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 1362

District of Quarter ending

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
365	7 December 1887	Albert Henry Adams Elizabeth Scrape	Albert Henry Adams Elizabeth Savage 💍 1887/1385	Bachelor Spinster	Potter Servant	22 23	Sydenham Sydenham	11 Years 10 Years	Phillipstown Church	87/3111		7 December 1887	Church of England
366	8 December 1887	Henry Thomas Purchas Lily Eleanor Jones	Henry Thomas Pinches Lily Eleanor Cox 💍 1887/1438	Bachelor Spinster	Clerkin Holy Orders	27 25	Christchurch Christchurch	8 Years 12 Years	St Michael's Church	87/3091		8 December 1887	The Most Revd The Primate
367	9 December 1887	William White Susannah Caroline Straw	William White Susanna Caroline Straw 💍 1887/1353	Bachelor Spinster	Customs Officer	33 22	Sydenham Christchurch	17 Years 6 months	House of Mr White, Sydenham	87/3102		9 December 1887	Rev I. Park
368	9 December 1887	Levi William Heard Charlotte Martha Evans	Levi William Heard Charlotte Martha Evans 💍 1887/1352	Bachelor Spinster	Railway Cleaner	23 21	Sydenham Sydenham	18 years 12 years	Selwyn Street Chapel	87/3101		9 December 1887	Rev I. Park
369	10 December 1887	Samuel Hurst Seafer Hester Common	Samuel Hurst Seager Hester Connon 💍 1887/1363	Bachelor Spinster	Architect Teacher	31 21	Christchurch Christchurch	17 years 10 Years	House of Mr Profession Brown	87/3113		10 December 1887	Rev I. Hill
370	13 December 1887	Samuel Treleaven Mary Ann Lane	Samuel Treleaven Mary Anne Lane 💍 1887/1423	Widower Spinster	Hotelkeeper Housekeeper	70 54	Ferry Road Ferry Road	14 days 14 days	St Peters Church	87/3085		13 December 1887	Rev R. Ervine
371	13 December 1887	William Isaac Browning Annie Woods	William Isaac Downing Annie Woods 💍 1887/1346	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinetmaker Dressmaker	22 21	Sydenham Sydenham	18 Years 21 Years	St Marys Church	87/3045		13 December 1887	Rev H. S. East
372	13 December 1887	George Melling Louisa Crook	George Melling Louisa Crook 💍 1887/1416	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith Biscuitmaker	30 28	Christchurch Christchurch	2 Years 2 Years	Registrar's Office	87/3079		13 December 1887	Registrar J. MacKenzie
373	13 December 1887	Hugh Love Sophia Ann Chard Evered		Widower Spinster	Labourer Governess	41 37	Christchurch Christchurch	9 Years 6 Years	Presbyterian Church	X		13 December 1887	Rev R. Ervine
374	14 December 1887	Fitzroy George Hamilton Maria Ann Fisher	Fitzroy George Hamilton Maria Anne Fisher 💍 1887/1361	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Bootmaker	21 20	Christchurch Christchurch	15 Years 10 Years	House of Rev J. R. Jones	87/3036	George Fisher, Father	14 December 1887	Rev J. R. Jones

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).