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 240

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1886 Registrar J. M. Madderson

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

8 February 1886

Walter John Dutton
Elena Roie Dutton

Walter John Dutton
Eliza Roil
💍 1886/719

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Servant

20
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

20 years
2 years

St. Matthews Church, St. Albans

86/618

John Dutton, Father

8 February 1886

Rev. W. P. Gillam

No	40
Date of Notice	8 February 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter John Dutton	Elena Roie Dutton
BDM Match (71%)	Walter John Dutton	Eliza Roil
	💍 1886/719
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Servant
Age	20	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church, St. Albans
Folio	86/618
Consent	John Dutton, Father
Date of Certificate	8 February 1886
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. P. Gillam

9 February 1886

Northleigh Bartholomew Gedley
Annie Taylor

Northleigh Bartholomew Gidley
Mary Ann Taylor
💍 1886/88

William Elwood Smith
Annie Taylor
💍 1886/2616

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Housekeeper

26
26

Sydenham
Christchurch

3 months
6 years

Registrars Office

86/584

9 February 1886

J. M. Madderson, Registrar of Marriages

No	41
Date of Notice	9 February 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Northleigh Bartholomew Gedley	Annie Taylor
BDM Match (75%)	Northleigh Bartholomew Gidley	Mary Ann Taylor
	💍 1886/88
BDM Match (60%)	William Elwood Smith	Annie Taylor
	💍 1886/2616
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Housekeeper
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 months	6 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office
Folio	86/584
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1886
Officiating Minister	J. M. Madderson, Registrar of Marriages

9 February 1886

Isaac Hocking
Elizabeth Richards

Isaac Hocking
Elizabeth Richards
💍 1886/87

Bachelor
Spinster

Porter
Servant

29
18

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 months
10 years

Registrars Office

86/583

Elizabeth Smith, Mother

9 February 1886

J. M. Madderson, Registrar

No	42
Date of Notice	9 February 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Isaac Hocking	Elizabeth Richards
	💍 1886/87
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Porter	Servant
Age	29	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 months	10 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office
Folio	86/583
Consent	Elizabeth Smith, Mother
Date of Certificate	9 February 1886
Officiating Minister	J. M. Madderson, Registrar

10 February 1886

Thomas Edward Taylor
Isabella Munro

Thomas Edward Taylor
Annie Isabelle Murphy
💍 1886/3411

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman

26
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
5 years

St. Johns Church

86/3449

10 February 1886

Rev. A. C. Wright

No	43
Date of Notice	10 February 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Edward Taylor	Isabella Munro
BDM Match (74%)	Thomas Edward Taylor	Annie Isabelle Murphy
	💍 1886/3411
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Johns Church
Folio	86/3449
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1886
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. C. Wright

10 February 1886

Edward Alexander Dawson
Margaret Tweedie

Edward Alexander Dawson
Margaret Tweedie
💍 1886/678

Bachelor
Spinster

Signalman
Servant

24
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
3 years

St. Pauls Church

86/528

10 February 1886

Rev. J. Plussie

No	44
Date of Notice	10 February 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Alexander Dawson	Margaret Tweedie
	💍 1886/678
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Signalman	Servant
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Pauls Church
Folio	86/528
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1886
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Plussie

9 February 1886

Charles Stewart
Louisa Sedgemore

Charles Stewart
Louisa Sedgemore
💍 1886/66

Bachelor
Spinster

Groom
Servant

35
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

9 years
10 years

Registrars Office

86/585

10 February 1886

J. M. Madderson, Registrar of Marriages

No	45
Date of Notice	9 February 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Stewart	Louisa Sedgemore
	💍 1886/66
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Groom	Servant
Age	35	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office
Folio	86/585
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1886
Officiating Minister	J. M. Madderson, Registrar of Marriages

10 February 1886

Henry Thomas Bruce
Sarah Bruce

Henry Thomas
Sarah Bruce
💍 1886/67

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer

21
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

12 years
12 years

Registrars Office

86/586

Jonathan Bruce, Father

10 February 1886

J. M. Madderson, Registrar

No	46
Date of Notice	10 February 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Thomas Bruce	Sarah Bruce
BDM Match (83%)	Henry Thomas	Sarah Bruce
	💍 1886/67
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	12 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office
Folio	86/586
Consent	Jonathan Bruce, Father
Date of Certificate	10 February 1886
Officiating Minister	J. M. Madderson, Registrar

11 February 1886

George Witty
Louisa Drayton

George Witty
Louisa Drayton
💍 1886/3455

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
21

West Melton
West Melton

10 years
6 years

House of Rev. W. Deans

86/523

11 February 1886

Rev. W. Deans, Presbyterian

No	47
Date of Notice	11 February 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Witty	Louisa Drayton
	💍 1886/3455
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	West Melton	West Melton
Length of Residence	10 years	6 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. W. Deans
Folio	86/523
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1886
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Deans, 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 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).