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 635

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 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	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
179	18 May 1886	William John Tapling Margaret Mabel Meolioney	William John Tapling Margaret Mabel Mahoney 💍 1886/1535 William John Naughton Margaret McCarten 💍 1887/2759 William Bannister Margaret Taylor 💍 1886/201 William John Tapling Margaret Mabel Mahoney 💍 1886/1535 William John Wilson Margaret Matilda Smith 💍 1886/2688	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinet Maker	21 18	Christchurch Christchurch	3 years	House of Nathaniel Tapling, Carlton Road, St Albans, Christchurch	86/1468	18 May 1886	Rev. R. Erwin, Rev. J. Havell, Church of England
180	18 May 1886	Edward Bradley Anne Dunm	Edward Bradley Mary Ann Dunn 💍 1886/1587	Bachelor Spinster	Traveller	23 23	Christchurch Christchurch	3 years	Church, Christchurch	86/1521	18 May 1886	Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Church of England
181	18 May 1886	Richard French Harriet Clemens	Richard French Harriet Clemens 💍 1886/1529	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener Servant	35 31	Christchurch Christchurch	10 years 7 years	House of Jas. Edmonson, Queens St, Sydenham	86/1462	18 May 1886	Rev. W. Reall, Wesleyan
182	19 May 1886	Adam McDowell Elizabeth Fleming	Adam McConnell Elizabeth Fleming 💍 1886/142	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	33 28	Christchurch Christchurch	18 years 10 years	Registrar's Office, Christchurch	86/1435	19 May 1886	Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Mackersy
183	19 May 1886	William Chrystale Anne Inglis	William Chrystall Anne Inglis 💍 1886/1573	Widower Spinster	Merchant	46 27	Christchurch Christchurch	7 years 17 years	Congregational Church, Manchester Street, Christchurch	86/1488	19 May 1886	Rev. L. Hoatson, Congregational
184	20 May 1886	Joseph Pollock Martha Power	Joseph Eslick Martha Power 💍 1886/1489	Bachelor Spinster	Hairdresser Dressmaker	27 22	Christchurch Christchurch	2 years 22 years	Church, Sydenham	86/1396	20 May 1886	Rev. H. B. Cocks, Church of England
185	21 May 1886	Colin Howat Melley Leunos		Bachelor Spinster	Cattle Dealer Servant	44 22	Christchurch Christchurch	18 years 22 years	Presbyterian Church, Halkett Street	86/3249	21 May 1886	Rev. H. B. Bennett, Presbyterian
186	21 May 1886	Arthur Morris Price Craig	Arthur Morris Price Elizabeth Craig 💍 1886/143	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer Dressmaker	21 21	Christchurch Christchurch	21 years 12 years	Registrar's Office, Christchurch	86/1434	21 May 1886	Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Mackersy

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).