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 741

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 1883

No	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
397	19 October 1883	Richard Wright Ada Mary Burton	Richard Wright Ada Mary Buxton 💍 1883/2974	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	36 23	Christchurch Heathcote Valley	3 days 3 years	In the House of Mr. Burton, Leeston	83/3054		19 October 1883	Rev R. Best, Wesleyan
398	20 October 1883	William Thomas Bellens Harriet Margaret Beatson	William Thomas Billens Harriet Margaret Brabner 💍 1883/3074	Bachelor Spinster	Porter Servant	23 21	Christchurch Knightstown	13 years 3 years	In F. Matthews Church	83/3183		20 October 1883	Rev R. Mortimeer, Church of England
399	22 October 1883	John Fisch Annie Elizabeth Buiot	John Tisch Annie Elizabeth Buish 💍 1883/3115	Widower Spinster	Hotelkeeper	26 22	Christchurch Ferry Road	1 week 10 years	In the House, Alford Forest	83/3118		22 October 1883	Rev J. Slocombe, Presbyterian
400	22 October 1883	James Gray Annie McCormick	James Gray Annie McCormick 💍 1883/2975	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener Teacher	27 24	Christchurch Christchurch	10 years 12 years	In F. Matthews Church	83/3053		22 October 1883	Rev J. McIntosh, Presbyterian
401	22 October 1883	Charles Clothier Matilda Davis	Charles Clothier Mathilda Davis 💍 1883/3058	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	32 22	Christchurch Sydenham	8 years 3 years	In the House of Mr. Duckworth, Papanui	83/3191		22 October 1883	Rev I. R. Cains, Presbyterian
402	22 October 1883	Samuel Penrose Elizabeth Anne Williams	Samuel Penrose Elizabeth Ann Williams 💍 1883/3120	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith Servant	22 24	Sydenham Sydenham	3 years 5 years	In F. Mearys Church	83/3123		22 October 1883	Rev H. Rast, Church of England
403	23 October 1883	James Harper Annie Broomfield	James Harper Annie Broomfield 💍 1883/334	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	34 34	Christchurch Christchurch	5 weeks 14 days	In the Registrars Office	83/3076		23 October 1883	Registrar Marriage, M. Walkeson
404	23 October 1883	Joseph Perks Annie Patience	Joseph Perks Annie Palmer 💍 1883/335	Bachelor Spinster	Gasfitter	24 19	Sydenham Christchurch	6 weeks 10 years	In the Registrars Office	83/3077	Mother	23 October 1883	Registrar Marriage, M. Walkeson
405	23 October 1883	James Henry Armstrong Clarice Amelia Elmer	James Henry Armstrong Clara Amelia Elmer 💍 1883/337	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	39 23	Christchurch Christchurch	10 years 3 years	In the Registrars Office	83/3049		23 October 1883	Registrar Marriage, M. Walkeson

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 1898. More registers will be added when the Archives NZ Wellington reading room re-opens in September 2025.

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).