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 707

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1882

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

February 17 1882

Philip McDewitt
Margaret M. Namana

Philip McDevitt
Margaret McNamara
💍 1882/727

Bachelor
Spinster

Hotelkeeper

27
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
1 year

In the Roman Catholic Church

82/1560

February 17 1882

Rev. L. Ginnaty

No	53
Date of Notice	February 17 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Philip McDewitt	Margaret M. Namana
BDM Match (88%)	Philip McDevitt	Margaret McNamara
	💍 1882/727
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hotelkeeper
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	1 year
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church
Folio	82/1560
Consent
Date of Certificate	February 17 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Ginnaty

February 20 1882

James M. Gaughern
Jane Ryans

James McGaughern
Jane Ryan
💍 1882/726

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Servant

28
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
1 year

In the Roman Catholic Church

82/1559

February 20 1882

Rev. L. Ginnaty

No	54
Date of Notice	February 20 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James M. Gaughern	Jane Ryans
BDM Match (89%)	James McGaughern	Jane Ryan
	💍 1882/726
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Servant
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church
Folio	82/1559
Consent
Date of Certificate	February 20 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Ginnaty

February 21 1882

James Scarlet
Annie Wadsworth

James Scarlet
Annie Wadsworth
💍 1882/714

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

26
17

Christchurch
Christchurch

23 years
13 years

In the House of Rev. C. Fraser, Guace Street

82/544

Father

February 21 1882

Rev. C. Fraser

No	55
Date of Notice	February 21 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Scarlet	Annie Wadsworth
	💍 1882/714
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	26	17
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	23 years	13 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Rev. C. Fraser, Guace Street
Folio	82/544
Consent	Father
Date of Certificate	February 21 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

February 22 1882

William Edward
Burley & Sarah

Bachelor

Carpenter

Springston

2 years

In the House of Rev. C. Fraser, Guace Street

82/543

February 22 1882

Rev. C. Fraser

No	56
Date of Notice	February 22 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Edward	Burley & Sarah
Condition	Bachelor
Profession	Carpenter
Age	24
Dwelling Place	Springston
Length of Residence	2 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Rev. C. Fraser, Guace Street
Folio	82/543
Consent
Date of Certificate	February 22 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

February 22 1882

John Thomas
Jane Dyues

John Symes
Jane Higgs
💍 1882/2183

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Servant

25
21

Christchurch
Springston

18 years
5 years

In the Baptist Chapel

82/1500

February 22 1882

Rev. C. Ballastone

No	57
Date of Notice	February 22 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas	Jane Dyues
BDM Match (62%)	John Symes	Jane Higgs
	💍 1882/2183
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Servant
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Springston
Length of Residence	18 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In the Baptist Chapel
Folio	82/1500
Consent
Date of Certificate	February 22 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Ballastone

February 23 1882

Houghton & Elizabeth
Ann Sutton

Spinster

Christchurch

9 years

Oxford Terrace

82/574

Father

February 23 1882

Registrar Marriages

No	58
Date of Notice	February 23 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Houghton & Elizabeth	Ann Sutton
Condition		Spinster
Profession
Age		17
Dwelling Place		Christchurch
Length of Residence		9 years
Marriage Place	Oxford Terrace
Folio	82/574
Consent	Father
Date of Certificate	February 23 1882
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marriages

February 24 1882

Elizabeth Croner
Hogget & Edmund

Spinster

Christchurch

4 months

In the Registrars Office

February 24 1882

Registrar Marriages

No	59
Date of Notice	February 24 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Elizabeth Croner	Hogget & Edmund
Condition	Spinster
Profession
Age	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 months
Marriage Place	In the Registrars Office
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	February 24 1882
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marriages

February 24 1882

Ambrose O'Brien
Alfred Allen

Bachelor
Bachelor

Bootmaker
Carpenter

27
36

Christchurch
Sydenham

2 years
7 years

In the Registry Office

82/575

February 24 1882

Registrar Marriages

No	59
Date of Notice	February 24 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ambrose O'Brien	Alfred Allen
Condition	Bachelor	Bachelor
Profession	Bootmaker	Carpenter
Age	27	36
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	2 years	7 years
Marriage Place	In the Registry Office
Folio	82/575
Consent
Date of Certificate	February 24 1882
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marriages

February 25 1882

George Henry
Uuina Rucuson

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Servant

25
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

In the Congregational Church, Springfield

82/533

Father

February 25 1882

Rev. H. Williams

No	60
Date of Notice	February 25 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry	Uuina Rucuson
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Servant
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the Congregational Church, Springfield
Folio	82/533
Consent	Father
Date of Certificate	February 25 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Williams

February 25 1882

Mogridge & Elizabeth
Jane Woodham

Spinster

Milliner

Christchurch

21 years

Christchurch

February 25 1882

Rev. H. Williams

No	60
Date of Notice	February 25 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Mogridge & Elizabeth	Jane Woodham
Condition		Spinster
Profession		Milliner
Age		21
Dwelling Place		Christchurch
Length of Residence		21 years
Marriage Place	Christchurch
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	February 25 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Williams

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).