill
Nancy Elizabeth Stokes
💍 1880/119

Bachelor
Spinster

Barrister

25
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

25 years
3 years

In St Lukes Church Christchurch

80/2714

23 October 1880

Rev. E. A. Lingard, Church of England

No	387
Date of Notice	23 October 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Cotterill	Nancy Elizabeth Stokes
	💍 1880/119
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barrister
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In St Lukes Church Christchurch
Folio	80/2714
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 October 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. A. Lingard, Church of England

388

25 October 1880

James Smart
Annie Milner

James Smart
Annie Milner
💍 1880/513

Widower
Spinster

Potter
Housekeeper

34
29

Sydenham
Christchurch

6 months
2 years

In the House of Mr. Lloyd, Sandridge

80/3066

25 October 1880

Rev. T. R. Cairns, Presbyterian

No	388
Date of Notice	25 October 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Smart	Annie Milner
	💍 1880/513
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Potter	Housekeeper
Age	34	29
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 months	2 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Mr. Lloyd, Sandridge
Folio	80/3066
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 October 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. R. Cairns, Presbyterian

389

27 October 1880

Henry Augustus Bamford
Susannah Davis

Henry Augustus Bamford
Susanna Davis
💍 1880/349

Bachelor
Spinster

Barrister

36
37

Christchurch
Dunedin

16 years
8 months

In St. Marks, Green Island

80/2797

27 October 1880

Rev. J. L. Stanley, Church of England

No	389
Date of Notice	27 October 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Augustus Bamford	Susannah Davis
BDM Match (96%)	Henry Augustus Bamford	Susanna Davis
	💍 1880/349
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barrister
Age	36	37
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Dunedin
Length of Residence	16 years	8 months
Marriage Place	In St. Marks, Green Island
Folio	80/2797
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 October 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. L. Stanley, Church of England

390

28 October 1880

Samuel Vogan
Maria Stevens

Samuel Vogan
Maria Stephens
💍 1880/723

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer

29
31

Sydenham
Sydenham

8 months
5 years

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

80/3129

28 October 1880

Rev. C. Fraser Presbyterian

No	390
Date of Notice	28 October 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Vogan	Maria Stevens
BDM Match (93%)	Samuel Vogan	Maria Stephens
	💍 1880/723
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	29	31
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	8 months	5 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Rev. C. Fraser, Tuam Street
Folio	80/3129
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 October 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser Presbyterian

391

29 October 1880

Archibald McGregor
Elizabeth Dow

Archibald McGregor
Elizabeth Dow
💍 1880/616

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Servant

30
24

Burnham
Burnham

18 years
3 days

In the House of Archibald McGregor, Burnham

80/3183

29 October 1880

Rev. J. W. Cree Presbyterian

No	391
Date of Notice	29 October 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald McGregor	Elizabeth Dow
	💍 1880/616
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Servant
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Burnham	Burnham
Length of Residence	18 years	3 days
Marriage Place	In the House of Archibald McGregor, Burnham
Folio	80/3183
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 October 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Cree Presbyterian

392

29 October 1880

Walter John Hoddinott
Agnes James

Walter John Hoddinott
Agnes James
💍 1880/692

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Servant

23
17

Sydenham
Sydenham

3 years
17 years

In the Wesleyan Church, Colombo Road

80/2690

William James, father

29 October 1880

Rev. J. S. Rishworth, Wesleyan

No	392
Date of Notice	29 October 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter John Hoddinott	Agnes James
	💍 1880/692
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Servant
Age	23	17
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	3 years	17 years
Marriage Place	In the Wesleyan Church, Colombo Road
Folio	80/2690
Consent	William James, father
Date of Certificate	29 October 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. S. Rishworth, Wesleyan

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).