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 446

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
208	9 June 1884	George Thomas Holbrough Martha Holbrough	George Thorne Martha Holbrough 💍 1884/1022	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer Servant	29 21	Christchurch Christchurch	14 days 2 years	House of Mrs. Holbrough, Bromley	84/1489		9 June 1884	Revd. E. Dallaston, Baptist
209	9 June 1884	Henry Phillips Holbrough Emily Waterman	Henry Philip Miles Emily Waterman 💍 1884/1449	Bachelor Spinster	Carrier Waitress	25 23	Christchurch Christchurch	4 months 4 months	St. Johns Church, Christchurch	84/2388		9 June 1884	Revd. H. C. M. Watson, Church of England
210	9 June 1884	Edward Herbert Wilson Harriet Leach	Edward Herbert Ring Harriet Leach 💍 1884/2284	Widower Spinster	Hotel Keeper Housekeeper	47 25	Christchurch Christchurch	4 months 4 months	St. Saviours Church, Christchurch	84/1402		9 June 1884	Revd. H. B. Cocke, Church of England
211	9 June 1884	Thomas Arthur Palmer Sofia Vogel	Thomas Arthur Palmer Mary Sophia Vogel 💍 1884/2377	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	31 19	Christchurch Christchurch	20 years 19 years	Wesleyan Church, Christchurch	84/1469	John Conrad Vogel, Father	9 June 1884	Revd. G. Bond, Wesleyan
212	9 June 1884	James Pulford Elspet Elder	James Pulford Elspit Elder 💍 1884/2278	Bachelor Spinster	Contractor Servant	27 21	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 3 days	St. Pauls Church, Christchurch	84/1395		9 June 1884	Revd. J. Glendie, Presbyterian
213	9 June 1884	George Frederick Wooldridge Dinah Hemine		Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	23 19	Paparua Paparua	23 years 16 years	Paparua Church, Paparua	84/1507	Henry Hemine, Father	9 June 1884	Revd. J. C. S. Hoare, Church of England
214	9 June 1884	Richard Maddock Maria Thomas	Richard Maddock Maria P Shanahan 💍 1884/2881	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer Housekeeper	35 35	Christchurch Christchurch	3 months 3 months	Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch	84/2622		9 June 1884	Revd. L. McGuirty, Roman Catholic
215	10 June 1884	Michael Teague Kate Lavin	Michael Tigue Kate Lavin 💍 1884/2883	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	26 25	Christchurch Christchurch	3 years 4 years	Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch	84/2624		10 June 1884	Revd. L. McGuirty, Roman Catholic
216	11 June 1884	Alexander Reid Alice Jackson	Alexander Reid Alice Jackson 💍 1884/2368	Widower Widow	Pit	50 46	Christchurch Christchurch	4 years 4 years	Church of England, Christchurch	84/2625		11 June 1884	Revd. W. Harper, 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).