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 240

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1887 Registrar J. M. Paulson

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

24 January 1887

Charles Beiston
January Massey & Christina Gregor Williams

Bachelor
Widow

Accountant
Milliner

29
31

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 years
24 years

Church

87/510

24 January 1887

Rev. J. Flavell, Church of England

No	24
Date of Notice	24 January 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Beiston	January Massey & Christina Gregor Williams
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Accountant	Milliner
Age	29	31
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Church
Folio	87/510
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Flavell, Church of England

25 January 1887

Robert Phillips
January & Annie Wood

Robert Phillips
Annie Wood
💍 1887/2762

Widower
Widow

67
60

Christchurch
Christchurch

14 days House of George Anthon, Itaimore
2 years Road

87/523

28 January 1887

Rev. T. B. Sutton, U. Methodist

No	25
Date of Notice	25 January 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Phillips	January & Annie Wood
BDM Match (75%)	Robert Phillips	Annie Wood
	💍 1887/2762
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession
Age	67	60
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	14 days House of George Anthon, Itaimore	2 years Road
Marriage Place
Folio	87/523
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. B. Sutton, U. Methodist

26 January 1887

William Butler
January & Julia Flynn

William Butler
Julia Flynn
💍 1887/2752

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

32
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 months Roman
29 years

Catholic Church

87/512

29 January 1887

Rev. L. McGuinaty, Roman Catholic

No	26
Date of Notice	26 January 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Butler	January & Julia Flynn
BDM Match (76%)	William Butler	Julia Flynn
	💍 1887/2752
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	32	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 months Roman	29 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church
Folio	87/512
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. McGuinaty, Roman Catholic

27 January 1887

Thomas Mahon
January & Ellen McAlloon

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner
Servant

25
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
4 days Roman

Catholic Church

87/496

29 January 1887

Rev. L. McGuinaty, Roman Catholic

No	27
Date of Notice	27 January 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Mahon	January & Ellen McAlloon
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner	Servant
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	4 days Roman
Marriage Place	Catholic Church
Folio	87/496
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. McGuinaty, Roman Catholic

28 January 1887

Joseph Shadbolt
January & Mary Helen Hayward

Joseph Shadbolt
Mary Helen Hayward
💍 1887/2746

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

39
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years Christchurch
24 years St. Matthews

Church

87/507

29 January 1887

Rev. W. T. Gillam, Church of England

No	28
Date of Notice	28 January 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Shadbolt	January & Mary Helen Hayward
BDM Match (82%)	Joseph Shadbolt	Mary Helen Hayward
	💍 1887/2746
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	39	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years Christchurch	24 years St. Matthews
Marriage Place	Church
Folio	87/507
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. T. Gillam, Church of England

29 January 1887

Francis Burdett
January & Georgina Warriner

Bachelor
Spinster

Commission Agent

26
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

16 years St. Albans
4 years St. Lukes

Church

87/514

31 January 1887

Ven. Arch. Lingard, Church of England

No	29
Date of Notice	29 January 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Burdett	January & Georgina Warriner
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commission Agent
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	16 years St. Albans	4 years St. Lukes
Marriage Place	Church
Folio	87/514
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1887
Officiating Minister	Ven. Arch. Lingard, Church of England

2 February 1887

Alfred Chapman
February & Ellen Bowley & Elizabeth Ness

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Dressmaker

31
32

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 years Christchurch
4 years Registrars Office

Office

87/524

2 February 1887

Registrar Marriages, J. M. Paulson

No	30
Date of Notice	2 February 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Chapman	February & Ellen Bowley & Elizabeth Ness
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Dressmaker
Age	31	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 years Christchurch	4 years Registrars Office
Marriage Place	Office
Folio	87/524
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1887
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marriages, J. M. Paulson

2 February 1887

Bernard Anderson
February & Sarah Drinkwater

Bernard Anderson
Sarah Drinkwater
💍 1887/10

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Machinist

28
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

20 years Christchurch
5 years Registrars Office

Office

87/525

2 February 1887

Registrar Marriages, J. M. Paulson

No	31
Date of Notice	2 February 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bernard Anderson	February & Sarah Drinkwater
BDM Match (80%)	Bernard Anderson	Sarah Drinkwater
	💍 1887/10
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Machinist
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years Christchurch	5 years Registrars Office
Marriage Place	Office
Folio	87/525
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1887
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marriages, J. M. Paulson

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 1903. 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).