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 729

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 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

227

17 June 1882

John Craw
Ellen Higham

John Craw
Ellen Higham
💍 1882/43

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

24
19

Papanui
Papanui

17 years
19 years

St. Luke's Church

82/1369

William Higham

17 June 1882

Rev. R. A. Lingard

No	227
Date of Notice	17 June 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Craw	Ellen Higham
	💍 1882/43
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Papanui
Length of Residence	17 years	19 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church
Folio	82/1369
Consent	William Higham
Date of Certificate	17 June 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. A. Lingard

228

19 June 1882

Thomas Roulston
Margaret Carnegie

Thomas Roulston
Margaret Carnigie
💍 1882/1763

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Milliner

26
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 weeks

In the House, Courance of Rev. C. Fraser

82/1145

Mother

19 June 1882

Rev. C. Fraser

No	228
Date of Notice	19 June 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Roulston	Margaret Carnegie
BDM Match (97%)	Thomas Roulston	Margaret Carnigie
	💍 1882/1763
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Milliner
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	In the House, Courance of Rev. C. Fraser
Folio	82/1145
Consent	Mother
Date of Certificate	19 June 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

229

19 June 1882

Alfred Brake
Agnes Tanner

Alfred Brake
Agnes Tanner
💍 1882/1250

Bachelor
Spinster

Cheese maker

23
19

Kaiapoi
Kaiapoi

1 month
19 years

In the Wesleyan Church

82/1145

Father

19 June 1882

Rev. J. S. Smalley

No	229
Date of Notice	19 June 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Brake	Agnes Tanner
	💍 1882/1250
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cheese maker
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Kaiapoi	Kaiapoi
Length of Residence	1 month	19 years
Marriage Place	In the Wesleyan Church
Folio	82/1145
Consent	Father
Date of Certificate	19 June 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. S. Smalley

230

20 June 1882

Robert Hislop
Charlotte Elizabeth

Robert Hislop
Charlotte Elizabeth Annie Clarke
💍 1882/42

Bachelor
Spinster

Under writer

28
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
7 months

St. Luke's, Invercargill Church

82/1365

20 June 1882

Rev. R. A. Lingard

No	230
Date of Notice	20 June 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Hislop	Charlotte Elizabeth
BDM Match (80%)	Robert Hislop	Charlotte Elizabeth Annie Clarke
	💍 1882/42
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Under writer
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	7 months
Marriage Place	St. Luke's, Invercargill Church
Folio	82/1365
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 June 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. A. Lingard

231

20 June 1882

John Bourke
Amelia

John Bourke
Amelia Jane Buller
💍 1882/1249

Bachelor
Spinster

Town Clerk

32
25

Gisborne
Christchurch

4 years
8 years

In the Wesleyan, Gisborne Church

82/1414

20 June 1882

Rev. I. Buller

No	231
Date of Notice	20 June 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Bourke	Amelia
BDM Match (67%)	John Bourke	Amelia Jane Buller
	💍 1882/1249
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Town Clerk
Age	32	25
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	8 years
Marriage Place	In the Wesleyan, Gisborne Church
Folio	82/1414
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 June 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. Buller

232

21 June 1882

Frederick Allen
Sarah

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Servant

21
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
4 months

In the House, Little River of Rev. C. Fraser

82/1146

21 June 1882

Rev. C. Fraser

No	232
Date of Notice	21 June 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Allen	Sarah
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Servant
Age	21	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	4 months
Marriage Place	In the House, Little River of Rev. C. Fraser
Folio	82/1146
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 June 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

233

21 June 1882

George Webb
Sarah Parry

George Webb
Sarah Parry
💍 1882/1765

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Servant

27
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
5 years

In the House of Rev. C. Fraser

82/1144

21 June 1882

Rev. C. Fraser

No	233
Date of Notice	21 June 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Webb	Sarah Parry
	💍 1882/1765
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Servant
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Rev. C. Fraser
Folio	82/1144
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 June 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser

234

22 June 1882

Charles Henry
Lydia Clidgey

Charles Henry Cox
Lydia Chidgey
💍 1882/1297

Bachelor
Spinster

Joiner

26
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
4 years

In the House of Mr. Clidgey

82/1338

22 June 1882

Rev. C. Ballaston

No	234
Date of Notice	22 June 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry	Lydia Clidgey
BDM Match (84%)	Charles Henry Cox	Lydia Chidgey
	💍 1882/1297
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Joiner
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Mr. Clidgey
Folio	82/1338
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 June 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Ballaston

235

26 June 1882

Hunter Heurs
Margaret McCulloch Hughes

John Hunter Lewis
Margaret McCulloch Hughes
💍 1882/1287

Widower
Widow

Baker
Housekeeper

55
42

Sefton
Christchurch

3 years
4 years

St. Saviours, Sefton Church

82/1352

26 June 1882

Rev. H. B. Cocks

No	235
Date of Notice	26 June 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hunter Heurs	Margaret McCulloch Hughes
BDM Match (76%)	John Hunter Lewis	Margaret McCulloch Hughes
	💍 1882/1287
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Baker	Housekeeper
Age	55	42
Dwelling Place	Sefton	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviours, Sefton Church
Folio	82/1352
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 June 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. B. Cocks

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).