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 244

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

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 1889

John Hausman
Martha Williams

John Hansmann
Martha Williams
💍 1889/508

Widower
Widow

Baker

39
40

Christchurch
Christchurch

15 years
7 years

Registrars Office

89/573

6 February 1889

J.M. Rolleston

No	35
Date of Notice	6 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hausman	Martha Williams
BDM Match (92%)	John Hansmann	Martha Williams
	💍 1889/508
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Baker
Age	39	40
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	15 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office
Folio	89/573
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1889
Officiating Minister	J.M. Rolleston

8 February 1889

George Harris Badcock
Bessie Caroline Harman

George Harris
Bessie Caroline Emily Harman
💍 1889/438

Bachelor
Spinster

Solicitor

21
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
20 years

St. Michaels Church

89/517

Henry Harman, Father

8 February 1889

Rev W. Harper, Church of England

No	36
Date of Notice	8 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Harris Badcock	Bessie Caroline Harman
BDM Match (70%)	George Harris	Bessie Caroline Emily Harman
	💍 1889/438
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Solicitor
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Michaels Church
Folio	89/517
Consent	Henry Harman, Father
Date of Certificate	8 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev W. Harper, Church of England

11 February 1889

Thomas Chivers
Mary Basal

Thomas Chivers
Mary Broad
💍 1889/470

Widower
Spinster

Letter Carrier

47
31

House of Thomas Chivers, Chester St.
Christchurch

28 years
2 years

Christchurch

89/559

11 February 1889

Rev C. Dallaston, Baptist

No	37
Date of Notice	11 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Chivers	Mary Basal
BDM Match (85%)	Thomas Chivers	Mary Broad
	💍 1889/470
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Letter Carrier
Age	47	31
Dwelling Place	House of Thomas Chivers, Chester St.	Christchurch
Length of Residence	28 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Christchurch
Folio	89/559
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev C. Dallaston, Baptist

11 February 1889

James Basal
Minnie Henderson

James Groad Scoble
Minnie Henderson
💍 1889/463

James Garden
Jane Henderson
💍 1889/836

Bachelor
Spinster

Jeweller

29
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
5 years

Merivale Church

89/528

11 February 1889

Rev J. Flavell, Church of England

No	38
Date of Notice	11 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Basal	Minnie Henderson
BDM Match (72%)	James Groad Scoble	Minnie Henderson
	💍 1889/463
BDM Match (67%)	James Garden	Jane Henderson
	💍 1889/836
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jeweller
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Merivale Church
Folio	89/528
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Flavell, Church of England

11 February 1889

William Henry Badcock
Maria Dunnett

William Henry Spicer
Maria Emmett
💍 1889/472

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Servant

23
26

House of Henry Dunnett, Manchester St.
Christchurch

23 years
12 years

Christchurch

89/561

11 February 1889

Rev C. Dallaston, Baptist

No	39
Date of Notice	11 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Badcock	Maria Dunnett
BDM Match (70%)	William Henry Spicer	Maria Emmett
	💍 1889/472
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Servant
Age	23	26
Dwelling Place	House of Henry Dunnett, Manchester St.	Christchurch
Length of Residence	23 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Christchurch
Folio	89/561
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev C. Dallaston, Baptist

12 February 1889

James Samuel Badcock
Sarah Roans

James Samuel Berry
Sarah Evans
💍 1889/482

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Servant

25
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

25 years
11 years

Church of Good Shepherd

89/548

12 February 1889

Rev H.J.C. Gilbert, Church of England

No	40
Date of Notice	12 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Samuel Badcock	Sarah Roans
BDM Match (76%)	James Samuel Berry	Sarah Evans
	💍 1889/482
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Servant
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Church of Good Shepherd
Folio	89/548
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev H.J.C. Gilbert, 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).