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 703

District of Cluistchurch 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

26 March 1881

Alfred Meyenn
Camilla Frederikke Hansine Hansen

Alfred von Meyern
Camilla Frederikke Housine Hansen
💍 1881/517

Bachelor
Spinster

Artist

27
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
In the

Registrars Office

81/431

March 26 1881

Registrar Marriages J J Palkerson

No	79
Date of Notice	26 March 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Meyenn	Camilla Frederikke Hansine Hansen
BDM Match (82%)	Alfred von Meyern	Camilla Frederikke Housine Hansen
	💍 1881/517
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Artist
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	In the
Marriage Place	Registrars Office
Folio	81/431
Consent
Date of Certificate	March 26 1881
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marriages J J Palkerson

March 1881

John Kerr
Agnes Ann Smith

John Orr
Agnes Ann Smith
💍 1881/455

Bachelor
Spinster

Cattle Dealer
Dressmaker

25
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

9 months
3 years

In St Pauls Church Cashel Street

Mother

March 28 1881

Rev. J. Elmslie Presbyterian

No	80
Date of Notice	March 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Kerr	Agnes Ann Smith
BDM Match (89%)	John Orr	Agnes Ann Smith
	💍 1881/455
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cattle Dealer	Dressmaker
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 months	3 years
Marriage Place	In St Pauls Church Cashel Street
Folio
Consent	Mother
Date of Certificate	March 28 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Elmslie Presbyterian

29 March 1881

Robert Savill
Harriet Hunt

Robert Savill
Harriet Hunt
💍 1881/1100

Bachelor
Spinster

Wheelwright
Teacher

26
19

Sydenham
Sydenham

5 years
5 years

In the Church of St Saviour, Sydenham

81/1062

Mother

March 29 1881

Rev. H. B. Cocks Church of England

No	81
Date of Notice	29 March 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Savill	Harriet Hunt
	💍 1881/1100
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wheelwright	Teacher
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In the Church of St Saviour, Sydenham
Folio	81/1062
Consent	Mother
Date of Certificate	March 29 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. B. Cocks Church of England

March 1881

Robert McClelland
Ann Preston

Robert McClelland
Ann Preston
💍 1881/518

Bachelor
Widow

Tailor

40
45

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
20 years

In the Registrars Office

81/432

March 29 1881

Registrar Marriages J J Palkerson

No	82
Date of Notice	March 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert McClelland	Ann Preston
	💍 1881/518
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Tailor
Age	40	45
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In the Registrars Office
Folio	81/432
Consent
Date of Certificate	March 29 1881
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marriages J J Palkerson

30 March 1881

Arthur Robertson
Mary Jane Browne

Arthur Roberts
Mary Anne Browne
💍 1881/519

Bachelor
Spinster

Barman
Servant

21
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
20 years

In the Registrars Office

81/433

March 30 1881

Registrar Marriages J J Palkerson

No	83
Date of Notice	30 March 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Robertson	Mary Jane Browne
BDM Match (88%)	Arthur Roberts	Mary Anne Browne
	💍 1881/519
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barman	Servant
Age	21	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In the Registrars Office
Folio	81/433
Consent
Date of Certificate	March 30 1881
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marriages J J Palkerson

March 1881

John Hill
Mary Kear

John Hill
Mary Kear
💍 1881/111

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

24
17

Christchurch
Christchurch

24 years
4 years

In the House of Rev. C. Fraser

81/1070

Father

March 30 1881

Rev. C. Fraser

No	84
Date of Notice	March 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hill	Mary Kear
	💍 1881/111
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	24	17
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	24 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Rev. C. Fraser
Folio	81/1070
Consent	Father
Date of Certificate	March 30 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

31 March 1881

John Thomas Knight
Eliza Wyatt

John Thomas Knight
Anne Eliza Wyatt
💍 1881/775

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

25
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
5 years

In the Riccarton Church

81/732

March 31 1881

Rev. C. Bowen Church of England

No	85
Date of Notice	31 March 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas Knight	Eliza Wyatt
BDM Match (84%)	John Thomas Knight	Anne Eliza Wyatt
	💍 1881/775
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In the Riccarton Church
Folio	81/732
Consent
Date of Certificate	March 31 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Bowen Church of England

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).