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 1032

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
268	27 July 1888	George Horrell Jenifer Greenface	George Horrell Jenifer Vingoe Gracefell 💍 1888/2424	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	50 31	Christchurch Beaumont	9 years 5 years	House of W. S. Greenface, Beaumont	88/2370	27 July 1888	Rev. I. M. Isitt, Wesleyan
269	31 July 1888	Robert Young Annie Lambert	Robert Young Annie Lambert 💍 1888/2361	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	32 31	Christchurch Richmond	27 years 1 year	House of W. J. Grant	88/2407	31 July 1888	Rev. M. Kellar, Presbyterian
270	1 August 1888	Arthur Joseph Hernill Jane Carter	Arthur Joseph Herrick Annie Jane Carter 💍 1888/2380	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	28 24	Youl Yappa Greenpark	24 years 20 years	Wesleyan Chapel	88/2402	1 August 1888	Rev. J. H. Simmons, Wesleyan
271	1 August 1888	John Henry Thackwell Jane Henderson	John Henry Thackwell Jane Henderson 💍 1888/2351 James Garden Jane Henderson 💍 1889/836	Widower Spinster	Labourer Servant	27 27	Christchurch Past Belt	11 years 10 years	Wesleyan Chapel	88/2396	1 August 1888	Rev. W. J. Williams, Wesleyan
272	2 August 1888	Guy Clements Jemima Long	Guy Clements Jemima Long 💍 1888/2334	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	27 27	Christchurch Richmond	9 years 6 years	House of Thomas Long, Vogel Street	88/2371	2 August 1888	Rev. J. Elmslie, Presbyterian
273	2 August 1888	Noah Line Bessie Hore	Noah Line Bessie Hore 💍 1888/3153	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Dressmaker	23 25	Christchurch Spreydon	19 years 9 years	Bible Christian Chapel, Selwyn St	88/3273	2 August 1888	Rev. J. Leachard, Bible Christian
274	2 August 1888	William Barnett Charlotte Bedford Campbell	William Barnett Charlotte Bedford Campbell 💍 1888/2373	Widower Spinster	Sheep Farmer	43 49	Christchurch Linwood	3 days 2 years	House of Wm. Rosewarne, Hereford St	88/2418	2 August 1888	Rev. J. Hodson, Congregational
275	3 August 1888	Robert Yait Mary Ann Donaldson	Robert Tait Mary Ann Donaldson 💍 1888/2371	Bachelor Spinster	Chemist	30 22	Christchurch Addington	3 days 5 years	P. Mango Church	88/2416	3 August 1888	Rev. H. East, Church of England
276	3 August 1888	George Henry Smith Jane Pye	George Henry Smith Mary Jane Pye 💍 1888/2369	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	21 21	Christchurch Addington	14 years 3 months	St. Mary's Church	88/2415	3 August 1888	Rev. H. East, Church of England
277	3 August 1888	John Freeman Barbara Scott Smith	John Truman Barbara Scott Smith 💍 1888/2367	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	39 26	Christchurch Ferry Road	3 weeks 2 years	Presbyterian Church	88/2413	3 August 1888	Rev. H. Irvine, 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).