Intentions to Marry, 1899 January-June

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840415, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington (now located in the National Library reading room), September 5 2025

1899 is bound in two volumes, January-June and July-December.

Page 305

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1899 Registrar J. M. Parkerson

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
15	9 January 1899	Reginald George Cole Amy Elizabeth Parsons	Reginald George Henry Cole Mary Elizabeth Parsons 💍 1899/1140	Bachelor Spinster	Chemist	24 26	Christchurch Christchurch	14 years 14 years	St. John's Church, Latimer Square, Christchurch	99/1195		9 January 1899	Rev. H. M. Watson, Anglican
16	10 January 1899	Henry Papps Alice May Overend	Henry Papps Alice May Overend 💍 1899/646	Bachelor Spinster	Fellmonger Domestic	21 17	Christchurch Christchurch	21 years 17 years	House of Mrs. Jas. Papps, Aldwins Road, Woolston	99/1146	Jas. Papps, father	10 January 1899	Rev. W. George, Presbyterian
17	10 January 1899	Frederick James Birss Emma Blackburn	Frederick James Birss Emma Blackburn 💍 1899/859	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	22 20	Christchurch Christchurch	1 year 19 years	St. Andrew's Manse, Tuam Street, Christchurch	99/1165	Mrs. H. Blackburn, mother	10 January 1899	Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian
18	11 January 1899	James Cooper Watson Muriel Alice Sharp	James Cooper Watson Muriel Alice Sharp 💍 1899/879	Bachelor Spinster	Moulder Machinist	24 20	Christchurch Christchurch	24 years 14 years	House of Mrs. Geo. Hills, Addington	99/1161	Geo. Hills, father	11 January 1899	Rev. H. Bull, Wesleyan
19	11 January 1899	Victor Austin Hill Marian Gilmour	Victor Austen Hill Marian Gilmour 💍 1899/872	Bachelor Widow	Constable	24 32	Christchurch Christchurch	1 year 32 years	St. Michael's Church, Christchurch	99/1177		11 January 1899	Rev. A. W. Averill, Anglican
20	11 January 1899	John Moloney Maria Mealing	John Moloney Maria Mealing 💍 1899/839	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic	35 32	Christchurch Christchurch	10 years 32 years	Roman Catholic Church, Barbadoes Street, Christchurch	99/1193	Father des Chesnais, Roman Catholic	11 January 1899	Very Rev. F. Richards
21	12 January 1899	Alfred Barry Cartwright Elizabeth Mary Bird	Alfred Barry Cartwright Elizabeth Mary Bird 💍 1899/801	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener	29 28	Sydenham Sydenham	10 years 20 years	Registrar's Office, Christchurch	99/1217		12 January 1899	J. M. Parkerson, Registrar of Marriages
22	12 January 1899	William Laycock Sarah Jane Bartlett	William Laycock Sarah Jane Bartlett 💍 1899/797	Bachelor Spinster	Saddler Domestic	37 27	Christchurch Christchurch	34 years 8 years	Registrar's Office, Christchurch	99/1223		12 January 1899	J. M. Parkerson, Registrar of Marriages

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 1899. 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).