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 M. Markerson

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

[illegible]

[illegible] February 1882

Gertrude Stuart
Elizabeth Leturn

Spinster
Spinster

Servant
Servant

23
[illegible]

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
[illegible]

Christchurch

[illegible]

Roman Catholic

No	[illegible]
Date of Notice	[illegible] February 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gertrude Stuart	Elizabeth Leturn
Condition	Spinster	Spinster
Profession	Servant	Servant
Age	23	[illegible]
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	[illegible]
Marriage Place	Christchurch
Folio	[illegible]
Consent
Date of Certificate	[illegible]
Officiating Minister	Roman Catholic

11 February 1882

William Henry Butler
Marion [illegible]

William Henry Butler
Marion Davidson Whyte
💍 1882/895

Bachelor
[illegible]

Carpenter
[illegible]

22
[illegible]

St. Albans
St. Albans

20 years
20 years

In the House of Mr. Whyte

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 [illegible]
BDM Match (69%)	William Henry Butler	Marion Davidson Whyte
	💍 1882/895
Condition	Bachelor	[illegible]
Profession	Carpenter	[illegible]
Age	22	[illegible]
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	20 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Mr. Whyte
Folio	82/1502
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Ballaston

11 February 1882

James Walsh
Davidson Whyte

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Sprinter

22
21

Christchurch
Beingoland

Several months
8 years

In the House of Rev. C. Fraser

82/1579

11 February 1882

Rev. C. Fraser

No	46
Date of Notice	11 February 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Walsh	Davidson Whyte
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Sprinter
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Beingoland
Length of Residence	Several months	8 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Rev. C. Fraser
Folio	82/1579
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

13 February 1882

Joseph M. Donald
Rachel Jackson

James Walsh
Rachel Jackson
💍 1882/713

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Servant

25
21

St. Albans
Christchurch

1 year
Several months

In the House of Mr. Moore

82/1572

13 February 1882

Rev. I. Caldred

No	47
Date of Notice	13 February 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph M. Donald	Rachel Jackson
BDM Match (63%)	James Walsh	Rachel Jackson
	💍 1882/713
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Servant
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	Several months
Marriage Place	In the House of Mr. Moore
Folio	82/1572
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. Caldred

13 February 1882

Henry William Smith
Lizzie Maudale

Bachelor
Spinster

Fruiterer
Sprinter

24
29

Christchurch
St. Albans

23 years
5 days

In St. Luke's Church

82/1491

13 February 1882

Rev. E. C. D'auyane

No	48
Date of Notice	13 February 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry William Smith	Lizzie Maudale
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fruiterer	Sprinter
Age	24	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	23 years	5 days
Marriage Place	In St. Luke's Church
Folio	82/1491
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. C. D'auyane

15 February 1882

Edward Rodick
Mary [illegible]

Edward Rodick
Clara Beatrice Foster
💍 1882/636

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
[illegible]

26
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
2 years

In the Lyttleton Merivale

82/1574

15 February 1882

Rev. J. Flavile

No	49
Date of Notice	15 February 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Rodick	Mary [illegible]
BDM Match (62%)	Edward Rodick	Clara Beatrice Foster
	💍 1882/636
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	[illegible]
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	In the Lyttleton Merivale
Folio	82/1574
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Flavile

15 February 1882

Joseph Smith
Clara [illegible]

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
[illegible]

29
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
3 weeks

In the House of Mrs. Richards

82/1504

15 February 1882

Rev. I. Uuslie

No	50
Date of Notice	15 February 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Smith	Clara [illegible]
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	[illegible]
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	In the House of Mrs. Richards
Folio	82/1504
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. Uuslie

16 February 1882

George Dennison
Beatrice Foster

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
[illegible]

23
40

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
18 years

In St. Michael's Church

82/1530

Amos Smart

16 February 1882

Rev. W. Hauper

No	51
Date of Notice	16 February 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Dennison	Beatrice Foster
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	[illegible]
Age	23	40
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	18 years
Marriage Place	In St. Michael's Church
Folio	82/1530
Consent	Amos Smart
Date of Certificate	16 February 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Hauper

17 February 1882

James M. Adams
Elizabeth Richards

Joseph Smith
Elizabeth Richards
💍 1882/584

Bachelor
Widow

Laborer
[illegible]

24
18

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 years
3 days

In the Roman Catholic Church

82/1561

[illegible] Father

17 February 1882

Rev. L. Guiaty

No	52
Date of Notice	17 February 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James M. Adams	Elizabeth Richards
BDM Match (61%)	Joseph Smith	Elizabeth Richards
	💍 1882/584
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Laborer	[illegible]
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 years	3 days
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church
Folio	82/1561
Consent	[illegible] Father
Date of Certificate	17 February 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Guiaty

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).