Intentions to Marry, 1892

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840404, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, May 28 2025

Page 550

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 1892

No	Date of Notice	Names and Surnames of Parties	BDM Match	Condition	Calling or Profession	Age	Dwelling Place	Length of Residence	Marriage Place	Folio	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
281	19 September 1892	Thomas William Price Round Elizabeth Annie Hurcomb	Thomas William Price Round Elizabeth Annie Hurcomb 💍 1892/3506	Bachelor Spinster	Skinner	25 24	Christchurch Christchurch	21 years 18 years	St. Mark's Church, Opawa	92/3602	19 September 1892	Archdeacon Cholmondeley, Church of England
282	20 September 1892	Charles Browne Ellen Austen	James Paterson Ellen Austen 💍 1892/3477	Widower Widow	Ironmonger Housekeeper	54 44	Christchurch Christchurch	19 years 20 years	House of Mr. Robt. Austen, East Belt	92/2510	20 September 1892	Rev. W. Birch, Baptist
283	21 September 1892	John Adolphus Luke Jennie Morrison Reid	John Adolphus Luke Jeanie Morrison Reid 💍 1892/2412	Bachelor Spinster	Tinsmith	27 22	Christchurch Christchurch	27 years 14 years	House of Mr. Andrew Reid, North Street	92/2511	21 September 1892	Rev. William Birch, Baptist
284	21 September 1892	James Edward Carter Kate Elizabeth Penfold	James Edward Carter Kate Elizabeth Penfold 💍 1892/2435	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	26 23	Christchurch Christchurch	1 year 10 years	Holy Trinity Church, Avonside	92/2538	21 September 1892	Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Church of England
285	21 September 1892	Thomas Frederick Whitaker Mary Eleanor Cooper	Thomas Frederick Whitelaw May Eleanor Cooper 💍 1892/2428	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	33 31	Christchurch Christchurch	3 years 31 years	House of Mr. James Borland, Hereford Street	92/2503	21 September 1892	Rev. H. R. Stansbury, Wesleyan
286	22 September 1892	Albert Augustus Hurrell Fanny Frances Brent	Albert Augustus Hurrell Fanny Frances Brunt 💍 1892/2540	Bachelor Spinster	Fellmonger	24 23	Christchurch Christchurch	4 years 23 years	Registrar's Office	92/2576	22 September 1892	Registrar, J. W. Parker
287	22 September 1892	Samuel Thomas Langley Elizabeth Ann Stutt		Widower Spinster	Painter	50 40	Christchurch Christchurch	2 years 2 years	House of Mr. [illegible] 12 [illegible] London Street	See minute book	22 September 1892	Rev. A. S. Dawson, Methodist
288	24 September 1892	Arthur Edward Andrews Maria Susan Andrews	Arthur Edward Gay Maria Susan Andrews 💍 1892/3971	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer Teacher	27 24	Christchurch Christchurch	3 years 24 years	St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham	92/3973	24 September 1892	Rev. H. K. Cocke, Church of England

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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 1894. More registers will be added as the project continues.

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).