Intentions to Marry, 1893

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840405, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole and Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, June 6 2025.

A few pages are missing due to focus issues.

Page 246

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1893 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

31 January 1893

Richard Bradley
Christina Frances Robson

Richard Bradley
Christina Emily Frances Robson
💍 1893/1355

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Dressmaker

27
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

27 years
20 years

St. Lukes Church

93/576

31 January 1893

Rev. Arch. Lingard, Church of England

No	29
Date of Notice	31 January 1893
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Bradley	Christina Frances Robson
BDM Match (90%)	Richard Bradley	Christina Emily Frances Robson
	💍 1893/1355
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Dressmaker
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	27 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Lukes Church
Folio	93/576
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1893
Officiating Minister	Rev. Arch. Lingard, Church of England

31 January 1893

James Cameron
Grace Gibb

Bachelor
Spinster

Drayman

25
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
27 years

House of Rev. J. Blundell, Lichfield St. Church (See memo attached)

Not solemnized

31 January 1893

Rev. J. Blundell, Presbyterian

No	30
Date of Notice	31 January 1893
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Cameron	Grace Gibb
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Drayman
Age	25	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	27 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. J. Blundell, Lichfield St. Church (See memo attached)
Folio	Not solemnized
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1893
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Blundell, Presbyterian

1 February 1893

Robert Hunter
Jane Ayers

Robert Hunter Hislop
Jane Ayers
💍 1893/578

Bachelor
Spinster

Wool Porter

22
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 years
1 week

Registrar's Office

93/606

1 February 1893

J. M. Rolleston, Registrar

No	31
Date of Notice	1 February 1893
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Hunter	Jane Ayers
BDM Match (83%)	Robert Hunter Hislop	Jane Ayers
	💍 1893/578
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wool Porter
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 years	1 week
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	93/606
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1893
Officiating Minister	J. M. Rolleston, Registrar

2 February 1893

Edward Baddeley Heywood
Mary Frankish

Edward Baddeley Heywood
May Frankirk
💍 1893/1095

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

30
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
23 years

St. Michael's Church

93/552

2 February 1893

Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

No	32
Date of Notice	2 February 1893
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Baddeley Heywood	Mary Frankish
BDM Match (88%)	Edward Baddeley Heywood	May Frankirk
	💍 1893/1095
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church
Folio	93/552
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1893
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

3 February 1893

Francis Trachan Goldingham
Mary Withell

Francis Strachan Goldingham
Mary Withnall
💍 1893/1092

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

23
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
22 years

St. Michael's Church

93/549

3 February 1893

Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

No	33
Date of Notice	3 February 1893
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Trachan Goldingham	Mary Withell
BDM Match (89%)	Francis Strachan Goldingham	Mary Withnall
	💍 1893/1092
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church
Folio	93/549
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1893
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

4 February 1893

Francis Henry Forward
Emily Matilda Seales

Francis Manyer Ferward
Emily Matilda Seales
💍 1893/1376

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Tailoress

23
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
22 years

House of Mr. J. H. Forward, Winslow St. Albans

93/573

4 February 1893

Rev. H. R. Dewsbury, Wesleyan

No	34
Date of Notice	4 February 1893
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Henry Forward	Emily Matilda Seales
BDM Match (86%)	Francis Manyer Ferward	Emily Matilda Seales
	💍 1893/1376
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Tailoress
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. J. H. Forward, Winslow St. Albans
Folio	93/573
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1893
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. R. Dewsbury, Wesleyan

4 February 1893

Edward Roans
Rosamond Rebecca Hurrell

Edward Evans
Rosamond Rebecca Hurrell
💍 1893/1094

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

25
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

25 years
14 years

St. Michael's Church

93/551

4 February 1893

Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

No	35
Date of Notice	4 February 1893
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Roans	Rosamond Rebecca Hurrell
BDM Match (92%)	Edward Evans	Rosamond Rebecca Hurrell
	💍 1893/1094
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	25	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	14 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church
Folio	93/551
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1893
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Harper, 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).