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 1413

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 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
399	11 December 1888	Edward John Conyers Cox Penelope Palmer Mary Johnston	Edward John Owen Cox Penelope Ealinor Mary Johnston 💍 1888/3566	Bachelor Spinster	Bank Clerk	22 20	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 9 years	Avonside Episcopal Church	88/3243	Thomas Masters Handy Johnston, Father	11 December 1888	Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Church of England
400	13 December 1888	Arthur Dewdney Sayers Elizabeth Ellen Sayers	Arthur Dewdney Elizabeth Ellen Sayers 💍 1888/3129	Bachelor Spinster	Baptist Minister	24 23	Christchurch Christchurch	1 year 14 days	Baptist Chapel, Sydenham Road	88/3239		13 December 1888	Rev. C. Dallaston, Baptist
401	13 December 1888	Harry Youle Smith Susan Bell Smith	Harry Tom Smith Susan Bell 💍 1888/3144	Bachelor Spinster	Engine Drawer Dressmaker	22 20	Christchurch Richmond	4 months 12 years	Methodist Chapel	88/3263	Ann Bell, Mother	13 December 1888	Rev. J. Macfarlane, Methodist
402	13 December 1888	Henry Light Georgina Watt	Henry Light Georgina Watt 💍 1889/390	Bachelor Spinster	Grocer Servant	22 27	Christchurch North Belt	1 year 1 year	Presbyterian Church	88/502		13 December 1888	Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian
403	14 December 1888	Edgar Henry Pavitt Elizabeth Walters	Edgar Henry Pavitt Elizabeth Walters 💍 1888/3147	Bachelor Spinster	Accountant	30 22	Christchurch Christchurch	1 year 3 weeks	Holy Trinity Church	88/3244		14 December 1888	Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Church of England
404	15 December 1888	Robert McClure Margaret Lee	Robert McClure Margaret Lee 💍 1888/3136	Bachelor Widow	Laborer	22 24	St. Albans Christchurch	22 years 11 years	House of Robert McClure	88/3256		15 December 1888	Rev. H. J. Purchas, Church of England
405	15 December 1888	Charles Marshall Cresswell Eleanor Mary Sleight	Charles Marshall Creswell Eleanor Mary Sleight 💍 1888/3109	Bachelor Spinster	Stockman	25 23	Christchurch Christchurch	25 years 6 years	Wesleyan Chapel, Papanui	88/3227		15 December 1888	Rev. C. H. Standage, Wesleyan
406	18 December 1888	James Wilson Jeannie Geraty	James Wilson Jeannie Geraty 💍 1888/3163	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	24 20	Christchurch Sydenham	9 months 7 days	Oddfellows Hall	88/3265	Francis Geraty, Father	18 December 1888	Capt. J. P. Taylor, Salvation Army

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).