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 Registrar J. M. Maullersson

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

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

No	147
Date of Notice	25 April 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Frederick Richards	Janet Campbell Brock
	💍 1888/1548
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession
Age	36	35
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	18 months	1 week
Marriage Place	St. Lukes Church
Folio	88/1491
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 April 1888
Officiating Minister	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

No	148
Date of Notice	26 April 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Henry Kingford	Minnie Jane Batchelor
BDM Match (98%)	Alfred Henry Kingsford	Minnie Jane Batchelor
	💍 1888/1566
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler	Dressmaker
Age	21	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	18 years	12 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. J. Orchard, Lower High St. Christchurch
Folio	88/1511
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 April 1888
Officiating Minister	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

No	149
Date of Notice	28 April 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter George Geddes	Mary Kirby
	💍 1888/1582
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession
Age	65	43
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Pauls Church, Cashel Street, Christchurch
Folio	88/1459
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 April 1888
Officiating Minister	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

No	150
Date of Notice	30 April 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Stevens Pascoe	Catherine Tankersley Dodd
	💍 1888/1632
BDM Match (98%)	William Stevens Pascoe	Katherine Tankersley Dodd
	💍 1889/3578
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	1 month
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	88/1559
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 April 1888
Officiating Minister	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

No	151
Date of Notice	30 April 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Saunders Way	Mary Ann Craythorn
BDM Match (86%)	John Saunders	Mary Ann Craythorne
	💍 1888/1532
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	42	35
Dwelling Place	Prebbleton	Prebbleton
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Prebbleton Church
Folio	88/1498
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 April 1888
Officiating Minister	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

No	152
Date of Notice	30 April 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Smith Brogden	Alice Alicia Hawker
BDM Match (73%)	John Smith	Alice Celicia Hawker
	💍 1888/1536
Condition	Divorced	Spinster
Profession	Collector
Age	45	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	17 years	5 years
Marriage Place	House of J. A. Harper, St. Martins, Opawa
Folio	88/1453
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 April 1888
Officiating Minister	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

No	153
Date of Notice	1 May 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Stuart Smith	Phillipa Jane Jerrice
BDM Match (91%)	Walter Stuart Smith	Phillippa Jane Terrill
	💍 1888/3522
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	88/1560
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 May 1888
Officiating Minister	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

No	154
Date of Notice	1 May 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Augustus Teague	Christine Peace
BDM Match (94%)	Frederick Augustus Teague	Christina Pearce
	💍 1888/1556
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Sydenham St. Marys
Folio	88/1523
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 May 1888
Officiating Minister	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

No	155
Date of Notice	1 May 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Thornton	Margaret Jane Coleman
	💍 1888/3393
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Servant
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	24 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Marys Church, Merivale
Folio	88/1537
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 May 1888
Officiating Minister	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

No	156
Date of Notice	2 May 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Jabez Miller	Arabella Mary Parker
BDM Match (88%)	George Jabez Miller	Agatha Mary Parker
	💍 1888/1585
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Salesman	Teacher
Age	42	41
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 months	7 months
Marriage Place	House of Rev. J. Elmslie, Lichfield St. Church
Folio	88/1460
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 May 1888
Officiating Minister	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 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).