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 440

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 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
255	8 July 1884	Henry Samuel Brown Harriet Helen Kinchan	Henry Samuel Brown Harriett Helen Kuichant 💍 1884/759	Bachelor Widow	Accountant	36 35	Christchurch Christchurch	33 years 5 years	St. Matthews Church	84/1448		8 July 1884	Rev R. Mortimer
256	8 July 1884	Walter Raymond Chalk Susan Vernall	Walter Raymond Vernall Susan Ann Tinpin 💍 1884/2832	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Dressmaker	37 27	Christchurch Christchurch	2 years 18 months	Registrar's Office	84/12345	Martin Teepin, Father	8 July 1884	J. M. Paterson
257	8 July 1884	Samuel Price Alice Griffiths	Samuel Prince Alice Griffiths 💍 1884/3771	Bachelor Spinster	Moulder Servant	27 18	Christchurch Rolleston	5 years 6 years	Avonside Church	84/12396	Griffiths, Father	8 July 1884	Rev W. A. Pascoe
258	11 July 1884	John George Abraham Castle Mary Ann Penfold	John George Abraham Castle Mary Ann Mercy Penfold 💍 1884/1396	Bachelor Spinster	Meat Preserver Milliner	29 27	Christchurch Phillipstown	4 days 7 years	Phillipstown Church	84/12398		11 July 1884	Rev J. E. Welsh
259	12 July 1884	Donald William McKay Mary Sarah Waterreus	Donald William McKay Mary Sarah Waterreus 💍 1884/2833	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	27 21	Christchurch Christchurch	7 years 7 years	Registrar's Office	84/12346		12 July 1884	J. M. Paterson
260	14 July 1884	John Smith Agnes Forrest Smellie	John Smith Agnes Forrest Smellie 💍 1884/2990	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter House Elder	31 22	Christchurch Janellie Armagh Street	5 years 9 years	Linwood	84/1498		14 July 1884	Rev J. Plensie
261	15 July 1884	John Frederick Darushow Julia Higgott	John Frederick Earnshaw Julia Higgott 💍 1884/2889	Bachelor Spinster	Saddler	22 22	Christchurch Christchurch	20 years 7 years	Methodist Chapel, Selwyn Street	84/12636		15 July 1884	Rev R. Taylor
262	16 July 1884	Francis Jacob Chalk Isabella Black		Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	28 27	Christchurch Christchurch	1 year 1 year	House of Rev E. Best	84/12406		16 July 1884	Rev E. Best
263	19 July 1884	Daniel Ryden Edith Hart	Daniel Rydings Edith Hart 💍 1884/1417	Widower Spinster	Traveller Servant	31 24	Christchurch Christchurch	4 years 24 years	House of Mr. Hart	84/12407	Mr. Hart	19 July 1884	Rev E. Best

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).