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 255

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1888 Registrar J. J. Moulder

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

101

29 March 1888

George Sampson
Ilena Woolmer

George Sampson
Eliza Woolmer
💍 1888/1614

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Servant

40
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
9 years

St. Michael's Church

88/1538

29 March 1888

Rev. W. Harper

No	101
Date of Notice	29 March 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Sampson	Ilena Woolmer
BDM Match (88%)	George Sampson	Eliza Woolmer
	💍 1888/1614
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Servant
Age	40	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	9 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church
Folio	88/1538
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Harper

102

29 March 1888

Richard Adams
Martha Castle

Richard Adams
Martha Castle
💍 1888/1878

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Servant

33
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

9 days
10 years

St. John's Church

88/1913

29 March 1888

Rev. H. E. Watson

No	102
Date of Notice	29 March 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Adams	Martha Castle
	💍 1888/1878
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Servant
Age	33	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 days	10 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church
Folio	88/1913
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. E. Watson

103

29 March 1888

George Chapman
Eleanor Parsons

George Chapman
Sarah Eleanor Parsons
💍 1888/1660

Bachelor
Spinster

Warder
Dressmaker

28
23

Christchurch
Akaroa

7 years
29 years

St. Peter's Church

88/1587

29 March 1888

Rev. McKenzie Gibson

No	103
Date of Notice	29 March 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Chapman	Eleanor Parsons
BDM Match (86%)	George Chapman	Sarah Eleanor Parsons
	💍 1888/1660
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warder	Dressmaker
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Akaroa
Length of Residence	7 years	29 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church
Folio	88/1587
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. McKenzie Gibson

104

31 March 1888

Charles Hawksworth
Jane Pearson

Charles Hawksworth Brown
Clara Jane Pearson
💍 1888/662

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer
Teacher

27
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

House of Wm. Peters, Cranmer Sq.

88/528

31 March 1888

Rev. E. Dallaston

No	104
Date of Notice	31 March 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Hawksworth	Jane Pearson
BDM Match (71%)	Charles Hawksworth Brown	Clara Jane Pearson
	💍 1888/662
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer	Teacher
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	House of Wm. Peters, Cranmer Sq.
Folio	88/528
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 March 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Dallaston

105

31 March 1888

Lewis Willoughby
Alice Greenstreet

Lewis Willoughby Tosswill
Marion Alice Greenstreet
💍 1888/1544

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
[illegible]

32
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
10 years

St. Luke's Church

88/1487

31 March 1888

Ven. Arch. Lingard

No	105
Date of Notice	31 March 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lewis Willoughby	Alice Greenstreet
BDM Match (67%)	Lewis Willoughby Tosswill	Marion Alice Greenstreet
	💍 1888/1544
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	[illegible]
Age	32	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church
Folio	88/1487
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 March 1888
Officiating Minister	Ven. Arch. Lingard

106

31 March 1888

Walter Donald
Mary Greenfell

Walter Donald Lilley
Mary Grenfell
💍 1888/1592

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

23
21

Christchurch
Spreydon

10 years
10 years

House of Rev. W. Keall

88/1530

31 March 1888

Rev. W. Keall

No	106
Date of Notice	31 March 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Donald	Mary Greenfell
BDM Match (79%)	Walter Donald Lilley	Mary Grenfell
	💍 1888/1592
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Spreydon
Length of Residence	10 years	10 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. W. Keall
Folio	88/1530
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 March 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Keall

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).