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 701

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1883 Registrar J W Parkerson

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

6 March 1883

Charles Edmund Sherlock
Ellen Wakefield

Charles Edmund Sherlock
Ellen Wakefield
💍 1883/472

Bachelor
Spinster

Editor

53
41

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
8 months

In St Lukes Church, Christchurch

83/522

6 March 1883

Rev. E. A. Lingard, Church of England

No	80
Date of Notice	6 March 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edmund Sherlock	Ellen Wakefield
	💍 1883/472
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Editor
Age	53	41
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	8 months
Marriage Place	In St Lukes Church, Christchurch
Folio	83/522
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. A. Lingard, Church of England

6 March 1883

John Josling
Mary Ann Pridgeon

John Josling
Mary Ann Pridgeon
💍 1883/485

Widower
Widow

60
45

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
14 days

In the Baptist Church, Oxford Terrace

83/571

6 March 1883

Rev. R. Wollaston, Baptist

No	81
Date of Notice	6 March 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Josling	Mary Ann Pridgeon
	💍 1883/485
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession
Age	60	45
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	14 days
Marriage Place	In the Baptist Church, Oxford Terrace
Folio	83/571
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Wollaston, Baptist

7 March 1883

Dormer Lynch
Jane MacKenzie

Dormer Lynch
Jane Mackenzie
💍 1883/443

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Servant

38
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 days
14 days

In the Registrars Office, Christchurch

83/464

7 March 1883

Registrar J W Parkerson

No	82
Date of Notice	7 March 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Dormer Lynch	Jane MacKenzie
BDM Match (96%)	Dormer Lynch	Jane Mackenzie
	💍 1883/443
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Servant
Age	38	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 days	14 days
Marriage Place	In the Registrars Office, Christchurch
Folio	83/464
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 March 1883
Officiating Minister	Registrar J W Parkerson

7 March 1883

Edward John Wigg
Elizabeth Horne

Edward John Wigg
Elizabeth Horne
💍 1883/459

Bachelor
Widow

Carter

27
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
12 years

In the Registrars Office, Christchurch

83/465

7 March 1883

Registrar J W Parkerson

No	83
Date of Notice	7 March 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward John Wigg	Elizabeth Horne
	💍 1883/459
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Carter
Age	27	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	12 years
Marriage Place	In the Registrars Office, Christchurch
Folio	83/465
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 March 1883
Officiating Minister	Registrar J W Parkerson

8 March 1883

Charles William Rees
Catherine Bradley

Charles William Rees
Catherine Bradley
💍 1883/442

Bachelor
Spinster

Fitter
Servant

21
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
4 months

In the Registrars Office, Christchurch

83/466

8 March 1883

Registrar J W Parkerson

No	84
Date of Notice	8 March 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles William Rees	Catherine Bradley
	💍 1883/442
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fitter	Servant
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	4 months
Marriage Place	In the Registrars Office, Christchurch
Folio	83/466
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 March 1883
Officiating Minister	Registrar J W Parkerson

9 March 1883

John Erneste
Ada Caroline Pearce

John Erneste
Ada Caroline Pearce
💍 1883/473

Bachelor
Spinster

Housekeeper

37
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
3 years

In St Luke's Church

83/523

9 March 1883

Rev. E. A. Lingard, Church of England

No	85
Date of Notice	9 March 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Erneste	Ada Caroline Pearce
	💍 1883/473
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession		Housekeeper
Age	37	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In St Luke's Church
Folio	83/523
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 March 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. A. Lingard, Church of England

12 March 1883

James Maxwell
Susan Doherty

James Maxwell
Susan Doherty
💍 1883/476

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Servant

29
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
4 years

In St Luke's Church

83/525

12 March 1883

Rev. E. A. Lingard, Church of England

No	86
Date of Notice	12 March 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Maxwell	Susan Doherty
	💍 1883/476
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Servant
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In St Luke's Church
Folio	83/525
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 March 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. A. Lingard, Church of England

12 March 1883

Henry Williamson
Ellen Lanyon

Henry Williamson
Ellen Lanyon
💍 1883/478

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Dressmaker

22
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

15 years
4 years

In the House of Mr. Schmidt, Tuam Street

83/524

12 March 1883

Rev. R. Taylor, Methodist

No	87
Date of Notice	12 March 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Williamson	Ellen Lanyon
	💍 1883/478
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Dressmaker
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	15 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Mr. Schmidt, Tuam Street
Folio	83/524
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 March 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Taylor, Methodist

13 March 1883

Harry Bell Johnstone
Isabella Munro

Harry Bell Johnstone
Isabella Munro
💍 1883/550

Bachelor
Spinster

Barrister

53
43

Sumner
Christchurch

5 years
10 years

In the Church of England, Lincoln

Sumner, 83/607

13 March 1883

Rev. A. C. Wright, Church of England

No	88
Date of Notice	13 March 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Bell Johnstone	Isabella Munro
	💍 1883/550
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barrister
Age	53	43
Dwelling Place	Sumner	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	10 years
Marriage Place	In the Church of England, Lincoln
Folio	Sumner, 83/607
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. C. Wright, Church of England

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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 1908. 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).