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 723

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1882 Registrar J.Matterson

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

176

13 May 1882

Mary Beecham
John Aldred

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

21
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

21 years
20 years

Wesleyan Church

82/11339

John Reese

13 May 1882

Rev. I. Aldred

No	176
Date of Notice	13 May 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Mary Beecham	John Aldred
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	21 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church
Folio	82/11339
Consent	John Reese
Date of Certificate	13 May 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. Aldred

177

15 May 1882

Martha Jane Reese
John Julius Parker

Bachelor
Spinster

Land Agent

33
34

Christchurch
Christchurch

24 years
1 month

Church

82/11336

Hattier

15 May 1882

Rev. H.C.M. Watson

No	177
Date of Notice	15 May 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Martha Jane Reese	John Julius Parker
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Land Agent
Age	33	34
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	24 years	1 month
Marriage Place	Church
Folio	82/11336
Consent	Hattier
Date of Certificate	15 May 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. H.C.M. Watson

178

15 May 1882

Mary Welland
Edward Taylor

Widower
Widow

Gardener
Housekeeper

67
54

Christchurch
Christchurch

25 years
19 years

Registrar Office

82/11403

15 May 1882

J.Matterson

No	178
Date of Notice	15 May 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Mary Welland	Edward Taylor
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Gardener	Housekeeper
Age	67	54
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Registrar Office
Folio	82/11403
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 May 1882
Officiating Minister	J.Matterson

179

16 May 1882

Elizabeth Parker
Jens Andersen

Widower
Widow

Carpenter
Servant

39
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 years
3 years

In the House of Mr. Underside

82/11385

Shoy & Elizabeth

16 May 1882

Rev. P. Jacobsen

No	179
Date of Notice	16 May 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Elizabeth Parker	Jens Andersen
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Carpenter	Servant
Age	39	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Mr. Underside
Folio	82/11385
Consent	Shoy & Elizabeth
Date of Certificate	16 May 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Jacobsen

180

16 May 1882

Aum Pizzard
James Callender

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
-

28
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

14 years
4 years

Church

82/11355

I Mabel

16 May 1882

Rev. H. Williams

No	180
Date of Notice	16 May 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Aum Pizzard	James Callender
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	-
Age	28	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	14 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Church
Folio	82/11355
Consent	I Mabel
Date of Certificate	16 May 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Williams

181

17 May 1882

Fanny Wroughton
Edward Cowenden

Bachelor
Spinster

Methodist
Minister

34
33

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 days
5 years

In the House, Napier, of Rev. I.H. Fisher

82/11341

Perry & Catherine

17 May 1882

Rev. S. Macfarlane

No	181
Date of Notice	17 May 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Fanny Wroughton	Edward Cowenden
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Methodist	Minister
Age	34	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 days	5 years
Marriage Place	In the House, Napier, of Rev. I.H. Fisher
Folio	82/11341
Consent	Perry & Catherine
Date of Certificate	17 May 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Macfarlane

182

17 May 1882

Aum Fisher
John Corboy

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Servant

38
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

19 years
4 years

Roman Catholic Church

82/11386

17 May 1882

Rev. L. Guinty

No	182
Date of Notice	17 May 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Aum Fisher	John Corboy
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Servant
Age	38	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	19 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	82/11386
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 May 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Guinty

183

17 May 1882

Ellen Kavanagh
William Orange

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
-

31
48

St. Albans
St. Albans

9 years
7 years

Church

82/11443

W. Faddin & Mary

17 May 1882

Rev. F. Flavell

No	183
Date of Notice	17 May 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ellen Kavanagh	William Orange
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	-
Age	31	48
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	9 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Church
Folio	82/11443
Consent	W. Faddin & Mary
Date of Certificate	17 May 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Flavell

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 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).