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 249

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

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

6 February 1888

William Ward
Matilda Winifred Lee

William Ward
Matilda Winifred Lee
💍 1888/685

Widower
Widow

Farmer

42
46

Christchurch
Christchurch

20 years
7 years

Registrar's Office

88/552

6 February 1888

Registrar Marriages J. M. Malluisson

No	41
Date of Notice	6 February 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Ward	Matilda Winifred Lee
	💍 1888/685
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	42	46
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	88/552
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1888
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marriages J. M. Malluisson

6 February 1888

Patrick McSurgan
Margaret O'Mara

Patrick McSwiggan
Maggie O'Mara
💍 1888/693

Bachelor
Spinster

Brickmaker

38
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
4 years

Roman Catholic Church

88/538

6 February 1888

Rev. J. McQuaid

No	42
Date of Notice	6 February 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick McSurgan	Margaret O'Mara
BDM Match (78%)	Patrick McSwiggan	Maggie O'Mara
	💍 1888/693
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Brickmaker
Age	38	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	88/538
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McQuaid

9 February 1888

Sydney Evelyn Wright
Ada Cuddon

Sydney Evelyn Wright
Ada Cuddon
💍 1888/644

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

25
22

Christchurch
Fendalton

23 years
22 years

St. Barnabas Church

88/488

9 February 1888

Rev. J. Chaffers Wells, Church of England

No	43
Date of Notice	9 February 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Evelyn Wright	Ada Cuddon
	💍 1888/644
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Fendalton
Length of Residence	23 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Barnabas Church
Folio	88/488
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Chaffers Wells, Church of England

9 February 1888

Ernest George Frost
Ellen Lucy Hennessy

Ernest George Frost
Ellen Hennessy
💍 1888/694

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Machinist

23
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

23 years
6 years

Roman Catholic Church

88/539

9 February 1888

Rev. J. McQuaid

No	44
Date of Notice	9 February 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest George Frost	Ellen Lucy Hennessy
BDM Match (87%)	Ernest George Frost	Ellen Hennessy
	💍 1888/694
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Machinist
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	23 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	88/539
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McQuaid

11 February 1888

Arthur Sutton
Sarah Ann Cuddy

Arthur Sutton
Sarah Ann Cuddy
💍 1888/656

Bachelor
Widow

Carter

19
44

Christchurch
Oxford Terrace

14 years
7 years

Baptist Chapel

88/523

William R. Sutton, Father

11 February 1888

Rev. E. Vallaston, Baptist

No	45
Date of Notice	11 February 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Sutton	Sarah Ann Cuddy
	💍 1888/656
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Carter
Age	19	44
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Oxford Terrace
Length of Residence	14 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Chapel
Folio	88/523
Consent	William R. Sutton, Father
Date of Certificate	11 February 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Vallaston, Baptist

11 February 1888

Joseph Meats
Mary Eliza Ramsbottom

Joseph Skeats
Mary Eliza Earnshaw
💍 1888/646

Bachelor
Spinster

Boilermaker
Servant

33
23

Christchurch
Sydenham

2 months
6 weeks

James Travelling [illegible] House & Colombo Road

88/490

11 February 1888

Rev. W. Keall, Wesleyan

No	46
Date of Notice	11 February 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Meats	Mary Eliza Ramsbottom
BDM Match (71%)	Joseph Skeats	Mary Eliza Earnshaw
	💍 1888/646
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boilermaker	Servant
Age	33	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	2 months	6 weeks
Marriage Place	James Travelling [illegible] House & Colombo Road
Folio	88/490
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Keall, Wesleyan

13 February 1888

George Henry Hotting
Teresa Hennessy

George Henry Hosking Dale
Theresa Hennessy
💍 1888/695

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Dressmaker

23
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

14 years
6 years

Roman Catholic Church

88/540

John Hennessy, Father

13 February 1888

Rev. J. McQuaid

No	47
Date of Notice	13 February 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Hotting	Teresa Hennessy
BDM Match (83%)	George Henry Hosking Dale	Theresa Hennessy
	💍 1888/695
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Dressmaker
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	14 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	88/540
Consent	John Hennessy, Father
Date of Certificate	13 February 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McQuaid

13 February 1888

Atlantic Seaborn
Florence Elizabeth Jones

Atlantic Seaborn Ford
Ellen Elizabeth Jones
💍 1888/635

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Dressmaker

24
25

Christchurch
Paparua

24 years
23 years

Wesleyan Chapel

88/501

13 February 1888

Rev. J. Berry, Wesleyan

No	48
Date of Notice	13 February 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Atlantic Seaborn	Florence Elizabeth Jones
BDM Match (78%)	Atlantic Seaborn Ford	Ellen Elizabeth Jones
	💍 1888/635
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Dressmaker
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Paparua
Length of Residence	24 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Chapel
Folio	88/501
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Berry, Wesleyan

14 February 1888

William Henry Weavers
Emily Chapman Phipps Black

Widower
Spinster

Salesman

31
28

Christchurch
Ship Woolston

10 years

St. Michael's Church

88/497

14 February 1888

Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

No	49
Date of Notice	14 February 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Weavers	Emily Chapman Phipps Black
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Salesman
Age	31	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Ship Woolston
Length of Residence	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church
Folio	88/497
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

14 February 1888

William Knipler
Annie Frier

William Knipler
Annie Frier
💍 1888/686

Bachelor
Widow

Barman

33
33

Christchurch
Christchurch

12 years
13 years

Registrar's Office

88/553

14 February 1888

Registrar Marriages J. M. Malluisson

No	50
Date of Notice	14 February 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Knipler	Annie Frier
	💍 1888/686
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Barman
Age	33	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	12 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	88/553
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1888
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marriages J. M. Malluisson

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).