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 697

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1883 Registrar M. Parker

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

20 January 1883

William John Backhouse Cityes
Phoebe Topp

William John Atyeo
Phoebe Topp
💍 1883/3316

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

23
21

Christchurch
Woolston

3 days
1 week

Church

83/3530

20 January 1883

Rev. C. J. Merton

No	26
Date of Notice	20 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Backhouse Cityes	Phoebe Topp
BDM Match (78%)	William John Atyeo	Phoebe Topp
	💍 1883/3316
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Woolston
Length of Residence	3 days	1 week
Marriage Place	Church
Folio	83/3530
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. J. Merton

20 January 1883

Edward Trebble
Emma Jane Collier

Edward Prebble
Emma Jane Collier
💍 1883/484

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

21
20

Prebbleton
Prebbleton

20 years
9 months

Church

83/570

20 January 1883

Rev. C. C. Wright

No	27
Date of Notice	20 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Trebble	Emma Jane Collier
BDM Match (96%)	Edward Prebble	Emma Jane Collier
	💍 1883/484
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Prebbleton	Prebbleton
Length of Residence	20 years	9 months
Marriage Place	Church
Folio	83/570
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. C. Wright

22 January 1883

William Truth
Mary Buchanan

William Smith
Mary Buckman
💍 1883/467

William Smith
Mary McBratney
💍 1883/1533

William Smith
Mary Bolwell
💍 1884/317

Bachelor
Spinster

Commission Agent
Dressmaker

32
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
10 years

In the Dukes, Ashburton Church

83/574

22 January 1883

Rev. R. A. Sugden

No	28
Date of Notice	22 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Truth	Mary Buchanan
BDM Match (77%)	William Smith	Mary Buckman
	💍 1883/467
BDM Match (63%)	William Smith	Mary McBratney
	💍 1883/1533
BDM Match (62%)	William Smith	Mary Bolwell
	💍 1884/317
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commission Agent	Dressmaker
Age	32	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	10 years
Marriage Place	In the Dukes, Ashburton Church
Folio	83/574
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. A. Sugden

22 January 1883

John Mackay
Ellen Gallagher

John MacKay
Ellen Gallagher
💍 1883/670

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

23
21

In the House of Mrs. Phillips
Christchurch

3 years
7 years

Victoria Street

83/4257

22 January 1883

Rev. J. Plenslie

No	29
Date of Notice	22 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Mackay	Ellen Gallagher
BDM Match (95%)	John MacKay	Ellen Gallagher
	💍 1883/670
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	In the House of Mrs. Phillips	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Victoria Street
Folio	83/4257
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Plenslie

23 January 1883

William Henry Pascoe
Annie Sarah Charlick

William Henry Pascoe
Annie Sarah Charlick
💍 1883/938

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Nurse

31
31

Christchurch
In the Wards

6 years
4 years

Church

83/484

23 January 1883

Rev. H. R. East

No	30
Date of Notice	23 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Pascoe	Annie Sarah Charlick
	💍 1883/938
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Nurse
Age	31	31
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	In the Wards
Length of Residence	6 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Church
Folio	83/484
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. R. East

23 January 1883

Francis Joseph Maguire
Annie Daly

Francis Joseph McGuire
Annie Daly
💍 1883/3237

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Servant

26
25

Christchurch
Addington

4 years
3 years

In the Roman Catholic Church

83/3134

23 January 1883

Rev. L. Guinty

No	31
Date of Notice	23 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Joseph Maguire	Annie Daly
BDM Match (95%)	Francis Joseph McGuire	Annie Daly
	💍 1883/3237
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Servant
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Addington
Length of Residence	4 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church
Folio	83/3134
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Guinty

24 January 1883

Thomas Dudley
Caroline Symons

Thomas Dudley
Caroline Symons
💍 1883/693

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner
Servant

35
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
6 months

In the Registrars Office

83/448

24 January 1883

M. Tufferson

No	32
Date of Notice	24 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Dudley	Caroline Symons
	💍 1883/693
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner	Servant
Age	35	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	6 months
Marriage Place	In the Registrars Office
Folio	83/448
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1883
Officiating Minister	M. Tufferson

26 January 1883

John Nadauld Tucker
Florence Margaret Roans

John Nadauld Tucker
Florence Margaret Evans
💍 1883/482

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Machinist

27
24

St. Albans
Christchurch

6 years
14 years

In the Wesleyan Church

83/508

26 January 1883

Rev. I. Aldred

No	33
Date of Notice	26 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Nadauld Tucker	Florence Margaret Roans
BDM Match (96%)	John Nadauld Tucker	Florence Margaret Evans
	💍 1883/482
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Machinist
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	14 years
Marriage Place	In the Wesleyan Church
Folio	83/508
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. Aldred

29 January 1883

Robert Hanna
Mary Hlynes

Robert Hanna
Mary Flynn
💍 1883/3252

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

28
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
6 years

In the Roman Catholic Church

83/3128

29 January 1883

Revd. L. Guinty

No	34
Date of Notice	29 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Hanna	Mary Hlynes
BDM Match (86%)	Robert Hanna	Mary Flynn
	💍 1883/3252
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	6 years
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church
Folio	83/3128
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Revd. L. Guinty

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).