Intentions to Marry, 1886

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840398, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, May 14 2025

Page 1004

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 1886 Registrar J. M. Markerson

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

259

24 July 1886

Hugh McLeish
Jane Sutherland

Hugh McLeod
Jane Sutherland
💍 1886/2565

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd

43
22

Tai Tapu
Tai Tapu

2 years
20 years

House of Rev J. Plushie, Lichfield Street

86/2540

24 July 1886

Rev J. Plushie

No	259
Date of Notice	24 July 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh McLeish	Jane Sutherland
BDM Match (88%)	Hugh McLeod	Jane Sutherland
	💍 1886/2565
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd
Age	43	22
Dwelling Place	Tai Tapu	Tai Tapu
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev J. Plushie, Lichfield Street
Folio	86/2540
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 July 1886
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Plushie

260

26 July 1886

William Henry Baxter
Janet Willshire

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier

23
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 years
16 years

House of William Hall, Heuvells Road

86/2233

26 July 1886

Rev R. Brown

No	260
Date of Notice	26 July 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Baxter	Janet Willshire
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 years	16 years
Marriage Place	House of William Hall, Heuvells Road
Folio	86/2233
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 July 1886
Officiating Minister	Rev R. Brown

261

28 July 1886

Richard Mumford
Eliza Melchaffy

Richard Numphy
Annie Eliza Mchaffy
💍 1886/3426

Widower
Spinster

Coach Builder
Dressmaker

50
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

13 years
4 years

St. Johns Church

86/3489

28 July 1886

Rev H. E. M. Watson

No	261
Date of Notice	28 July 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Mumford	Eliza Melchaffy
BDM Match (62%)	Richard Numphy	Annie Eliza Mchaffy
	💍 1886/3426
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Coach Builder	Dressmaker
Age	50	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	13 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Johns Church
Folio	86/3489
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1886
Officiating Minister	Rev H. E. M. Watson

262

28 July 1886

Isaac Daniel Sage Cooksley
Augusta Louisa Amelia Langlois

Isaac Daniel Sage Cooksley
Lucretia Louisa Amelia Langlois
💍 1886/2290

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

22
20

Woolston
Christchurch

11 years
12 years

Registrars Office

86/2262

Louis E. A. Langlois, Father

28 July 1886

J. M. Markerson

No	262
Date of Notice	28 July 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Isaac Daniel Sage Cooksley	Augusta Louisa Amelia Langlois
BDM Match (92%)	Isaac Daniel Sage Cooksley	Lucretia Louisa Amelia Langlois
	💍 1886/2290
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Christchurch
Length of Residence	11 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office
Folio	86/2262
Consent	Louis E. A. Langlois, Father
Date of Certificate	28 July 1886
Officiating Minister	J. M. Markerson

263

28 July 1886

Thomas Graham
Kate Dempsey

Thomas Graham
Kate Dempsey
💍 1886/3425

Bachelor
Spinster

Constable

30
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
21 years

Roman Catholic Church

86/3490

28 July 1886

Rev J. McGuity

No	263
Date of Notice	28 July 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Graham	Kate Dempsey
	💍 1886/3425
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Constable
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	21 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	86/3490
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1886
Officiating Minister	Rev J. McGuity

264

29 July 1886

Henry Smith
Harriet Battcock

Henry Smith
Harriet Battcock
💍 1886/2288

Widower
Widow

Laborer
House Keeper

42
40

Christchurch
Christchurch

11 years
14 years

Registrars Office

86/2240

29 July 1886

Registrar of Marriages

No	264
Date of Notice	29 July 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Smith	Harriet Battcock
	💍 1886/2288
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Laborer	House Keeper
Age	42	40
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	11 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office
Folio	86/2240
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 July 1886
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

265

30 July 1886

Jaffitt Charles
William Barker

Bachelor
Spinster

38
33

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
20 years

Registrars Office

86/2259

30 July 1886

J. M. Markerson

No	265
Date of Notice	30 July 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jaffitt Charles	William Barker
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession
Age	38	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office
Folio	86/2259
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 July 1886
Officiating Minister	J. M. Markerson

266

30 July 1886

William Warren
Eliza Franks

William Warren
Eliza Franks
💍 1886/2289

Bachelor
Widow

Cook
Machinist

28
32

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
8 years

Registrars Office

86/2261

30 July 1886

J. M. Markerson

No	266
Date of Notice	30 July 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Warren	Eliza Franks
	💍 1886/2289
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Cook	Machinist
Age	28	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office
Folio	86/2261
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 July 1886
Officiating Minister	J. M. Markerson

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 1908. More registers are being added almost every week.

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).