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 246

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1888 Registrar J. M. Parkerson

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

11 January 1888

Joseph Gray
Alice Meackle

Joseph Gray
Alice MacKle Mulholland
💍 1888/673

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

26
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
4 years

Roman Catholic Chapel

88/533

13 January 1888

Rev. L. McGuity

No	11
Date of Notice	11 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Gray	Alice Meackle
BDM Match (72%)	Joseph Gray	Alice MacKle Mulholland
	💍 1888/673
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Chapel
Folio	88/533
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. McGuity

12 January 1888

Frederick Dance
Dora Temple

Frederick Lance
Dora Temple
💍 1888/675

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep-farmer

23
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office

88/543

14 January 1888

Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Wilkerson

No	12
Date of Notice	12 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Dance	Dora Temple
BDM Match (97%)	Frederick Lance	Dora Temple
	💍 1888/675
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep-farmer
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	88/543
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Wilkerson

13 January 1888

William Healy
Margaret Anne King

William Healy
Margaret Ann King
💍 1888/613

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer

24
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
24 years

Wesleyan Church, Durham Street

88/479

16 January 1888

Rev. G. Bond

No	13
Date of Notice	13 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Healy	Margaret Anne King
BDM Match (97%)	William Healy	Margaret Ann King
	💍 1888/613
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	24 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Durham Street
Folio	88/479
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Bond

14 January 1888

James Leslie Carter
Annie Maria Long

James Leslie
Annie Maria Long
💍 1888/667

Bachelor
Servant

32
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
5 years

St. Paul's Church

88/511

16 January 1888

Rev. J. Elmslie

No	14
Date of Notice	14 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Leslie Carter	Annie Maria Long
BDM Match (82%)	James Leslie	Annie Maria Long
	💍 1888/667
Condition	Bachelor	Servant
Profession
Age	32	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church
Folio	88/511
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Elmslie

15 January 1888

Thomas Sadler
Martha Ellis

Thomas Sadler
Martha Ellis
💍 1888/661

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

27
26

Templeton
Templeton

25 years
10 years

Bible Christian Chapel

88/509

18 January 1888

Rev. J. Orchard

No	15
Date of Notice	15 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Sadler	Martha Ellis
	💍 1888/661
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Templeton	Templeton
Length of Residence	25 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Bible Christian Chapel
Folio	88/509
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Orchard

16 January 1888

Fitzgerald George Westerna
Bessie Scott

Fitzgerald George Westenra
Bessie Scott
💍 1888/610

Bachelor
Spinster

Medical Practitioner

28
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

15 years
14 days

Presbyterian Church

88/476

18 January 1888

Rev. R. J. Thorpe

No	16
Date of Notice	16 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Fitzgerald George Westerna	Bessie Scott
BDM Match (96%)	Fitzgerald George Westenra	Bessie Scott
	💍 1888/610
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Medical Practitioner
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	15 years	14 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	88/476
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Thorpe

17 January 1888

Francis Mulholland
Rachel Fleetwood

Francis Mulholland
Rachel Sarah Fleetwood
💍 1888/666

Widower
Spinster

Cab-owner
Servant

33
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

15 years
21 years

House of Mr. Milliner, Waltham

88/510

18 January 1888

Rev. J. Elmslie

No	17
Date of Notice	17 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Mulholland	Rachel Fleetwood
BDM Match (86%)	Francis Mulholland	Rachel Sarah Fleetwood
	💍 1888/666
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Cab-owner	Servant
Age	33	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	15 years	21 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Milliner, Waltham
Folio	88/510
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Elmslie

18 January 1888

Alfred Ernest Franks
Jane Sophia Neilson

Alfred Ernest Franks
Jane Sophia Neilson
💍 1888/676

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

21
18

Christchurch
Christchurch

21 years
15 years

Registrar's Office

88/544

Mother

19 January 1888

Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Wilkerson

No	18
Date of Notice	18 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Ernest Franks	Jane Sophia Neilson
	💍 1888/676
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	21	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	21 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	88/544
Consent	Mother
Date of Certificate	19 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Wilkerson

19 January 1888

Samuel Ralston Bourdot
Annie Fright

Samuel Ralston Bourdot
Annie Fright
💍 1888/611

Bachelor
Spinster

Shoemaker
Servant

25
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

12 years
23 years

St. Luke's Church, Opawa

88/477

21 January 1888

Rev. G. O. Cholmondeley, Church of England

No	19
Date of Notice	19 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Ralston Bourdot	Annie Fright
	💍 1888/611
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shoemaker	Servant
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	12 years	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Opawa
Folio	88/477
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. O. Cholmondeley, Church of England

20 January 1888

Henry Rudolph Clarke
Mary Anne Ward

Henry Rodolph Clarke
Mary Ann Ward
💍 1888/640

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

20
18

Christchurch
Cambridge Terrace

4 years
10 years

Primitive Methodist Chapel

88/505

Mary Clarke, mother of groom; James Ward, father of bride

21 January 1888

Rev. P. W. Jones

No	20
Date of Notice	20 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Rudolph Clarke	Mary Anne Ward
BDM Match (94%)	Henry Rodolph Clarke	Mary Ann Ward
	💍 1888/640
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	20	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Cambridge Terrace
Length of Residence	4 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Chapel
Folio	88/505
Consent	Mary Clarke, mother of groom; James Ward, father of bride
Date of Certificate	21 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. W. Jones

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).