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 695

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

9 January 1883

John Dale
Matilda Ford

John Dale
Matilda Ford
💍 1883/687

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook

26
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
20 years

In the Registry Office, Christchurch

83/443

5 January 1883

Registrar Marriages , J W Parkerson

No	9
Date of Notice	9 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Dale	Matilda Ford
	💍 1883/687
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In the Registry Office, Christchurch
Folio	83/443
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marriages , J W Parkerson

10 January 1883

James Breslin
Mary Slattery

James Breen
Ellen Slattery
💍 1883/1386

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Servant

23
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
3 years

In the Roman Catholic Church

83/36

6 January 1883

Rev. L. Ginaty

No	10
Date of Notice	10 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Breslin	Mary Slattery
BDM Match (71%)	James Breen	Ellen Slattery
	💍 1883/1386
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Servant
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church
Folio	83/36
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Ginaty

11 January 1883

George Osborne
Mary E. Donnell

George Osborne
Mary O'Donnell
💍 1883/689

Bachelor
Spinster

Shoemaker
Servant

34
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
5 years

In the Registrars Office, Christchurch

83/445

6 January 1883

Registrar Marriages , J W Parkerson

No	11
Date of Notice	11 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Osborne	Mary E. Donnell
BDM Match (90%)	George Osborne	Mary O'Donnell
	💍 1883/689
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shoemaker	Servant
Age	34	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In the Registrars Office, Christchurch
Folio	83/445
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marriages , J W Parkerson

12 January 1883

Malcolm Malcolm
Elizabeth Jessie Page

Malcolm Malcolmson
Elizabeth Jessie Page
💍 1883/686

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

22
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

14 days
14 days

In the Registry Office, Christchurch

83/442

8 January 1883

Registrar Marriages, J W Parkerson

No	12
Date of Notice	12 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Malcolm Malcolm	Elizabeth Jessie Page
BDM Match (92%)	Malcolm Malcolmson	Elizabeth Jessie Page
	💍 1883/686
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	14 days	14 days
Marriage Place	In the Registry Office, Christchurch
Folio	83/442
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marriages, J W Parkerson

13 January 1883

John Bennett
Annie Harris

John Bennett Tomes
Annie Harris
💍 1883/688

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

27
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

15 years
16 years

In the Registry Office, Christchurch

83/444

9 January 1883

Registrar Marriages, J W Parkerson

No	13
Date of Notice	13 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Bennett	Annie Harris
BDM Match (83%)	John Bennett Tomes	Annie Harris
	💍 1883/688
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	15 years	16 years
Marriage Place	In the Registry Office, Christchurch
Folio	83/444
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marriages, J W Parkerson

14 January 1883

Walter Joseph Moore
Mary Louisa Whitcombe

Walter Joseph Moore
Mary Louisa Whitcombe
💍 1883/465

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Agent

24
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
6 years

In St Lukes Church, Christchurch

Waipukurau, 83/575

9 January 1883

Rev. E A Lingard, Church of England

No	14
Date of Notice	14 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Joseph Moore	Mary Louisa Whitcombe
	💍 1883/465
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Agent
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	6 years
Marriage Place	In St Lukes Church, Christchurch
Folio	Waipukurau, 83/575
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. E A Lingard, Church of England

15 January 1883

John Holder
Annie Young

John Holder
Annie Young
💍 1883/2199

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

24
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
19 years

In the House of Rev. C. Fraser, Tuam Street

83/1285

10 January 1883

Rev. C. Fraser, Presbyterian

No	15
Date of Notice	15 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Holder	Annie Young
	💍 1883/2199
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	19 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Rev. C. Fraser, Tuam Street
Folio	83/1285
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Fraser, Presbyterian

16 January 1883

Lewis Dawe
Matilda Charlotte Allsopp

Lewis Dawe
Matilda Charlotte Allsop
💍 1883/690

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

28
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 years
8 years

In St. Matthews Church, St Albans

83/1428

11 January 1883

Rev. R. Mortimer, Church of England

No	16
Date of Notice	16 January 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lewis Dawe	Matilda Charlotte Allsopp
BDM Match (98%)	Lewis Dawe	Matilda Charlotte Allsop
	💍 1883/690
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 years	8 years
Marriage Place	In St. Matthews Church, St Albans
Folio	83/1428
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 January 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Mortimer, Church of England

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 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).