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 715

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1882 Registrar J W Parkerson

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

108

06 April 1882

John Wright Paulger
Annie El;izabeth Shipman

John Wright Paulger
Annie Elizabeth Shipman
💍 1882/1301

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

26
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

In the House of Mr Lewis, Taylors Lane, Chch

82/1342

06 April 1882

Rev. W. Baumber, Methodist

No	108
Date of Notice	06 April 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Wright Paulger	Annie El;izabeth Shipman
BDM Match (98%)	John Wright Paulger	Annie Elizabeth Shipman
	💍 1882/1301
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the House of Mr Lewis, Taylors Lane, Chch
Folio	82/1342
Consent
Date of Certificate	06 April 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Baumber, Methodist

109

06 April 1882

John Sullivan
Mary Harvey

John Sullivan
Mary Harvey
💍 1882/1355

Bachelor
Spinster

Barman
Servant

23
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

22
21

In the Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch

06 April 1882

Rev. L. Quirk, Roman Catholic

No	109
Date of Notice	06 April 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Sullivan	Mary Harvey
	💍 1882/1355
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barman	Servant
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	22	21
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	06 April 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Quirk, Roman Catholic

110

06 April 1882

William ??
Clara Nock

William Binks
Clara Nock
💍 1882/1279

Bachelor
Spinster

Bricklayer

33
27

Spreydon
Sydenham

7 years
19 years

In the house of Mr Richworth, Harper Street

82/1296

06 April 1882

Rev. J. S. Rishworth, Wesleyan

No	110
Date of Notice	06 April 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William ??	Clara Nock
BDM Match (81%)	William Binks	Clara Nock
	💍 1882/1279
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer
Age	33	27
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Sydenham
Length of Residence	7 years	19 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr Richworth, Harper Street
Folio	82/1296
Consent
Date of Certificate	06 April 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. S. Rishworth, Wesleyan

111

11 April 1882

William Tinnock
Thyrra Heyward Mann

William Tinnock
Thyra Heywood Mann
💍 1882/1420

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Milliner

33
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 days
9 months

In the Registrar's Office, Christchurch

82/1384

11 April 1882

Registrar Marriages, J W Parkerson

No	111
Date of Notice	11 April 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Tinnock	Thyrra Heyward Mann
BDM Match (92%)	William Tinnock	Thyra Heywood Mann
	💍 1882/1420
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Milliner
Age	33	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 days	9 months
Marriage Place	In the Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	82/1384
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1882
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marriages, J W Parkerson

112

11 April 1882

Joseph Ames
Sarah Hurford Roberts

Joseph Ames
Sarah Hurford Roberts
💍 1882/1252

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

37
34

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
3 months

In the Papanui Church

82/1414

11 April 1882

Rev. H. Brittan, Church of England

No	112
Date of Notice	11 April 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Ames	Sarah Hurford Roberts
	💍 1882/1252
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	37	34
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	3 months
Marriage Place	In the Papanui Church
Folio	82/1414
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Brittan, Church of England

113

11 April 1882

James Farthing
Isabella Hamilton

James Farthing
Isabella Hamilton
💍 1882/1421

Widower
Spinster

Draper
Milliner

42
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 months
4 days

In the Registrars Office, Christchurch

82/1388

11 April 1882

Registrar Marriages, J W. Parkerson

No	113
Date of Notice	11 April 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Farthing	Isabella Hamilton
	💍 1882/1421
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Milliner
Age	42	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 months	4 days
Marriage Place	In the Registrars Office, Christchurch
Folio	82/1388
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1882
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marriages, J W. Parkerson

114

13 April 1882

William Henry McKellow
Caroline Wilkes

William Henry McKellow
Caroline Wilkes
💍 1882/1294

Bachelor
Spinster

Shoemaker
Servant

24
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

13 years
4 years

In St Luke's Church, Christchurch

82/1358

William Wilkes, Father

13 April 1882

Rev. E. A. Lingard, Church of England

No	114
Date of Notice	13 April 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry McKellow	Caroline Wilkes
	💍 1882/1294
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shoemaker	Servant
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	13 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In St Luke's Church, Christchurch
Folio	82/1358
Consent	William Wilkes, Father
Date of Certificate	13 April 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. A. Lingard, Church of England

115

14 April 1882

Charles Henry Leatham
Margaret Dalton

Charles Henry Leathane
Margaret Dalton
💍 1882/1401

Bachelor
Spinster

Messenger
Servant

33
33

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 months
6 years

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

82/1384

14 April 1882

Rev. C. Fraser, Presbyterian

No	115
Date of Notice	14 April 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Leatham	Margaret Dalton
BDM Match (95%)	Charles Henry Leathane	Margaret Dalton
	💍 1882/1401
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Messenger	Servant
Age	33	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 months	6 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Rev. C. Fraser, Hereford Street
Folio	82/1384
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser, Presbyterian

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).

Primary digitisation of registers between 1855 and 1925 is now complete. Our digitisation volunteers are now working on verifying the currently digitised pages against printed district/page indexes, to identify pages which may have been missed or out of focus. These pages can be re-imaged as required.

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.

How can I help?

You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

You can also support this project by ☕ Buying us a coffee 🌳

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).