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 727

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 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
304	9 August 1883	Walter Collins Sarah Elizabeth Berry	Walter Collins Sarah Elizabeth Derry 💍 1883/2209	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Teacher	31 29	Springston Springston	10 years in the 7 years	Springston Church	83/12172		9 August 1883	Revd F. Teacle, Church of England
305	9 August 1883	Andrew Mander Martha Stone	Andrew Mander Martha Stone 💍 1883/2122	Widower Spinster	Salesman Milliner	31 30	Richmond Richmond	2 years in the house of Mrs. Dwellwood 6 months Sydenham	Church	83/2239		9 August 1883	Rev C. Vallack, Baptist
306	9 August 1883	Robert Hislop Beatrice Hampton	Robert Hislop Long Annie Beatrice Hampton 💍 1883/2119	Divorced Spinster	Barman	28 18	Christchurch Christchurch	4 years in St Pauls Church 7 years Cashel Street	Church	83/2235	William Hampton, Father	9 August 1883	Revd J. Elmslie, Presbyterian
307	10 August 1883	George Robert Gallop Emily Dodd	George Robert Yallop Emily Dodd 💍 1883/2249	Bachelor Spinster	Cabdriver	25 17	Christchurch Christchurch	10 years in the house of Mrs. Dodd 16 years George St Ch. Ch.	Church	83/2160	Henry Dodd, Father	10 August 1883	Revd J. Ward, Methodist
308	13 August 1883	James Albert Edwards Jane James	James Albert Edwards Jane James 💍 1883/3584	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	23 17	Christchurch Christchurch	23 years in the Registrars Office 17 years Christchurch	Registrars Office	83/2209	William James, Father	13 August 1883	Registrar of Marriages, M. Walkerson
309	14 August 1883	Peter Virtue Jane Rebecca Ruston	Peter Virtue Jane Rebecca Ruxton 💍 1883/2253	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	24 14	Christchurch Christchurch	3 years in the house of Mr. Ruston 17 years Christchurch	Church	83/2164	James Ruston, Father	14 August 1883	Rev H. Linsley, Methodist
310	14 August 1883	Joseph Middleton Eliza Ann Pealson	Joseph Middleton Eliza Ann Peatson 💍 1883/3583	Widower Widow	Farmer Dressmaker	38 39	Christchurch Christchurch	3 years Hilsons Road 4 days Christchurch	Registrars Office	83/2208N		14 August 1883	Registrar of Marriages, M. Walkerson
311	14 August 1883	Edward William Fussell Kate Sarah Watts	Edward William Fussell Kate Sarah Watt 💍 1883/2207	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	24 19	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days in the house of Mr. Watts 4 weeks Colombo Street	Church	83/2170	James Henry Watts, Father	14 August 1883	R. P. R. Cairns, Presbyterian
312	14 August 1883	Charles Manning Georgia Kerr	Charles Manning Georgina Kerr 💍 1883/2250	Bachelor Widow	Groom Housekeeper	22 25	Christchurch Linwood	1 year in the house of Mrs. Nicholas 9 years Durham Street	Church	83/2161		14 August 1883	Revd J. Ward, Methodist

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).