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 254

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 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
91	26 March 1888	James Norman Kingford Tucker Amelia Elizabeth Amy	James Foreman Kingsford Tucker Amelia Elizabeth Amy 💍 1888/634	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	30 23	Christchurch Christchurch	15 years 13 years	Wesleyan Chapel	88/500	26 March 1888	Rev. J. Lewis, Wesleyan
92	26 March 1888	George Kendall Bessie Head	George Kendall Bessie Head 💍 1888/672	Bachelor Spinster	Porter Servant	32 22	Christchurch Christchurch	13 months 2 years	Wesleyan Chapel	88/516	26 March 1888	Rev. G. Bounds, Wesleyan
93	26 March 1888	James Paterson Mary Sarah Cathinson	James Paterson Mary Sarah Attkinson 💍 1888/653 James Paterson Jane Agnes Dickison 💍 1889/928	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Servant	24 24	Christchurch Christchurch	23 years 10 years	House of Jas Paterson, Crescent Road	88/520	26 March 1888	Rev. J. Parkin, Methodist
94	26 March 1888	Samuel Herbert Annie Isabella Douglass	Samuel Herbert Ann Isabella Douglass 💍 1888/3381	Bachelor Spinster	Draughtsman	26 24	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 8 years	St. Johns Church	88/1911	26 March 1888	Rev. E. J. Merton, Church of England
95	26 March 1888	Thomas Edward Broughton Pauline Denne	Thomas Edward Broughton Emeline Denne 💍 1888/652	Bachelor Spinster	Baker Servant	22 24	Christchurch Christchurch	6 years 10 years	House of Mrs. Denne, Haseldean Road	88/518	26 March 1888	Rev. J. Parkin, Methodist
96	27 March 1888	Henry George Emma Mary Elizabeth Needham	Henry George Denne Mary Elizabeth Needham 💍 1888/628	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Teacher	22 27	Christchurch Christchurch	12 years 27 years	House of Mrs. Denne, Haseldean Road	88/494	27 March 1888	Rev. W. Keall, Wesleyan
97	28 March 1888	Thomas Daniel Emily Eleanor Jessie Stewart	Thomas David Smith Eleanor Jessie Stewart 💍 1888/1879	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith Dressmaker	26 23	Christchurch Christchurch	4 days 2 years	St. Johns Church	88/1914	28 March 1888	Rev. H. E. Watson, Church of England
98	28 March 1888	William Heart Annie Moses	William Hunt Annie Morse 💍 1888/3512 William Scoon Annie Mills 💍 1889/527 William Turley Annie Bayes 💍 1888/327 William Bell Annie Bukowsky 💍 1888/2160	Bachelor Spinster	Wheelwright Machinist	21 21	Christchurch Christchurch	14 years 21 years	House of George Moses, Addington	88/519	28 March 1888	Rev. J. Parkin, Methodist
99	29 March 1888	John Alfred Potter Jessie Petrie	Arthur Albert Potter Jessie Petrie 💍 1888/1519	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	24 22	Christchurch Christchurch	5 years 10 years	Oxford Episcopal Church, Oxford	88/1436	29 March 1888	Rev. H. Williams, Church of England
100	29 March 1888	Archibald Muir Ann Cooke	Archibald Muir Mary Ann Cooke 💍 1888/1599	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	27 21	Springston Christchurch	13 years 13 years	Presbyterian Church	88/1546	29 March 1888	Rev. H. Adamson, 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).