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 249

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1893 Registrar J. M. Verrall

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

23 February 1893

Joseph Hopping
Catherine Smith

Joseph Hopping
Catherine Smith
💍 1893/1228

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor

21
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

14 years
7 years

St. Michael's Church, Christchurch

93/621

Francis Smith, Father

23 February 1893

Rev. G. J. Cholmondeley, Church of England

No	50
Date of Notice	23 February 1893
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Hopping	Catherine Smith
	💍 1893/1228
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	14 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Christchurch
Folio	93/621
Consent	Francis Smith, Father
Date of Certificate	23 February 1893
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. J. Cholmondeley, Church of England

23 February 1893

George William Donaldson
Annie Always Thomas

George William Donaldson
Annie Elways Thomas
💍 1893/1352

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Dressmaker

24
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
23 years

Presbyterian Church, St. Andrew's

93/565

23 February 1893

Rev. Gordon Webster, Presbyterian

No	51
Date of Notice	23 February 1893
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George William Donaldson	Annie Always Thomas
BDM Match (97%)	George William Donaldson	Annie Elways Thomas
	💍 1893/1352
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Dressmaker
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, St. Andrew's
Folio	93/565
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1893
Officiating Minister	Rev. Gordon Webster, Presbyterian

23 February 1893

John Saunders
Mary Weir

John Sanders
Mary Weir
💍 1893/1363

Bachelor
Spinster

Wheelwright
Dressmaker

22
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

22 years
20 years

House of Mrs. Weir, Riccarton

93/566

Mary Weir, Mother

23 February 1893

Rev. W. Findlayton, Presbyterian

No	52
Date of Notice	23 February 1893
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Saunders	Mary Weir
BDM Match (96%)	John Sanders	Mary Weir
	💍 1893/1363
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wheelwright	Dressmaker
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	22 years	20 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Weir, Riccarton
Folio	93/566
Consent	Mary Weir, Mother
Date of Certificate	23 February 1893
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Findlayton, Presbyterian

25 February 1893

Frank Bailey
Edith Mary Powell

Frank Bailey
Edith Mary Powell
💍 1893/1230

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

33
18

Christchurch
Christchurch

25 years
18 years

St. Mary's Church, Springston

93/623

Joseph Powell, Father

25 February 1893

Rev. E. R. Cotway, Church of England

No	53
Date of Notice	25 February 1893
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Bailey	Edith Mary Powell
	💍 1893/1230
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	33	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	18 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Springston
Folio	93/623
Consent	Joseph Powell, Father
Date of Certificate	25 February 1893
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. R. Cotway, Church of England

27 February 1893

Frederick James Stevenson
Georgina Walters

Frederick James Stevenson
Georgina Watters
💍 1893/585

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

23
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

22 years
23 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

93/612

27 February 1893

Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Verrall

No	54
Date of Notice	27 February 1893
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick James Stevenson	Georgina Walters
BDM Match (97%)	Frederick James Stevenson	Georgina Watters
	💍 1893/585
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	22 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	93/612
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1893
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Verrall

28 February 1893

David Duncan Macfarlane
Mary Frances Newton

David Duncan Macfarlane
Mary Frances Newton
💍 1893/593

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer

32
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
22 years

St. Luke's Episcopalian Church, Paparua

93/597

28 February 1893

Rev. J. C. V. Hoare, Church of England

No	55
Date of Notice	28 February 1893
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Duncan Macfarlane	Mary Frances Newton
	💍 1893/593
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer
Age	32	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Episcopalian Church, Paparua
Folio	93/597
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 February 1893
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. V. Hoare, Church of England

3 March 1893

John Amos Heath
Annie Townsend

John Amos Heath
Annie Townsend
💍 1893/1371

Bachelor
Spinster

Carver
Servant

30
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 months
19 years

House of Mr. Wm. Townsend, Waltham, Sydenham

93/568

William L. Townsend, Father

3 March 1893

Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

No	56
Date of Notice	3 March 1893
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Amos Heath	Annie Townsend
	💍 1893/1371
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carver	Servant
Age	30	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 months	19 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Wm. Townsend, Waltham, Sydenham
Folio	93/568
Consent	William L. Townsend, Father
Date of Certificate	3 March 1893
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

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).