Intentions to Marry, 1884

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840396, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, April 30 2025

Page 455

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1884

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
127	17 April 1884	Fuderied Brock Emma Alexander Davison	Frederick Brock Emma Alexander Davison 💍 1884/2240	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Servant	30 22	Christchurch Christchurch	14 years 14 years	Registrar Office	84/1425		17 April 1884	Registrar Marriages J. J. Watterson
128	18 April 1884	James Charles Dunlop Emma Mary Bourke	James Charles Dunlop Emma Mary Bourke 💍 1884/1056	Bachelor Spinster	Accountant Spinster	25 29	Christchurch Lyttelton	3 days 3 days	Church Lyttelton	84/1513		18 April 1884	Rev. J. Townsend Church of England
129	19 April 1884	John Moynahan Mary Tuomey	Timothy Moynahan Mary Twomey 💍 1884/2857	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer Servant	25 26	Christchurch Christchurch	5 years 4 years	Roman Catholic Church	84/1212		19 April 1884	Rev. L. Ginaty Roman Catholic
130	21 April 1884	William Esau Hart Elizabeth Lancaster	William John Ward Elizabeth Swanston 💍 1884/2311 William W S Hales Elizabeth Fisher 💍 1885/526 William Blair Elizabeth Lavers 💍 1884/2292 William Stanley Elizabeth Jane Porter 💍 1884/1712	Bachelor Widow	Labourer Housekeeper	44 38	Christchurch Christchurch	24 years 24 years	St. Michaels Church	84/1461		21 April 1884	Rev. W. Harper Church of England
131	21 April 1884	James H. Troy Mary Jane Sader	James McIlroy Mary Jane Loader 💍 1884/2306 James Andrews Mary Jane Glover 💍 1884/2265	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	23 18	Pebbleton Greenpark	20 years 4 years	Presbyterian Church	84/1406	George Loader, father	21 April 1884	Rev. R. D. Porter Presbyterian
132	21 April 1884	John Gilliam Rogers Elizabeth Meacleus	John William Rogers Elizabeth Meaclem 💍 1884/2241	Bachelor Spinster	Bootmaker Servant	31 25	Christchurch Christchurch	8 years 9 years	Registrar Office	84/1426		21 April 1884	Registrar Marriages J. J. Watterson
133	21 April 1884	Patrick Goldien Gladys Powell	Patrick Goldien Gladys Powell 💍 1884/2243	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd Servant	26 19	Christchurch Christchurch	9 years 2 years	Registrar Marriage Office	84/1427	William Powell, father	21 April 1884	Registrar Marriages J. J. Watterson
134	21 April 1884	Adam Shott Caroline Scott	Adam Shott Caroline Scott 💍 1884/1401	Bachelor Spinster	Cutler Servant	21 21	Christchurch Christchurch	10 years 2 years	House of Rev. J. Ward	84/2412		21 April 1884	Rev. J. Ward Methodist
135	21 April 1884	Charles John Innes & Helen Mary Dixey	Charles John Innes Helen Mary Dixey 💍 1884/1012	Bachelor Spinster	Storeman	26 23	St. Albans Christchurch	4 years 17 years	St. Matthews Church	84/1499		21 April 1884	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 1894. More registers will be added as the project continues.

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).