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 663

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1893

No	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
142	18 April 1893	David McKinley Eliza Fox	David McKinlay Agnes Louisa Fox 💍 1893/1760	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Machinist	31 25	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 9 days	Congregational Church, Linwood	93/1619		18 April 1893	Rev. C. H. Bradley, Congregational
143	20 April 1893	Elijah James Cooksley Caroline Gimblett	Elijah James Cooksley Caroline Gimblett 💍 1893/1710	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	21 20	Christchurch Christchurch	18 years 18 years	Wesleyan Church, Rail Belt	93/1611	James Gimblett, Father	20 April 1893	Rev. F. W. Isitt, Wesleyan
144	20 April 1893	Thomas Hoban Annie Holloway	Thomas Hoban Annie Holloway 💍 1893/1503	Widower Widow	Farmer	51 40	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 1 year	Roman Catholic Church, Barbadoes Street, Chch	93/1645		20 April 1893	Rev. Father Cumming, Roman Catholic
145	20 April 1893	Silas McIntosh Lizzie Haskett	Silas McAlister Sissie Haskett 💍 1893/1766	Bachelor Spinster	Constable	26 24	Christchurch Christchurch	1 year 24 years	St. Andrew's Church, Tuam Street, Chch	93/1623		20 April 1893	Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian
146	21 April 1893	Arthur James Larcombe Ellen Amelia Ward	William James Larcombe Ellen Amelia Ward 💍 1893/1740	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	27 27	Christchurch Christchurch	1 year 27 years	Registrar's Office, Ohoka	93/1704		21 April 1893	Registrar of Marriages, J. W. Parker
147	22 April 1893	Elias Lord Ellen Kinnaird	Elias Lord Ellen Kennard 💍 1893/1756	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Dressmaker	36 32	Christchurch Christchurch	7 years 32 years	St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans	93/1634		22 April 1893	Rev. H. Williams, Church of England
148	24 April 1893	William Jamieson Ann Barton Jewitt	William Jamieson Donald Ann Barton Jewitt 💍 1893/1498	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener Servant	34 26	Christchurch Christchurch	31 years 14 years	House of Mr. John Jewitt, Papanui	93/1639		24 April 1893	Rev. W. Bamber, Wesleyan
149	24 April 1893	Henry Bennett Sarah Louisa Julian	Henry Bennett Sarah Louisa Julian 💍 1893/1686	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	24 18	Christchurch Christchurch	24 years 8 years	St. Mark's Church, Greenpark	93/1673	James Julian, Father	24 April 1893	Rev. R. O'Leary, 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 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).