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 734

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 1882 Registrar M.M.Paulesson

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

256

10 July 1882

John Thomas Bean
Elizabeth Birch

John Thomas Brown
Elizabeth Birch
💍 1882/2283

Widower
Widow

Stockowner

65
43

Co Riccarton
Riccarton

In the [illegible]
3 days

Church

82/2095

10 July 1882

Rev. A. Poole

No	256
Date of Notice	10 July 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas Bean	Elizabeth Birch
BDM Match (91%)	John Thomas Brown	Elizabeth Birch
	💍 1882/2283
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Stockowner
Age	65	43
Dwelling Place	Co Riccarton	Riccarton
Length of Residence	In the [illegible]	3 days
Marriage Place	Church
Folio	82/2095
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Poole

257

10 July 1882

Figures Thomas
Mary Elizabeth Stewart

Spinster

Servant

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
5 years

In the Registrars Office

82/2257

10 July 1882

Registrar of Marriages M.M. Paulesson

No	257
Date of Notice	10 July 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Figures Thomas	Mary Elizabeth Stewart
Condition		Spinster
Profession		Servant
Age		23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In the Registrars Office
Folio	82/2257
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1882
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages M.M. Paulesson

258

11 July 1882

Edward Bods
Harry Newcomb

Bachelor
Bachelor

Labourer
Iron.

48
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

20 years
1 year

In St Marys Church

82/2204

11 July 1882

Rev. H. East Church of England

No	258
Date of Notice	11 July 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Bods	Harry Newcomb
Condition	Bachelor	Bachelor
Profession	Labourer	Iron.
Age	48	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	1 year
Marriage Place	In St Marys Church
Folio	82/2204
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. East Church of England

259

11 July 1882

Joseph Keller
Rebecca Nix

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

47
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 days
5 days

Addington In the Registrars Office

82/2250

11 July 1882

Registrar of Marriages M.M. Paulesson

No	259
Date of Notice	11 July 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Keller	Rebecca Nix
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	47	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 days	5 days
Marriage Place	Addington In the Registrars Office
Folio	82/2250
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1882
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages M.M. Paulesson

260

11 July 1882

William M. Kay
Catherine Wilson

Horatio John Starkey
Catherine Wilson
💍 1882/1458

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Housekeeper

38
38

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
5 days

In the House

82/2233

11 July 1882

Rev. C. Fraser Presbyterian

No	260
Date of Notice	11 July 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William M. Kay	Catherine Wilson
BDM Match (60%)	Horatio John Starkey	Catherine Wilson
	💍 1882/1458
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Housekeeper
Age	38	38
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	5 days
Marriage Place	In the House
Folio	82/2233
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser Presbyterian

261

11 July 1882

James Henry
Georginia Monson

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

29
35

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 weeks
3 days

In the Methodist Church

82/2226

11 July 1882

Rev. E. Penney Methodist Church of England

No	261
Date of Notice	11 July 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry	Georginia Monson
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	29	35
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 weeks	3 days
Marriage Place	In the Methodist Church
Folio	82/2226
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Penney Methodist Church of England

262

11 July 1882

William John
Kirtles Attlie

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer

27
27

Sydenham
Christchurch

3 years
17 years

Spreydon In the House

82/2209

11 July 1882

Rev. T. R. Cairns Presbyterian

No	262
Date of Notice	11 July 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John	Kirtles Attlie
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Spreydon In the House
Folio	82/2209
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. R. Cairns Presbyterian

263

12 July 1882

Charles Richardson
Isabella Steele

Charles Richardson
Frances Emma Brothwell
💍 1882/2088

Charles Richardson
Ellen O'Neill
💍 1882/2145

Bachelor
Spinster

Postmaster

29
24

Christchurch
Sydenham

3 days
7 months

Sydenham In St Michaels Church

82/2267

12 July 1882

Rev. G. Harper Church of England

No	263
Date of Notice	12 July 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Richardson	Isabella Steele
BDM Match (66%)	Charles Richardson	Frances Emma Brothwell
	💍 1882/2088
BDM Match (60%)	Charles Richardson	Ellen O'Neill
	💍 1882/2145
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Postmaster
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	3 days	7 months
Marriage Place	Sydenham In St Michaels Church
Folio	82/2267
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 July 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Harper Church of England

12 July 1882

Ellen O'Reile

Spinster

Servant

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Christchurch

No
Date of Notice	12 July 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ellen O'Reile
Condition	Spinster
Profession	Servant
Age	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Christchurch
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating 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).