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 720

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1882 Registrar M. Maclerson

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

150

1 May 1882

Thomas Powale
[illegible]

Bachelor
[illegible]

Laborer
[illegible]

26
[illegible]

Christchurch
[illegible]

6 days
[illegible]

In the House of Rev. C. Fraser

82/1380

1 May 1882

Rev. C. Fraser

No	150
Date of Notice	1 May 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Powale	[illegible]
Condition	Bachelor	[illegible]
Profession	Laborer	[illegible]
Age	26	[illegible]
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	[illegible]
Length of Residence	6 days	[illegible]
Marriage Place	In the House of Rev. C. Fraser
Folio	82/1380
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 May 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

150

1 May 1882

Thomas Powell
Agnes McKibbin

Thomas Powell
Agnes McKibbin
💍 1882/34

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Servant

26
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 days
6 days

In the House of Rev. C. Fraser

82/1380

1 May 1882

Rev. C. Fraser Presbyterian

No	150
Date of Notice	1 May 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Powell	Agnes McKibbin
	💍 1882/34
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Servant
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 days	6 days
Marriage Place	In the House of Rev. C. Fraser
Folio	82/1380
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 May 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser Presbyterian

151

1 May 1882

Martin Cusack
Katie O'Brien

Martin Cusack
Katie OBrien
💍 1882/1361

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Servant

25
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

19 years
7 years

In the Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch

82/1302

1 May 1882

Rev. L. Guinty Roman Catholic

No	151
Date of Notice	1 May 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Martin Cusack	Katie O'Brien
BDM Match (83%)	Martin Cusack	Katie OBrien
	💍 1882/1361
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Servant
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	19 years	7 years
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch
Folio	82/1302
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 May 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Guinty Roman Catholic

152

1 May 1882

Thomas Stafford
Catherine Thomson

Thomas Stafford
Catharine Thomson
💍 1882/1364

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer
Housekeeper

45
35

Christchurch
Christchurch

17 years
15 years

In the Roman Catholic Church Christchurch

82/1304

1 May 1882

Rev. L. Guinty Roman Catholic

No	152
Date of Notice	1 May 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Stafford	Catherine Thomson
BDM Match (97%)	Thomas Stafford	Catharine Thomson
	💍 1882/1364
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Housekeeper
Age	45	35
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	17 years	15 years
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church Christchurch
Folio	82/1304
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 May 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Guinty Roman Catholic

153

2 May 1882

Frederick Denton
Annie Read

Frederick Denton
Annie Read
💍 1882/1362

Bachelor
Spinster

Wheelwright
Servant

22
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 days
10 days

In the Roman Catholic Church Christchurch

82/1303

2 May 1882

Rev. L Guinty Roman Catholic

No	153
Date of Notice	2 May 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Denton	Annie Read
	💍 1882/1362
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wheelwright	Servant
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 days	10 days
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church Christchurch
Folio	82/1303
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 May 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. L Guinty Roman Catholic

154

2 May 1882

William Winter
Eliza Ann Webb

William Winter
Eliza Ann Webb
💍 1882/35

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

24
17

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
3 years

In the house of Mrs Webb

82/1381

Susan Webb. Mother

2 May 1882

Rev. C. Fraser Presbyterian

No	154
Date of Notice	2 May 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Winter	Eliza Ann Webb
	💍 1882/35
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	24	17
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Webb
Folio	82/1381
Consent	Susan Webb. Mother
Date of Certificate	2 May 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser Presbyterian

155

3 May 1882

Tom Purdon
Margaret Taylor

Tom Purdonis
Margaret Taylor
💍 1882/2074

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

25
19

Sydenham
Sydenham

3 years
3 years

In the house of Mr Tom Purdon

82/2208

John Taylor. Father

3 May 1882

Rev. C. Fraser Presbyterian

No	155
Date of Notice	3 May 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Tom Purdon	Margaret Taylor
BDM Match (92%)	Tom Purdonis	Margaret Taylor
	💍 1882/2074
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr Tom Purdon
Folio	82/2208
Consent	John Taylor. Father
Date of Certificate	3 May 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser Presbyterian

156

3 May 1882

Arthur Thomas Burrow
Susan Woodham

Arthur Thomas Burrow
Susan Woodham
💍 1882/1283

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler
Servant

26
22

Bingsland
Ashbone

10 years
14 years

In the [illegible] Church

82/1348

3 May 1882

Rev. M.A. Pascoe Church of England

No	156
Date of Notice	3 May 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Thomas Burrow	Susan Woodham
	💍 1882/1283
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler	Servant
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Bingsland	Ashbone
Length of Residence	10 years	14 years
Marriage Place	In the [illegible] Church
Folio	82/1348
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 May 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. M.A. Pascoe Church of England

157

3 May 1882

Richard Golding
Susannah Woollett

Richard Golding
Susannah Woollett
💍 1882/37

Widower
Widow

Bricklayer

41
41

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
3 months

In the house of Mrs Woollett Aldred Street

82/1383

3 May 1882

Rev. C. Fraser Presbyterian

No	157
Date of Notice	3 May 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Golding	Susannah Woollett
	💍 1882/37
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Bricklayer
Age	41	41
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	3 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Woollett Aldred Street
Folio	82/1383
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 May 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser Presbyterian

158

4 May 1882

William James Alldred
Christiana Hill

William James Alldred
Christiana Hill
💍 1882/1418

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Tailoress

27
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
3 years

In St Michaels Church Christchurch

82/1408

4 May 1882

Rev. W. Harper Church of England

No	158
Date of Notice	4 May 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Alldred	Christiana Hill
	💍 1882/1418
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Tailoress
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In St Michaels Church Christchurch
Folio	82/1408
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 May 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Harper 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).