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 444

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
225	17 June 1884	John Lace Catherine Northey	John Lace Catherine Northey 💍 1884/2299	Bachelor Spinster	Sawyer Servant	30 31	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 6 months	Registrars Office	84/1449		17 June 1884	Registrar of Marriages J. W. Rolleston
226	17 June 1884	John Jones Mary Ann James	John McIntosh Mary Ann Jones 💍 1884/3282 John Gow Mary Ann Bradley 💍 1884/692 John Matthews Mary Ann Clemens 💍 1884/3317 John Johnson Mary Jones 💍 1884/330 John Cunningham Mary Ann Graves 💍 1884/3025	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	25 19	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 5 days	House of Rev. Donald MacRae	84/1475	James Father	17 June 1884	Rev. H. Hawell Presbyterian
227	17 June 1884	Robert McAlister Rose Caroline Firkins	Robert McAlister Rose Caroline Firkins 💍 1884/2234	Bachelor Spinster	Horse Breaker	26 18	Christchurch Christchurch	2 years 1 month	St. Lukes Church	84/1418	Caroline Firkins Mother	17 June 1884	Rev. R. A. Lingard Church of England
228	17 June 1884	William Malcolm Annie Herbert	William Malcolm Annie Herbert 💍 1884/1032	Widower Widow	Teacher	44 37	Christchurch Christchurch	4 years 4 years	House of Rev. W. Deanside	84/1498		17 June 1884	Rev. W. Deanside Presbyterian
229	19 June 1884	Michael O'Connor Mary Adelaide Sweeney	Michael O'Connor Mary Adelaide Anne Sweeney 💍 1884/2884	Bachelor Spinster	Publican	43 29	Christchurch Christchurch	3 years 6 years	Roman Catholic Church	84/1425		19 June 1884	Rev. Father Ginaty Roman Catholic
230	19 June 1884	William John Francis Collins Harriet Matilda Burrows	William John Francis Collin Harriet Matilda Burrow 💍 1884/2378	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	21 24	Richmond Shirley	8 years 9 years	Avonside Church	84/1468		19 June 1884	Rev. W. A. Pascoe Church of England
231	19 June 1884	Alexander Webster Helen Watson Malcolm	Alexander Webster Helen Watson Malcolm 💍 1884/2279	Bachelor Spinster	Baker	27 24	Woolston Christchurch	1 year 20 years	St. Pauls Church	84/1994		19 June 1884	Rev. J. Plush Presbyterian
232	20 June 1884	Bernard Bedwell Portal Ethel Georgina Leach	Bernard Bedwell Portal Ethel Georgiana Leach 💍 1884/1018	Bachelor Spinster	Artist	40 23	Christchurch Opawa	10 months 23 years	Cashel St. Church	84/1506		20 June 1884	Rev. G. Cholmondeley Church of England
233	21 June 1884	Percy Jones Louise Ellis	Percy Jones Louisa Ellis 💍 1884/3836	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	25 27	Christchurch Christchurch	2 years 6 years	Church			21 June 1884	Rev. H. C. Nation 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).