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 554

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
251	17 August 1892	George Foster Bridget Bowers	George Foster Bridget Bowers 💍 1892/2430	Bachelor Widow	Machinist	42 34	Christchurch Christchurch	20 years 6 weeks	Roman Catholic Church of St Mary Manchester St Christchurch	92/2505	17 August 1892	Rev J. Marriner Roman Catholic
252	17 August 1892	John Blake Mary Jane Cleland	John Blake Mary Jane Cleland 💍 1892/2367	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	30 24	Christchurch Christchurch	14 years 6 months	House of Rev A. M. Wright Christchurch	92/2954	17 August 1892	Rev A. M. Wright Presbyterian
253	18 August 1892	Alexander Worden Hellen Kerse	Alexander Worden Hellen Kerse 💍 1892/2420	Bachelor Spinster	Warehouseman Dressmaker	29 31	Christchurch Christchurch North Belt	6 years 6 years	Presbyterian Church Christchurch	92/2519	18 August 1892	Rev R. Erwin Presbyterian
254	19 August 1892	John Henry Stewart Sarah Jane Horton	John Henry Stewart Sarah Jane Laughton 💍 1892/2557	Bachelor Spinster	Farm Labourer	30 23	Christchurch Springston	13 years 23 years	Registrar's Office Christchurch	92/2569	19 August 1892	Registrar of Marriages J. W. Parker
255	20 August 1892	Joseph George Burgess Eliza Higham	Joseph George Burgess Eliza Higham 💍 1892/2418	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	29 25	Christchurch Christchurch	24 years 25 years	St Luke's Church Christchurch	92/2517	20 August 1892	Ven Archdeacon Lingard Church of England
256	22 August 1892	Robert Franklyn Ranger Rose Hawker	Robert Franklyn Ranger Rose Hawker 💍 1892/2558	Bachelor Spinster	Carrier	25 21	Christchurch Christchurch	25 years 7 years	Registrar's Office Christchurch	92/2570	22 August 1892	Registrar of Marriages J. W. Parker
257	23 August 1892	William James Mills Sarah Jane Mills	William Jaime Sarah Jane Mills 💍 1892/2559	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 34	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 14 days	Shop Registrar's Office Christchurch	92/2571	23 August 1892	Registrar of Marriages J. W. Parker
258	25 August 1892	Edward Joseph Warburton Kate Phillips	Edward Joseph Warburton Kate Phillips 💍 1892/2381	Bachelor Spinster	Coach Proprietor	51 35	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 1 month	Wesleyan Church Durham St Christchurch	92/2531	25 August 1892	Rev H. R. Dewsbury Wesleyan

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).