Intentions to Marry, 1881

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840393, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, January 31 2025

Page 732

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 1881

No	Date of Notice	Names and Surnames of Parties	BDM Match	Condition	Calling or Profession	Age	Dwelling Place	Length of Residence	Marriage Place	Folio	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
286	20 September 1881	Henry Coase Sarah Grindrod	Henry Case Sarah Grindrod 💍 1881/1945	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	23 25	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 6 months	Wesleyan Chapel	81/1982	September 20 1881	Rev J. S. Rishworth Wesleyan
287	20 September 1881	John Joseph Francis Beary Isabella Nelson	John Joseph Francis Berry Isabella Nelson 💍 1881/3152	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener Servant	22 23	Waltham Waltham	3 years 2 years	Roman Catholic Church	81/3183	September 20 1881	Rev L. Ginaty Roman Catholic
288	20 September 1881	Frank Moreton Louisa Buller	Frank Moreton Louisa Buller 💍 1881/2776	Bachelor Spinster	Bootmaker Servant	24 24	Christchurch Christchurch	3 years 2 years	Registrar's Office	81/2873	September 20 1881	J M Mallkerson
289	20 September 1881	John William Lowe Georgiana White	John William Osment Georgiana White 💍 1881/2015	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor Tailoress	27 24	Christchurch Christchurch	4 years 10 years	St. Lullas Church	81/2052	September 20 1881	Rev E. A. Lingard Church of England
290	21 September 1881	James Arthurs Agnes Orme	James Atkins Agnes Orme 💍 1881/2751	Widower Spinster	Butcher Servant	34 26	Riccarton Christchurch	7 years 3 years	In the House of Rev C. Fraser	81/2848	September 21 1881	Rev C. Fraser Presbyterian
291	23 September 1881	Benjamin Charles Pratt Lucy Bundle	Benjamin Charles Pratt Lucy Bundle 💍 1881/1990	Bachelor Spinster	Inspector of Drainage Works Dressmaker	29 28	Christchurch St. Albans	4 years 15 years	In the house of Mr Smith	81/2027	September 23 1881	Rev C Ballaston Baptist
292	23 September 1881	Constantine Walsh Bridget Dempsey	Constantine Walsh Bridget Dempsey 💍 1881/3153	Bachelor Spinster	Inspector	42 25	Christchurch Christchurch	12 years 6 years	Roman Catholic Church	81/3184	September 23 1881	Rev L. Ginaty Roman Catholic
293	24 September 1881	Frederick Roach Mary Fraser	Frederick Roach Amy Mary Fraser 💍 1881/1937	Widower Spinster	Manager	40 28	Christchurch Christchurch	2 years 2 months	In the House of Mr. Roach	81/974	September 24 1881	Rev J. Elmslie Presbyterian

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

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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 1894. More registers will be added as the project continues.

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).