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 425

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 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	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
375	4 November 1884	Charles Deckenson Elizabeth Report	Charles Dickenson Morris Ellen Elizabeth Alport 💍 1884/682 Charles Lewer Elizabeth Prier 💍 1884/3623 Charles Arthur Stinsen Elizabeth Fearn 💍 1885/369 Charles Sutton Elizabeth Moreton 💍 1885/726 Charles Edwin Jones Elizabeth Pentecost 💍 1884/1558	Bachelor Spinster	Accountant	24 26	Christchurch Christchurch	11 years 26 years	St Johns Church	84/3449	4 November 1884	Rev. R. M. Watson, Church of England
376	4 November 1884	Robert Hull Isabella Howat	Robert Hull Isabella Howat 💍 1884/3498	Bachelor Spinster	Groom Servant	28 25	Christchurch Christchurch	2 years 5 years North Belt	House of Rev. J. R. Cairns	84/3367	4 November 1884	Rev. J. R. Cairns, Presbyterian
377	5 November 1884	Elisha Round Isabella Wright	Elisha Round Isabella Wright 💍 1884/3488	Bachelor Spinster	Ironmonger	21 21	Christchurch Christchurch	21 years 6 months Leppawa	St Marks Church	84/3293	5 November 1884	Rev. J. Cholmondeley, Church of England
378	6 November 1884	William Claridge Medley Bishop	William Claridge Meddey Bishop 💍 1884/1720	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Dressmaker	23 24	Paparua Paparua	23 years 24 years	House of William Bishop	84/3697	6 November 1884	Rev. Wm. Hanswell, Presbyterian
379	6 November 1884	Charles Thomas Burgess Elizabeth Carlisle	Charles Thomas Burgess Sarah Elizabeth Carlisle 💍 1884/3474	Bachelor Spinster	Draper Drapers Assistant	28 23	Christchurch Sandiford	2 years 4 years	House of Wm. Smallwood, Sandiford	84/3303	6 November 1884	Rev. E. Dallaston, Baptist
380	6 November 1884	Charles Rouse Alice Fearon	Charles Rouse Woledge Alice Fearon 💍 1884/3486	Bachelor Spinster	Commission Agent	24 21	Christchurch Christchurch	5 years 4 years Sydenham	St Lukes Church	84/3314	6 November 1884	Rev. Z. A. Luckman, Church of England
381	7 November 1884	William Reid Ann Clark Bruce	William Reid Haig Mary Ann Clark Bruce 💍 1884/3497	Bachelor Spinster	Mechanic	26 21	Christchurch Christchurch	10 years 7 years Sydenham	Presbyterian Church	84/3366	7 November 1884	Rev. J. R. Cairns, Presbyterian
382	8 November 1884	Adolphus Henry Noble Campbell Mary Ann Dorothy Calvers	Adolphus Henry Hoble Campbell Mary Anne Dorothy Calvert 💍 1884/1721	Bachelor Spinster	Bond Clerk	26 24	Christchurch Christchurch	1 year St Johns 24 years Rolleston	St Johns Church	84/3698	8 November 1884	Rev. C. Merton, Church of England
383	8 November 1884	James Robinson Annie Wilson	James Robinson Annie Wilson 💍 1884/1489	Bachelor Spinster	Storekeeper	26 29	Christchurch Christchurch	2 months Wesleyan 6 years Rolleston	Wesleyan Church	84/3284	8 November 1884	Rev. E. Best, Wesleyan

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 1898. More registers will be added when the Archives NZ Wellington reading room re-opens in September 2025.

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).