Intentions to Marry, 1887

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840399, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, May 14 2025

Page 1359

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 1887

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
335	4 November 1887	Henry Saunders Nellie Jackson	Henry Saunders Nellie Jackson 💍 1887/1387	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	24 23	Christchurch Christchurch	4 years 5 years	House of E. A. Company	87/3130	4 November 1887	Rev H. B. Redstone Methodist
336	5 November 1887	Thomas Arthur Elizabeth Stokes	Thomas Griffiths Elizabeth Sibley 💍 1887/2779 Thomas Sexton Elizabeth Jarvis 💍 1887/2555	Widower Spinster	Plasterer Servant	32 22	Christchurch Christchurch	14 years 4 years	Registrars Office	87/3070	5 November 1887	J. M. Mackerson
337	8 November 1887	William Stokes Jane Smith	William Stokes Jane Smith 💍 1887/1431 William Coombs Alice Smith 💍 1887/231 William Gardiner Mary Smith 💍 1887/600	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	36 24	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 3 days	Registrars Office	87/3071	8 November 1887	J. M. Mackerson
338	8 November 1887	George Kensley Mary Ann Tritt	George Bensley Mary Ann Smith 💍 1887/1435 George Pegler Mary Ann Day 💍 1887/250 George Burns Mary Ann Rouse 💍 1888/432	Widower Spinster	Joiner Servant	39 28	Christchurch Christchurch	13 years 4 years	House of W. Cooke Mary Street Road	87/3098	8 November 1887	Rev E. Vallaston Baptist
339	8 November 1887	Thomas Murray Elizabeth W. Sutton	Thomas Murray Elizabeth McIntosh 💍 1887/1341	Bachelor Spinster	Mechanic	24 28	Christchurch Christchurch	20 years 5 years	St. Andrews Church	87/3040	8 November 1887	Rev J. McIntosh Presbyterian
340	8 November 1887	William Cougdon Georgina Allen	William Congdon Georgina Allen 💍 1887/1340	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Servant	27 23	Christchurch Christchurch	12 years 6 years	St. Andrews Church	87/3039	8 November 1887	Rev J. McIntosh Presbyterian
341	10 November 1887	Frank Nelson Robinson Frances Alicea Hamilton	Frank Nelson Robinson Frances Alicia Hamilton 💍 1887/1362	Bachelor Spinster	Commission Agent	27 24	Christchurch Christchurch	4 days 26 years	Church of England	87/3104	10 November 1887	Rev Archd. Lingard
342	12 November 1887	William Power Norah Dalton	William Power Honora Dalton 💍 1887/1337	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	34 27	Christchurch Christchurch	12 years 9 years	Roman Catholic Church	87/3028	12 November 1887	Rev M. Leahy Roman Catholic
343	14 November 1887	Thomas Jermyn Phoebe Haskett	Thomas Jerman Phebe Haskett 💍 1887/1432	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	35 21	Christchurch Christchurch	27 years 21 years	Registrars Office	87/3072	14 November 1887	J. M. Mackerson
344	14 November 1887	John Curtis Fanny Willis	John Curtis Fanny Willis 💍 1887/1345	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	33 24	Christchurch Addington	5 years 16 years	St. Marys Church	87/3044	14 November 1887	Rev H. East Church of England

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).