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 737

District of Christchurch Quarter ending [illegible] Registrar [illegible]

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

280

July 1882

John
Renna Towels

[illegible]
Spinster

[illegible]
Servant

[illegible]
18

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
2 years

In St. Pauls Church

82/13406

Elizabeth Smith

20 July 1882

Rev. I. Elmslie Presbyterian

No	280
Date of Notice	July 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John	Renna Towels
Condition	[illegible]	Spinster
Profession	[illegible]	Servant
Age	[illegible]	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In St. Pauls Church
Folio	82/13406
Consent	Elizabeth Smith
Date of Certificate	20 July 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. Elmslie Presbyterian

281

July 1882

George Wilkes
James Austin

Bachelor
Widower

Butcher
Labourer

22
55

Christchurch
Waltham

5 years
2 years

Cashel Street

82/14255

Mother

22 July 1882

Registrar of Marriages

No	281
Date of Notice	July 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Wilkes	James Austin
Condition	Bachelor	Widower
Profession	Butcher	Labourer
Age	22	55
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Waltham
Length of Residence	5 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Cashel Street
Folio	82/14255
Consent	Mother
Date of Certificate	22 July 1882
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

282

July 1882

James Murphy
Leonina Davey

James Austin
Lavinia Davey
💍 1882/2093

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Housekeeper

32
48

Sydenham
Waltham

6 years
2 years

In the Roman Catholic Church

82/13473

[illegible]

24 July 1882

Rev. L. Ginaty Roman Catholic

No	282
Date of Notice	July 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Murphy	Leonina Davey
BDM Match (64%)	James Austin	Lavinia Davey
	💍 1882/2093
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Housekeeper
Age	32	48
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Waltham
Length of Residence	6 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church
Folio	82/13473
Consent	[illegible]
Date of Certificate	24 July 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Ginaty Roman Catholic

283

July 1882

William Henry Turner
Sarah Lewis

William Henry Turner
Sarah Lewis
💍 1882/3409

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
[illegible]

28
17

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
5 days

In St. Pauls Church

82/13467

James Lewis Father

25 July 1882

Rev. I. Elmslie Presbyterian

No	283
Date of Notice	July 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Turner	Sarah Lewis
	💍 1882/3409
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	[illegible]
Age	28	17
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	5 days
Marriage Place	In St. Pauls Church
Folio	82/13467
Consent	James Lewis Father
Date of Certificate	25 July 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. Elmslie Presbyterian

284

July 1882

Henry M. Keurie
Annie Keating

Henry McKenzie
Annie Keating
💍 1882/2094

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Servant

39
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 days
6 days

In the Registrars Office

82/12254

[illegible]

25 July 1882

Registrar of Marriages

No	284
Date of Notice	July 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry M. Keurie	Annie Keating
BDM Match (87%)	Henry McKenzie	Annie Keating
	💍 1882/2094
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Servant
Age	39	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 days	6 days
Marriage Place	In the Registrars Office
Folio	82/12254
Consent	[illegible]
Date of Certificate	25 July 1882
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

285

July 1882

James Skiggs
Florence Belmer

James Skiggs Bennett
Florence Belmer
💍 1882/2251

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

22
17

Sydenham
Sydenham

2 years
4 years

In the House of John Parson

82/12236

Belmer Father

27 July 1882

Rev. C. Fraser Presbyterian

No	285
Date of Notice	July 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Skiggs	Florence Belmer
BDM Match (80%)	James Skiggs Bennett	Florence Belmer
	💍 1882/2251
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	22	17
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	2 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the House of John Parson
Folio	82/12236
Consent	Belmer Father
Date of Certificate	27 July 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser Presbyterian

286

July 1882

William Suellie
Emma Rewton

William Smellie
Emma Newton
💍 1882/2241

Widower
Widow

Tailor
[illegible]

57
36

Christchurch
Phillipstown

5 years
7 years

In the House of Mrs Rewton

82/12227

[illegible]

27 July 1882

Rev. C. Penny United Methodist

No	286
Date of Notice	July 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Suellie	Emma Rewton
BDM Match (92%)	William Smellie	Emma Newton
	💍 1882/2241
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Tailor	[illegible]
Age	57	36
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Phillipstown
Length of Residence	5 years	7 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Mrs Rewton
Folio	82/12227
Consent	[illegible]
Date of Certificate	27 July 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Penny United Methodist

287

July 1882

Frank Carr
Elizabeth Rowlett

Frank Hankey
Elizabeth Hankey
💍 1882/736

Bachelor
Widow

Clerk
[illegible]

26
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
2 years

In the House of Elizabeth Rowlett

82/12229

[illegible]

28 July 1882

Rev. A. W. Callum Presbyterian

No	287
Date of Notice	July 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Carr	Elizabeth Rowlett
BDM Match (62%)	Frank Hankey	Elizabeth Hankey
	💍 1882/736
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Clerk	[illegible]
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	2 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Elizabeth Rowlett
Folio	82/12229
Consent	[illegible]
Date of Certificate	28 July 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Callum 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).

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).