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 752

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 1883 Registrar J. Markerow

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

496

29 December 1883

William Leinin
Katie Huggan

William Quinn
Katie Duggan
💍 1884/2873

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Servant

45
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
2 years

In the Roman Catholic Church Makikihi

84/2604

29 December 1883

Rev. R. L. Ginaty, Roman Catholic

No	496
Date of Notice	29 December 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Leinin	Katie Huggan
BDM Match (85%)	William Quinn	Katie Duggan
	💍 1884/2873
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Servant
Age	45	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church Makikihi
Folio	84/2604
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 December 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. L. Ginaty, Roman Catholic

497

31 December 1883

Abraham Berman
Leah Pollock

Abraham Berman
Leah Pollock
💍 1884/469

Bachelor
Spinster

Tobacconist

23
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 years
6 weeks

In the Synagogue

84/521

Isaac Pollock, Father

31 December 1883

Rev. I. Zachariah, Hebrew

No	497
Date of Notice	31 December 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Abraham Berman	Leah Pollock
	💍 1884/469
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tobacconist
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 years	6 weeks
Marriage Place	In the Synagogue
Folio	84/521
Consent	Isaac Pollock, Father
Date of Certificate	31 December 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. Zachariah, Hebrew

498

31 December 1883

Alexander McAlpine
Amy Irvine

Alexander McAlphine
Amy Annie Baker Baugh
💍 1884/474

Bachelor
Spinster

Stable-Keeper

27
17

Christchurch
Christchurch

25 years
17 years

In the House of Mr. Hill

84/525

Fanny Elizabeth Hill, Guardian

31 December 1883

Rev. C. Dallaston, Baptist

No	498
Date of Notice	31 December 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander McAlpine	Amy Irvine
BDM Match (62%)	Alexander McAlphine	Amy Annie Baker Baugh
	💍 1884/474
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stable-Keeper
Age	27	17
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	17 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Mr. Hill
Folio	84/525
Consent	Fanny Elizabeth Hill, Guardian
Date of Certificate	31 December 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Dallaston, Baptist

499

31 December 1883

Louis Ferdinand Wellbye
Clara Warsop

Louis Ferdinand Mellbye Tegner
Clara Maisack
💍 1884/451

Bachelor
Spinster

Gentleman

24
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
2 years

In St. Lukes, Opawa Church

84/507

31 December 1883

Rev. L. A. Laugard, Church of England

No	499
Date of Notice	31 December 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Louis Ferdinand Wellbye	Clara Warsop
BDM Match (67%)	Louis Ferdinand Mellbye Tegner	Clara Maisack
	💍 1884/451
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gentleman
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	2 years
Marriage Place	In St. Lukes, Opawa Church
Folio	84/507
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 December 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. A. Laugard, Church of England

500

31 December 1883

James Shield
Hephenson Savage

Widower
Widow

Farmer
Dressmaker

41
43

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 months
20 years

In the House of John Baylee, Selwyn St.

83/188

31 December 1883

Rev. W. Fairclough, Presbyterian

No	500
Date of Notice	31 December 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Shield	Hephenson Savage
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	41	43
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 months	20 years
Marriage Place	In the House of John Baylee, Selwyn St.
Folio	83/188
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 December 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Fairclough, Presbyterian

501

31 December 1883

Willie Harrison
Mary Jane McCourt

Willie Harrison
Mary Jane McCourt
💍 1884/473

Bachelor
Spinster

Coachsmith

22
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

22 years
17 years

In the Baptist Church

84/524

31 December 1883

Rev. C. Dallaston, Baptist

No	501
Date of Notice	31 December 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Willie Harrison	Mary Jane McCourt
	💍 1884/473
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coachsmith
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	22 years	17 years
Marriage Place	In the Baptist Church
Folio	84/524
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 December 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Dallaston, Baptist

502

31 December 1883

David McLean
Isabella Leggat

David McLean
Isabella Leggat
💍 1884/492

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Servant

33
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 years
4 years

In the House of Rev. T. R. Rawson, South Belt

84/545

31 December 1883

Rev. T. R. Rawson, Presbyterian

No	502
Date of Notice	31 December 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David McLean	Isabella Leggat
	💍 1884/492
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Servant
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Rev. T. R. Rawson, South Belt
Folio	84/545
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 December 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. R. Rawson, 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).