Intentions to Marry, 1889

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840401, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, May 23 2025

Page 242

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1889 Registrar J. M. Verrall

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

23 January 1889

Henry Gravenore Munum
Elizabeth Crosbie

Henry Travencore Munn
Elizabeth Cusdin
💍 1889/480

Widower
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

37
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office

89/568

26 January 1889

Registrar, J. M. Verrall

No	3
Date of Notice	23 January 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Gravenore Munum	Elizabeth Crosbie
BDM Match (79%)	Henry Travencore Munn	Elizabeth Cusdin
	💍 1889/480
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	37	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	89/568
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1889
Officiating Minister	Registrar, J. M. Verrall

24 January 1889

William George Charles
Jessie Denford

William George Chartres
Jessie Dunford
💍 1889/468

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Madrassee

29
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
21 years

House of David's Hunt

89/557

26 January 1889

Rev. C. Dallaston, Baptist

No	4
Date of Notice	24 January 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Charles	Jessie Denford
BDM Match (92%)	William George Chartres	Jessie Dunford
	💍 1889/468
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Madrassee
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	21 years
Marriage Place	House of David's Hunt
Folio	89/557
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Dallaston, Baptist

25 January 1889

George Edward Dalton
Annie Agnes

George Edward Dalton
Annie Tomes
💍 1889/462

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

35
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 weeks
15 years

Merivale Church

89/527

28 January 1889

Rev. J. Flavell, Church of England

No	5
Date of Notice	25 January 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Edward Dalton	Annie Agnes
BDM Match (86%)	George Edward Dalton	Annie Tomes
	💍 1889/462
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	35	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 weeks	15 years
Marriage Place	Merivale Church
Folio	89/527
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Flavell, Church of England

26 January 1889

William George Gates
Mary Elizabeth Thompson

William George Yates
Mary Elizabeth Thompson
💍 1889/481

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

21
21

Woolston
Christchurch

10 years
21 years

Registrar's Office

89/569

28 January 1889

Registrar, Christchurch Office

No	6
Date of Notice	26 January 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Gates	Mary Elizabeth Thompson
BDM Match (98%)	William George Yates	Mary Elizabeth Thompson
	💍 1889/481
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	89/569
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1889
Officiating Minister	Registrar, Christchurch Office

27 January 1889

Joseph Thompson
Eliza Ann Clarke

Joseph Thompson
Eliza Ann Clarke
💍 1889/485

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23
26

Riccarton
Riccarton

9 months
18 years

Wesleyan Chapel, Riccarton

89/551

28 January 1889

Rev. C. H. Standage, Wesleyan

No	7
Date of Notice	27 January 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Thompson	Eliza Ann Clarke
	💍 1889/485
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23	26
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Riccarton
Length of Residence	9 months	18 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Chapel, Riccarton
Folio	89/551
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Standage, Wesleyan

28 January 1889

Joseph ??
Alfredina Varcoe

Joseph Marsack
Alfredina Varcoe
💍 1889/433

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

23
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 years
19 years

St. Saviours Church, Sydenham

89/512

Martha Collett, Mother

28 January 1889

Rev. H. B. Cocks, Church of England

No	8
Date of Notice	28 January 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph ??	Alfredina Varcoe
BDM Match (75%)	Joseph Marsack	Alfredina Varcoe
	💍 1889/433
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 years	19 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviours Church, Sydenham
Folio	89/512
Consent	Martha Collett, Mother
Date of Certificate	28 January 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. B. Cocks, Church of England

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).