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 250

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	Consent	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
51	14 February 1888	Alexander Clark Anne Pattern	Alexander Clark George Ann Patten 💍 1888/657	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor	36 27	Christchurch Oxford Terrace	36 years 27 years	Baptist Chapel	88/524		14 February 1888	Revd. C. Dallaston
52	15 February 1888	John Hutton Elizabeth Thompson	John Hutton Elizabeth Thompson 💍 1888/687	Bachelor Spinster	Groom	26 23	Christchurch Christchurch	10 years 23 years	Registrars Office	88/554		15 February 1888	Registrar Marriages, J. J. Maukerson
53	15 February 1888	William Mabelly Hassal Felton Jones Irene	William Maberley Hassal Mabel Felton Ivens 💍 1888/612	Bachelor Spinster	Bank Clerk	26 23	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 3 years	Opawa Church	88/478		15 February 1888	Revd. G. J. Cholmondeley, Church of England
54	18 February 1888	John Stewart Amelia New	John Stewart Amelia New 💍 1888/638	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	22 21	Christchurch Opawa	22 years 1 month	House of Henry Simpson	88/486		18 February 1888	Revd. H. Irwin, Presbyterian
55	21 February 1888	Henry William Hawkins Fanny Hepworth	Henry William Hawkins Fanny Hepworth 💍 1888/3439	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	29 21	Christchurch Riccarton	3 days 21 years	Church	88/3538		21 February 1888	Revd. C. Bowen, Church of England
56	21 February 1888	William Herbert Hills Bessie Milligan	William Herbert Hills Bessie Milligan 💍 1888/658	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	27 22	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 22 years	House of Wm. Milligan	88/525		21 February 1888	Revd. C. Dallaston, Baptist
57	23 February 1888	Christopher Watton Rippon Whammond		Bachelor Spinster	Accountant	28 27	Christchurch Christchurch	3 years 20 years	St. Michaels Church	88/498		23 February 1888	Revd. W. Harper, Church of England
58	23 February 1888	Frederick Bond Helen Campbell	Frederic Bond Helen Campbell 💍 1888/689	Bachelor Spinster	Reporter	29 27	Christchurch Christchurch	1 week 1 week	Registrars Office	88/556		23 February 1888	Registrar Marriages, J. J. Maukerson
59	23 February 1888	Albert Henry Passmore Noble Emma Jane Davies	Albert Henry Parsmore Noble Emma Jane Davies 💍 1888/719	Widower Widow	Instrument Maker Dressmaker	36 39	Christchurch Christchurch	17 years 7 years	Registrars Office	88/563		23 February 1888	Registrar Marriages, J. J. Maukerson
60	24 February 1888	John Charles Steer Isabella Paton	John Charles Steer Isabella Paton 💍 1888/647	Bachelor Spinster	Carrier Servant	23 19	Christchurch Selwyn	12 years 4 years	House of W. H. Steer, Irwell	88/491	Mother having To Consent	8 March 1888	Revd. W. I. Leall, Wesleyan

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).