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 705

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1883 Registrar M. 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

116

29 March 1883

David Butcher
Elena Parker

David Butcher
Eliza Emma Parker
💍 1883/940

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Servant

23
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

23 years
6 months Addington

In the St. Marys Church

83/486

29 March 1883

Rev. T. Past, Church of England

No	116
Date of Notice	29 March 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Butcher	Elena Parker
BDM Match (79%)	David Butcher	Eliza Emma Parker
	💍 1883/940
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Servant
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	23 years	6 months Addington
Marriage Place	In the St. Marys Church
Folio	83/486
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Past, Church of England

117

29 March 1883

John William March
Gracey Parker

John William Gracey
Sarah Parker
💍 1883/1504

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

24
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
6 months Addington

In the St. Marys Church, Rangiora

Of person having authority

No	117
Date of Notice	29 March 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William March	Gracey Parker
BDM Match (68%)	John William Gracey	Sarah Parker
	💍 1883/1504
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	6 months Addington
Marriage Place	In the St. Marys Church, Rangiora
Folio
Consent	Of person having authority
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister

118

29 March 1883

George Dickenson
Euphemia Harris

George Dickinson
Euphemia Harris
💍 1883/1222

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25
22

St. Albans
St. Albans

25 years
4 years North West

In the Presbyterian Church

83/1385

29 March 1883

Rev. J. Plenslie, Presbyterian

No	118
Date of Notice	29 March 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Dickenson	Euphemia Harris
BDM Match (97%)	George Dickinson	Euphemia Harris
	💍 1883/1222
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	25 years	4 years North West
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church
Folio	83/1385
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Plenslie, Presbyterian

119

29 March 1883

Henry Sent
Mary Province

Henry Sent
Mary Province
💍 1883/451

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Servant

29
28

Lincoln
Lincoln

9 years
8 years Christchurch

In the Registrars office

83/1418

29 March 1883

Registrar Marriages, M. Markerson

No	119
Date of Notice	29 March 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Sent	Mary Province
	💍 1883/451
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Servant
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Lincoln	Lincoln
Length of Residence	9 years	8 years Christchurch
Marriage Place	In the Registrars office
Folio	83/1418
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1883
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marriages, M. Markerson

120

30 March 1883

Thaddeus Julian March
Mary Ann Fletcher

Thaddeus Julian Mazurkieniez
Mary Ann Fletcher
💍 1883/1144

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

29
34

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
3 months Christchurch

In the Registrars office

83/1245

30 March 1883

Registrar Marriages, M. Markerson

No	120
Date of Notice	30 March 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thaddeus Julian March	Mary Ann Fletcher
BDM Match (84%)	Thaddeus Julian Mazurkieniez	Mary Ann Fletcher
	💍 1883/1144
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	29	34
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	3 months Christchurch
Marriage Place	In the Registrars office
Folio	83/1245
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1883
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marriages, M. Markerson

121

30 March 1883

William Firmston
Sarah Leonard March

William Henry Firmston
Sarah Leonard
💍 1883/3242

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Servant

21
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

14 days Christchurch
9 months

In the Roman Catholic Church

83/13142

30 March 1883

Rev. L. Guiaty, Roman Catholic

No	121
Date of Notice	30 March 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Firmston	Sarah Leonard March
BDM Match (71%)	William Henry Firmston	Sarah Leonard
	💍 1883/3242
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Servant
Age	21	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	14 days Christchurch	9 months
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church
Folio	83/13142
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Guiaty, Roman Catholic

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).