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 987

District of Port Chalmers 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

5 January 1881

George David Gibbs
Elizabeth Catherine King

George David Gibbs
Elizabeth Catherine King
💍 1881/767

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

21 years
18 years

Fox Street Port Chalmers
Redcliff Terrace Port Chalmers

4 years
1 day

At the House of Mr. C. King, Redcliff Terrace Port Chalmers

81/640

Charles King, the Father

5 January 1881

Rev. F. W. Isitt, Wesleyan Minister

No	1
Date of Notice	5 January 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George David Gibbs	Elizabeth Catherine King
	💍 1881/767
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	21 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Fox Street Port Chalmers	Redcliff Terrace Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	4 years	1 day
Marriage Place	At the House of Mr. C. King, Redcliff Terrace Port Chalmers
Folio	81/640
Consent	Charles King, the Father
Date of Certificate	5 January 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. W. Isitt, Wesleyan Minister

11 January 1881

Evan Davies
Isabelle Best

Evan Davies
Isabella Best
💍 1881/686

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Dressmaker

29 years
21 years

Dacre, Bluffton Port Chalmers
Scotia Street Port Chalmers

2 years
10 years

At the House of Mr. W. Best, Scotia Street Port Chalmers

81/642

11 January 1881

Rev. Jas. Maxwell, Congregational Minister

No	2
Date of Notice	11 January 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Evan Davies	Isabelle Best
BDM Match (96%)	Evan Davies	Isabella Best
	💍 1881/686
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Dressmaker
Age	29 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Dacre, Bluffton Port Chalmers	Scotia Street Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	2 years	10 years
Marriage Place	At the House of Mr. W. Best, Scotia Street Port Chalmers
Folio	81/642
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 January 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. Maxwell, Congregational Minister

3 February 1881

Edward Gollison
Harriet Gibbs

Edward Galliven
Harriet Gibbs
💍 1881/769

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman
Domestic Servant

27 years
19 years

Mount Street Port Chalmers
Fox Street Port Chalmers

3 months
2 years

At the House of Mr. D. Gibbs, Fox Street Port Chalmers

81/403

David Gibbs, the Father

3 February 1881

Rev. F. W. Isitt, Wesleyan Minister

No	3
Date of Notice	3 February 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Gollison	Harriet Gibbs
BDM Match (90%)	Edward Galliven	Harriet Gibbs
	💍 1881/769
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman	Domestic Servant
Age	27 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Mount Street Port Chalmers	Fox Street Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	3 months	2 years
Marriage Place	At the House of Mr. D. Gibbs, Fox Street Port Chalmers
Folio	81/403
Consent	David Gibbs, the Father
Date of Certificate	3 February 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. W. Isitt, Wesleyan Minister

9 February 1881

Edward Shearer
Elizabeth Reid

Edward Shearer
Elizabeth Reid
💍 1881/688

Donald McKay
Elizabeth Reid
💍 1881/678

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic Servant

22 years
23 years

Mary Street Port Chalmers
do

3 years
do

At the Congregational Manse, Port Chalmers

81/643

9 February 1881

Rev. Jas. Maxwell, Congregational Minister

No	4
Date of Notice	9 February 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Shearer	Elizabeth Reid
	💍 1881/688
BDM Match (64%)	Donald McKay	Elizabeth Reid
	💍 1881/678
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic Servant
Age	22 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Mary Street Port Chalmers	do
Length of Residence	3 years	do
Marriage Place	At the Congregational Manse, Port Chalmers
Folio	81/643
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. Maxwell, Congregational Minister

12 February 1881

Hans Johnson
Agnes Turner

Hans Johnson
Agnes Turner
💍 1881/689

Widower
Spinster

Blacksmith

34 years
30 years

Town Belt Port Chalmers
Magnet Street Port Chalmers

2 months
4 years

At the Registrars Office, Port Chalmers

81/644

12 February 1881

J. R. Evison, Registrar of Marriages

No	5
Date of Notice	12 February 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hans Johnson	Agnes Turner
	💍 1881/689
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	34 years	30 years
Dwelling Place	Town Belt Port Chalmers	Magnet Street Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	2 months	4 years
Marriage Place	At the Registrars Office, Port Chalmers
Folio	81/644
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1881
Officiating Minister	J. R. Evison, Registrar of Marriages

21 February 1881

Thomas James Harrison
Mary Thomas Moyle

Thomas James Harrison
Mary Thomas Moyle
💍 1881/685

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

20 years
14 years

Harrington Place Port Chalmers
do

2 years
5 years

At the House of Mr. W. Harrison, George Street Port Chalmers

81/641

Grace Moyle, her Mother

21 March 1881

Rev. F. W. Isitt, Wesleyan Minister

No	6
Date of Notice	21 February 1881
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas James Harrison	Mary Thomas Moyle
	💍 1881/685
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	20 years	14 years
Dwelling Place	Harrington Place Port Chalmers	do
Length of Residence	2 years	5 years
Marriage Place	At the House of Mr. W. Harrison, George Street Port Chalmers
Folio	81/641
Consent	Grace Moyle, her Mother
Date of Certificate	21 March 1881
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. W. Isitt, Wesleyan Minister

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).