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 1394

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 1886

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
333	06 October 1886	William Gillies Elizabeth Clara Webb	William Gillespie Elizabeth Clara Webb 💍 1886/3128	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Servant	20 19	Christchurch Christchurch	10 years 13 years	House of Rev. J. Mc. Intosh, Peterborough Street, Christchurch	86/13103	Elizabeth Webb, mother, having authority	16 November 1886	Rev. J. Mc. Intosh, Presbyterian
334	08 October 1886	Charles Henry Lascelles Adelaide Isabella Mc. Hugh	Charles Henry Lascelles Adelaide Isabella McHugh 💍 1886/3074	Bachelor Spinster	Auctioneer	23 21	Christchurch Christchurch	10 months 10 months	Registrar's Office	86/13040		08 October 1886	Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Patteson
335	08 October 1886	James Anderson Elizabeth Jane Guy	James Anderson Elizabeth Jane Guy 💍 1886/3121	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinet maker	24 20	Christchurch Christchurch	23 years 7 years	House of Mr. A. Guy, Knightstown, St. Albans	86/13121	Mr. A. Guy, father	08 October 1886	Rev. J. Berry, Wesleyan
336	11 October 1886	Robert Francis Houlihan Agnes Maria Phipps	Robert James Hanlihan Agnes Maria Phipps 💍 1886/3436	Bachelor Widow	Telegraphist	32 39	Christchurch Christchurch	27 years 12 years	Roman Catholic Church	86/3477		11 October 1886	Rev. L. McGuinaty, Roman Catholic
337	12 October 1886	Daniel Frawley Mary Purcell	Daniel Frawley Mary Purcell 💍 1886/3437	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener Servant	27 23	Christchurch Christchurch	7 years 6 years	Roman Catholic Church	86/3478		12 October 1886	Rev. L. McGuinaty, Roman Catholic
338	12 October 1886	Thomas Oates Margaret Campbell Alexander		Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	25 24	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 11 years	Wesleyan Church, Durham Street, Christchurch	86/13125		12 October 1886	Rev. J. J. Lewis, Wesleyan
339	12 October 1886	William Ernest Chudley Janet Finlayson Ogilvie	William Ernest Chudley Janet Finlayson Ogilvie 💍 1886/3452	Bachelor Spinster	Seedsman	24 21	Christchurch Christchurch	24 years 2 years	St. John's Church	86/13507		12 October 1886	Rev. H. E. W. Watson, Church of England
340	13 October 1886	William Randall Skinner Elizabeth Burnett Angus	William Randall Skinner Elizabeth Burnett Angus 💍 1886/3116	Bachelor Spinster	Bootmaker	24 19	Christchurch Christchurch	8 months 4 years	House of William Angus	86/3116	William Angus, father	13 October 1886	Rev. J. R. Cairns, Presbyterian

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).