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 645

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	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
147	25 April 1888	Henry Frederick Richards Janet Campbell Brock	Henry Frederick Richards Janet Campbell Brock 💍 1888/1548	Bachelor Spinster		36 35	Christchurch Christchurch	18 months 1 week	St. Lukes Church	88/1491	25 April 1888	Rev. Arch. Lingard, Church of England
148	26 April 1888	Alfred Henry Kingford Minnie Jane Batchelor	Alfred Henry Kingsford Minnie Jane Batchelor 💍 1888/1566	Bachelor Spinster	Saddler Dressmaker	21 24	Christchurch Christchurch	18 years 12 years	House of Rev. J. Orchard, Lower High St. Christchurch	88/1511	26 April 1888	Rev. J. Orchard, Bible Christian
149	28 April 1888	Walter George Geddes Mary Kirby	Walter George Geddes Mary Kirby 💍 1888/1582	Widower Widow		65 43	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 3 days	St. Pauls Church, Cashel Street, Christchurch	88/1459	28 April 1888	Rev. J. Elmslie
150	30 April 1888	William Stevens Pascoe Catherine Tankersley Dodd	William Stevens Pascoe Catherine Tankersley Dodd 💍 1888/1632 William Stevens Pascoe Katherine Tankersley Dodd 💍 1889/3578	Bachelor Spinster	Warehouseman	23 24	Christchurch Christchurch	5 years 1 month	Registrar's Office	88/1559	30 April 1888	Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Maullersson
151	30 April 1888	John Saunders Way Mary Ann Craythorn	John Saunders Mary Ann Craythorne 💍 1888/1532	Widower Widow	Farmer	42 35	Prebbleton Prebbleton	5 years 5 years	Prebbleton Church	88/1498	30 April 1888	Rev. Arch. Hooper, Church of England
152	30 April 1888	John Smith Brogden Alice Alicia Hawker	John Smith Alice Celicia Hawker 💍 1888/1536	Divorced Spinster	Collector	45 25	Christchurch Christchurch	17 years 5 years	House of J. A. Harper, St. Martins, Opawa	88/1453	30 April 1888	Rev. F. W. Isitt, Wesleyan
153	1 May 1888	Walter Stuart Smith Phillipa Jane Jerrice	Walter Stuart Smith Phillippa Jane Terrill 💍 1888/3522	Bachelor Spinster	Cook	24 21	Christchurch Christchurch	5 years 13 years	Registrar's Office	88/1560	1 May 1888	Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Maullersson
154	1 May 1888	Frederick Augustus Teague Christine Peace	Frederick Augustus Teague Christina Pearce 💍 1888/1556	Bachelor Spinster	Painter	22 22	Christchurch Christchurch	10 years 4 years	Wesleyan Church, Sydenham St. Marys	88/1523	1 May 1888	Rev. W. J. Williams, Wesleyan
155	1 May 1888	William Thornton Margaret Jane Coleman	William Thornton Margaret Jane Coleman 💍 1888/3393	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	24 25	Christchurch Christchurch	24 years 2 years	St. Marys Church, Merivale	88/1537	1 May 1888	Rev. J. Flavell, Church of England
156	2 May 1888	George Jabez Miller Arabella Mary Parker	George Jabez Miller Agatha Mary Parker 💍 1888/1585	Bachelor Widow	Salesman Teacher	42 41	Christchurch Christchurch	9 months 7 months	House of Rev. J. Elmslie, Lichfield St. Church	88/1460	1 May 1888	Rev. J. Elmslie, 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 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).