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 0697

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1881

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

4 February 1881

Robert Joseph La Maure
Mary Russell Wilson

Robert Joseph La Nauge
Mary Russell Wilson
💍 1881/513

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

46
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
5 years

In St Johns Church

81/450

February 4 1881

Rev H. C. M. Watson Church of England

No	31
Date of Notice	4 February 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Joseph La Maure	Mary Russell Wilson
BDM Match (95%)	Robert Joseph La Nauge	Mary Russell Wilson
	💍 1881/513
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	46	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In St Johns Church
Folio	81/450
Consent
Date of Certificate	February 4 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev H. C. M. Watson Church of England

5 February 1881

Alfred Edward Tutton
Maria Derrett

No actual marriage found, Alfred Edward Tutton married Jane Dalziel later the same year.

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

25
26

Papanui
Papanui

4 years
19 years

In the Church

February 5 1881

Rev H. G. Brittan Church of England

No	32
Date of Notice	5 February 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Edward Tutton	Maria Derrett
	💍 No actual marriage found, Alfred Edward Tutton married Jane Dalziel later the same year.
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Papanui
Length of Residence	4 years	19 years
Marriage Place	In the Church
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	February 5 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev H. G. Brittan Church of England

7 February 1881

Joseph Pepper
Elizabeth Cooke

Joseph Pepper
Elizabeth Cooke
💍 1881/520

Bachelor
Spinster

Shoemaker

21
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

21 years
13 years

In the House of Mrs Chudley, Durham Street

81/434

February 7 1881

Rev W. Baumber Wesleyan

No	33
Date of Notice	7 February 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Pepper	Elizabeth Cooke
	💍 1881/520
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shoemaker
Age	21	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	21 years	13 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Mrs Chudley, Durham Street
Folio	81/434
Consent
Date of Certificate	February 7 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev W. Baumber Wesleyan

8 February 1881

George Henry Jacues
Hillsdon Elizabeth Ann Woolley

George Henry James Hillsdon
Elizabeth Ann Woolley
💍 1881/472

Bachelor
Spinster

Warder

26
18

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
4 days

In the Church of St Luke

81/410

Joseph Woolley, Father

February 8 1881

Rev L. A. Lingard Church of England

No	34
Date of Notice	8 February 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Jacues	Hillsdon Elizabeth Ann Woolley
BDM Match (65%)	George Henry James Hillsdon	Elizabeth Ann Woolley
	💍 1881/472
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warder
Age	26	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	In the Church of St Luke
Folio	81/410
Consent	Joseph Woolley, Father
Date of Certificate	February 8 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev L. A. Lingard Church of England

8 February 1881

James Wood
Annie Fay Smith

James Wood
Annie Fry Smith
💍 1881/460

Widower
Spinster

Manager, wool manufactory

47
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
16 years

In the House of, Kaiapoi Mr. Smith, Springfield Road

81/398

February 8 1881

Rev J. B. Richardson Wesleyan

No	35
Date of Notice	8 February 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Wood	Annie Fay Smith
BDM Match (97%)	James Wood	Annie Fry Smith
	💍 1881/460
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Manager, wool manufactory
Age	47	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	16 years
Marriage Place	In the House of, Kaiapoi Mr. Smith, Springfield Road
Folio	81/398
Consent
Date of Certificate	February 8 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev J. B. Richardson Wesleyan

8 February 1881

Thomas Nurie
Catherine Slattery

Thomas Nevin
Catherine Slattery
💍 1881/793

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Servant

24
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
5 years

In the Roman Catholic Church

81/26

February 8 1881

Rev L. Ginaty Roman Catholic

No	36
Date of Notice	8 February 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Nurie	Catherine Slattery
BDM Match (88%)	Thomas Nevin	Catherine Slattery
	💍 1881/793
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Servant
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church
Folio	81/26
Consent
Date of Certificate	February 8 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev L. Ginaty Roman Catholic

8 February 1881

Hamilton Cumming
Sarah Baker

Hamilton Cumming
Sarah Baker
💍 1881/469

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Housekeeper

38
36

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 months
3 days

In the House of Mr. Anderson, North Street, St Albans

81/384

February 8 1881

Rev J. Elmslie Presbyterian

No	37
Date of Notice	8 February 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hamilton Cumming	Sarah Baker
	💍 1881/469
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Housekeeper
Age	38	36
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 months	3 days
Marriage Place	In the House of Mr. Anderson, North Street, St Albans
Folio	81/384
Consent
Date of Certificate	February 8 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Elmslie Presbyterian

9 February 1881

Owen Lynch
Rose Davison

Owen Lynch
Rose Davison
💍 1881/794

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

38
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 weeks
14 days

In the Roman Catholic Church

81/27

February 9 1881

Rev L. Ginaty Roman Catholic

No	38
Date of Notice	9 February 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Owen Lynch	Rose Davison
	💍 1881/794
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	38	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 weeks	14 days
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church
Folio	81/27
Consent
Date of Certificate	February 9 1881
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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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).