Intentions to Marry, 1885

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840397, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, April 30 2025

Page 577

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1885

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
44	9 February 1885	William Reuben Reeves Magdalen Stuart Robison	William Pember Reeves Magdalen Stuart Robinson 💍 1885/574	Bachelor Spinster	Barrister	27 19	Opawa Christchurch	2 years 15 years	St. Michael's Church	85/603	William Smoult Robison, father	9 February 1885	Rev. W. Harper
45	9 February 1885	James Reed Caroline Gibbins	James Reed Caroline Gibbins 💍 1885/623	Bachelor Widow	Farmer	28 26	Christchurch Christchurch	4 days 4 days	Registrar's Office	85/578		9 February 1885	J. M. Pattersson
46	10 February 1885	David Deans Mary Duffey	David Dunne Mary Duffy 💍 1885/1472	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	33 27	Christchurch Christchurch	9 years 7 years	Roman Catholic Church	85/1518		10 February 1885	Rev. J. M. Ginaty
47	10 February 1885	Charles William Wagstaff Charlotte Mary Lester	Charles William Wagstaff Charlotte Mary Lester 💍 1885/653	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Machinist	25 21	Christchurch Christchurch	25 years 6 years	St. Luke's Church	85/632		10 February 1885	Rev. R. Admire
48	11 February 1885	William Hill Mary Brooke	William Hill Mary Brooke 💍 1885/568	Widower Widow	Farmer Confectioner	46 34	Christchurch Christchurch	8 months 4 years	House of Mrs. Brooke, Armagh Street	85/594		11 February 1885	Rev. J. Ward
49	11 February 1885	William James Willcocks Jane Hardgrove	William James Willcocks Emily Jane Hazelwood 💍 1885/818	Bachelor Spinster	Shipping Agent	35 23	Christchurch Christchurch	4 days 6 months	St. John's Church	85/549		11 February 1885	Rev. H. M. Watson
50	12 February 1885	Martin Healey Bridget Hymne	Martin Kieley Bridget Flynn 💍 1885/1474	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	39 26	Christchurch Christchurch	6 months 7 years	Roman Catholic Church	85/1519		12 February 1885	Rev. J. M. Ginaty
51	12 February 1885	William Davis Jane Susanna Ormandy	William Davis Jane Susannah Ormandy 💍 1885/819	Bachelor Spinster	Bookbinder Saleswoman	22 17	Sydenham Christchurch	2 years 9 years	St. John's Church	85/550	Francis Ormandy, father	12 February 1885	Rev. H. C. M. Watson
52	12 February 1885	Thomas Campton Rachel Anne Wold	Thomas Campion Rachel Annie Mold 💍 1885/632	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	25 17	Prebbleton Prebbleton	19 years 3 years	Prebbleton Church	85/564	Robert Wold, father	12 February 1885	Rev. C. Wright

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).