Intentions to Marry, 1882

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840394, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, April 16 2025

Page 706

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1882 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

11 February 1882

William Henry Butler
Marion Davidson Whyte

William Henry Butler
Marion Davidson Whyte
💍 1882/895

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

22
21

St. Albans
BIngsland

20 years
20 years

In the House of Mr. Whyte, Bingsland

82/1502

11 February 1882

Rev. C. Ballaston

No	45
Date of Notice	11 February 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Butler	Marion Davidson Whyte
	💍 1882/895
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	BIngsland
Length of Residence	20 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Mr. Whyte, Bingsland
Folio	82/1502
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Ballaston

11 February 1882

James Walsh
Rachel Jackson

James Walsh
Rachel Jackson
💍 1882/713

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Servant

22
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 months
5 months

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

82/1579

11 February 1882

Rev. C. Fraser

No	46
Date of Notice	11 February 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Walsh	Rachel Jackson
	💍 1882/713
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Servant
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 months	5 months
Marriage Place	In the House of Rev. C. Fraser, Tuam St
Folio	82/1579
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

13 February 1882

Joseph McDonald Graham
Lizzie Mandall

Joseph McDonald Graham
Lizzie Mandall
💍 1882/638

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Servant

25
29

St. Albans
St Albans

5 months
1 year

In the House of Mr. Moore, Knightstown

82/1572

13 February 1882

Rev. J. Aldred, Wesleyan

No	47
Date of Notice	13 February 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph McDonald Graham	Lizzie Mandall
	💍 1882/638
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Servant
Age	25	29
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St Albans
Length of Residence	5 months	1 year
Marriage Place	In the House of Mr. Moore, Knightstown
Folio	82/1572
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Aldred, Wesleyan

13 February 1882

Henry William Smith
Mary Ann Morgan Morris

Henry William Smith
Mary Ann Morgan Merris
💍 1882/883

Bachelor
Spinster

Fruiterer
Servant

24
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

23 years
2 years

In St. Luke's Church, Christchurch

82/1491

13 February 1882

Rev. E. A Lingard, Church of England

No	48
Date of Notice	13 February 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry William Smith	Mary Ann Morgan Morris
BDM Match (98%)	Henry William Smith	Mary Ann Morgan Merris
	💍 1882/883
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fruiterer	Servant
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	23 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In St. Luke's Church, Christchurch
Folio	82/1491
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. A Lingard, Church of England

15 February 1882

Edward Rodick
Clara Beatrice Foster

Edward Rodick
Clara Beatrice Foster
💍 1882/636

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

26
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 weeks

In the Merivale Church

Lyttelton, 82/1574

15 February 1882

Rev. J. Flavell, Church of England

No	49
Date of Notice	15 February 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Rodick	Clara Beatrice Foster
	💍 1882/636
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	In the Merivale Church
Folio	Lyttelton, 82/1574
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Flavell, Church of England

15 February 1882

Joseph Smith
Elizabeth Richards

Joseph Smith
Elizabeth Richards
💍 1882/584

Bachelor
widow

Laborer

29
40

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
18 years

In the House of Mrs. Richards, Madras Street

82/1504

15 February 1882

Rev. J Elmslie, Presbyterian

No	50
Date of Notice	15 February 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Smith	Elizabeth Richards
	💍 1882/584
Condition	Bachelor	widow
Profession	Laborer
Age	29	40
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	18 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Mrs. Richards, Madras Street
Folio	82/1504
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. J Elmslie, Presbyterian

16 February 1882

George Dunkinson
Gertrude Smart

George Durkinson
Gertrude Smart
💍 1882/644

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
servant

23
18

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

In St. Michael's Church, Christchurch

82/1530

Amos Smart, Father

16 February 1882

Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

No	51
Date of Notice	16 February 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Dunkinson	Gertrude Smart
BDM Match (97%)	George Durkinson	Gertrude Smart
	💍 1882/644
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	servant
Age	23	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In St. Michael's Church, Christchurch
Folio	82/1530
Consent	Amos Smart, Father
Date of Certificate	16 February 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

17 February 1882

James McAdam
Elizabeth Laturney

James McAdams
Lizzie Le Turney
💍 1882/728

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Servant

24
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 years
4 years

In the Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch

82/1561

17 February 1882

Rev. L. Ginaty, Roman Catholic

No	52
Date of Notice	17 February 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James McAdam	Elizabeth Laturney
BDM Match (71%)	James McAdams	Lizzie Le Turney
	💍 1882/728
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Servant
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch
Folio	82/1561
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1882
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 1908. 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).