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 752

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 1882 Registrar M Parkerson

No	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
389	30 October 1882	Harry James Trenman Elizabeth Cyrey	Harry James Hoddinott Elizabeth Ayrey 💍 1882/2895	Bachelor Spinster	Fereinan Machinist	23 21	Sydenham Sydenham	4 years In the House 4 years In Sydenham	of Mr. Hoddinott	82/3114		30 October 1882	Rev I. Restworth
390	31 October 1882	Joseph Alder Smith Elizabeth Lavine	Joseph Alder Smith Elizabeth Lavina Leigh 💍 1882/82 Joseph Smith Elizabeth Richards 💍 1882/584	Widower Widow	Tailor Servant	47 27	Christchurch Christchurch	3 months In the St. 3 years Christchurch	Luke's Church	82/3062		31 October 1882	Rev 2 A. Lingard
391	31 October 1882	William Piper Margaret Alice Bradfield	William Piper Margaret Alice Emma Bradfield 💍 1882/2707	Bachelor Spinster	Halehumader	29 19	Christchurch Christchurch	4 years In the St. 4 years In the St.	Saviours	82/3029	Elizabeth Murray Mother	31 October 1882	Rev St. D. Cocolo
392	31 October 1882	George Muter Annie Stokes	George Winter Annie Stokes 💍 1882/3131	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer Servant	31 27	Christchurch Christchurch	6 months In the St. 7 years Christchurch	Wesleyan Church	82/3019		31 October 1882	Rev E. Bach
393	31 October 1882	James Fisher Frances Ann Soane	James Fisher Frances Ann Soame 💍 1882/92	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	31 37	Sydenham Christchurch	25 years In the St. 4 years Church	Addington	82/3049		31 October 1882	Rev H. East
394	1 November 1882	John Crocker Theresa Wheeler	John Crocker Theresa Wheeler 💍 1882/3151	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinet Maker	23 19	Christchurch Christchurch	19 years In the house of 6 years St. Albans	of Mr. Eglestone	82/3075	Alfred Wheeler Father	1 November 1882	Rev I. Aldred
395	2 November 1882	Alfred Porter Caroline Hyman	Alfred Porter Martha Caroline Hyman 💍 1882/2888	Bachelor Spinster	Painter Painter	25 26	Christchurch Christchurch	8 years In the 20 years Church	Congregational	82/3108		2 November 1882	Rev H. Williams
396	4 November 1882	Jacob Freeman Jane Leach	Jacob Freeman Mary Jane Leach 💍 1882/3144	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer Servant	26 22	Christchurch Christchurch	4 years In the Registrars 3 years Christchurch	Office	82/3091		4 November 1882	Register Marriages M Parkerson
397	4 November 1882	Charles Simmons Eliza Norman	Charles Simmonds Eliza Ellen Norman 💍 1882/2891	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer Servant	20 24	Christchurch Christchurch	3 years In the 7 years Church	Papanui	82/3111		4 November 1882	Rev F. Brittan

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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 1899. 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).