Intentions to Marry, 1883

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840395, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, May 16 2025.

Page 694

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1883 Registrar J. S. Markerson

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

2 January 1883

David Blair
Caroline Woodley

David Blair
Caroline Woodley
💍 1883/924

Bachelor
Spinster

Art. Master

31
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
12 years

St. Michaels Church

83/494

Woodley, Father

2 January 1883

Rev W. Harper

No	1
Date of Notice	2 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Blair	Caroline Woodley
	💍 1883/924
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Art. Master
Age	31	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	12 years
Marriage Place	St. Michaels Church
Folio	83/494
Consent	Woodley, Father
Date of Certificate	2 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev W. Harper

2 January 1883

Joseph Randle Rosewarne
Jane Hodgson Seabright

Joseph Randle Rosewarne
Jane Hodgson Seabright
💍 1883/481

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

24
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

19 years
11 years

Wesleyan Church

83/504

William Seabright, father

2 January 1883

Rev I. Aldred

No	2
Date of Notice	2 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Randle Rosewarne	Jane Hodgson Seabright
	💍 1883/481
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	19 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church
Folio	83/504
Consent	William Seabright, father
Date of Certificate	2 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev I. Aldred

2 January 1883

William W. McLeod
Elizabeth Mary Jane W. Kay

William McLeod
Elizabeth Mary Jane McKay
💍 1883/683

Bachelor
Spinster

Mason
Laundress

36
35

Christchurch
Christchurch

13 years
9 years

In the Registrars Office

83/439

2 January 1883

J. S. Markerson

No	3
Date of Notice	2 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William W. McLeod	Elizabeth Mary Jane W. Kay
BDM Match (85%)	William McLeod	Elizabeth Mary Jane McKay
	💍 1883/683
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mason	Laundress
Age	36	35
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	13 years	9 years
Marriage Place	In the Registrars Office
Folio	83/439
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 January 1883
Officiating Minister	J. S. Markerson

2 January 1883

Alfred Peters
Annie Campbell

Alfred Slater
Susan Campbell
💍 1883/1347

Widower
Spinster

Methodist Minister

31
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
2 years

In the House of Mr. Campbell

83/434

2 January 1883

Rev E. Penney

No	4
Date of Notice	2 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Peters	Annie Campbell
BDM Match (67%)	Alfred Slater	Susan Campbell
	💍 1883/1347
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Methodist Minister
Age	31	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Mr. Campbell
Folio	83/434
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev E. Penney

3 January 1883

John London
Maggie Gordon

John Loudon
Maggie Gordon
💍 1883/684

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

34
19

Halswell
Christchurch

20 years
3 days

In the Registrars Office

83/440

Gordon, Mother

3 January 1883

J. S. Markerson

No	5
Date of Notice	3 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John London	Maggie Gordon
BDM Match (95%)	John Loudon	Maggie Gordon
	💍 1883/684
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	34	19
Dwelling Place	Halswell	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	3 days
Marriage Place	In the Registrars Office
Folio	83/440
Consent	Gordon, Mother
Date of Certificate	3 January 1883
Officiating Minister	J. S. Markerson

3 January 1883

George Christopher Smith
Louisa Martha Spedding

George Christopher Smith
Louisa Martha Spedding
💍 1883/925

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer

25
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 days
5 years

St. Michaels Church

83/495

Spedding, Father

3 January 1883

Rev W. Harper

No	6
Date of Notice	3 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Christopher Smith	Louisa Martha Spedding
	💍 1883/925
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 days	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Michaels Church
Folio	83/495
Consent	Spedding, Father
Date of Certificate	3 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev W. Harper

4 January 1883

Henry Porcher
Laura Eleanor Robinson

Henry Porcher Lance
Eleanor Robinson
💍 1883/464

Widower
Spinster

Stockowner

50
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
10 years

St. Lukes Church

83/514

4 January 1883

Rev F. A. Lingard

No	7
Date of Notice	4 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Porcher	Laura Eleanor Robinson
BDM Match (71%)	Henry Porcher Lance	Eleanor Robinson
	💍 1883/464
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Stockowner
Age	50	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Lukes Church
Folio	83/514
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev F. A. Lingard

5 January 1883

John Jeffreys Addison
Alice Side

John Jeffreys Addison
Alice Side
💍 1883/685

Bachelor
Widow

Merchant

29
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

18 months
5 months

In the Registrars Office

83/441

5 January 1883

J. S. Markerson

No	8
Date of Notice	5 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Jeffreys Addison	Alice Side
	💍 1883/685
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Merchant
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	18 months	5 months
Marriage Place	In the Registrars Office
Folio	83/441
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 January 1883
Officiating Minister	J. S. Markerson

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).