Intentions to Marry, 1888

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840400, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Alexandra at Archives NZ Wellington, May 14 2025

Page 643

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1888

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
127	13 April 1888	Henry Somerville Mary McFarlane	Henry Somerville Mary McFarlane 💍 1888/1609	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener Servant	31 25	Christchurch Christchurch	10 years 4 years	Presbyterian Church	88/1532		13 April 1888	Rev. T. R. Munro
128	16 April 1888	John Northcott Isabella Falloon	John Northcott Isabella Falloon 💍 1888/1596	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	27 21	Christchurch Christchurch	7 years 2 years	St. Matthew's Church	88/1543		16 April 1888	Rev. H. J. Purchas
129	16 April 1888	James Frederick Bowerman Jessie Emily Wanda Goodson	James Frederick Bowerman Jessie Emily Wauder Goodson 💍 1888/3387	Bachelor Spinster	Agent	32 22	Christchurch Christchurch	12 months 17 years	House of Rev. J. Ruslie, Litchfield St.	88/157		16 April 1888	Rev. J. Ruslie
130	17 April 1888	Edward Palk Elizabeth Alexander	Edward Palk Elizabeth Alexander 💍 1888/1562	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	34 30	Christchurch Christchurch	7 years 10 years	St. Mary's Church	88/1528		17 April 1888	Rev. H. Rast
131	17 April 1888	Joseph Dyson Elizabeth Leigh	Joseph Tyson Elizabeth Leigh 💍 1888/1612	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	42 27	Christchurch Christchurch	25 years 27 years	St. Saviour's Church	88/1535		17 April 1888	Rev. H. B. Cocks
132	18 April 1888	Patrick O'Donnel Eliza Corrigan	Patrick O'Donnell Eliza Corrigan 💍 1888/3389	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Dressmaker	27 26	Christchurch Christchurch	1 month 8 years	Roman Catholic Church	88/1468		18 April 1888	Rev. P. Smythe
133	19 April 1888	John Herbert Neal Clara Mary Flavell	John Herbert Neal Clara May Flavell 💍 1888/1616	Bachelor Spinster	Grocer	26 20	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 3 years	Registrar's Office	88/1557	Alfred Flavell, Father	19 April 1888	J. M. Maddicott
134	19 April 1888	Charles Eder Turnbull Annie Burberry	Charles Eder Annie Burbery 💍 1888/1565	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	25 19	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 3 days	House of Richard Turnbull, Selwyn St.	88/1510	James Charles Burberry, Father	19 April 1888	Rev. J. Orchard
135	19 April 1888	Thomas Beveridge Margaret Harrington	Thomas Beveridge Margaret Harrington 💍 1888/1627	Widower Spinster	Lamp-lighter Servant	33 23	Christchurch Christchurch	3 years 3 months	Registrar's Office	88/1558		19 April 1888	J. M. Maddicott
136	21 April 1888	Alfred John Lawrence Lizzie Jackson	Alfred John Lawrence Lizzie Jackson 💍 1888/1610	Bachelor Spinster	Manufacturer	27 25	Christchurch Christchurch	2 years 5 years	House of Mrs. Merrin, Durham St.	88/1533		21 April 1888	Rev. T. R. Munro

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).