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 311

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1899 Registrar Markerson

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

8 February 1899

Edwin James Chamberlain
Sarah Ann Berry

Edwin James Chamberlain
Sarah Ann Berry
💍 1899/654

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Tailoress

29
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

25 Years
21 Years

Registrar Office

99/730

8 February 1899

Registrar Markerson

No	59
Date of Notice	8 February 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin James Chamberlain	Sarah Ann Berry
	💍 1899/654
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Tailoress
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 Years	21 Years
Marriage Place	Registrar Office
Folio	99/730
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1899
Officiating Minister	Registrar Markerson

9 February 1899

William Henry Etheridge
Lily Keziah Williams

William Henry Etheridge
Lily Kelszia Williams
💍 1899/843

Bachelor
Spinster

Bookholder
Bookholder

28
25

Linwood
Linwood

2 Years
12 Years

House of Mr. Williams, Armagh St.

99/797

9 February 1899

Rev. I. I. Bode, Baptist

No	60
Date of Notice	9 February 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Etheridge	Lily Keziah Williams
BDM Match (93%)	William Henry Etheridge	Lily Kelszia Williams
	💍 1899/843
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bookholder	Bookholder
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	2 Years	12 Years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Williams, Armagh St.
Folio	99/797
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. I. Bode, Baptist

10 February 1899

William Walter Berry
Mary Josephine O'Rielly

William Walter Berry
Mary Josephine O'Rielly
💍 1899/842

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer
Dressmaker

30
26

Sydenham
Sydenham

6 Years
6 Years

Pro Cathedral, Christchurch

99/796

10 February 1899

Rev. R. Richards, Roman Catholic

No	61
Date of Notice	10 February 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Walter Berry	Mary Josephine O'Rielly
	💍 1899/842
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer	Dressmaker
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	6 Years	6 Years
Marriage Place	Pro Cathedral, Christchurch
Folio	99/796
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Richards, Roman Catholic

10 February 1899

John Mudie Turnbull
Louisa Grace Cowlishaw

John Mudie Turnbull
Louisa Grace Cowlishaw
💍 1899/858

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant

33
26

Christchurch
Avonside

33 Years
26 Years

Holy Trinity Church

99/764

10 February 1899

Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Anglican

No	62
Date of Notice	10 February 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Mudie Turnbull	Louisa Grace Cowlishaw
	💍 1899/858
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant
Age	33	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Avonside
Length of Residence	33 Years	26 Years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church
Folio	99/764
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Anglican

11 February 1899

John Matthew Baxter
Edith Mabel Burgess

John Matthew Baxter
Edith Mabel Burgess
💍 1899/864

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

22
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 days
19 Years

Wesleyan Church, Durham St.

99/770

11 February 1899

Rev. J. McNicoll, Wesleyan

No	63
Date of Notice	11 February 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Matthew Baxter	Edith Mabel Burgess
	💍 1899/864
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	22	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 days	19 Years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Durham St.
Folio	99/770
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McNicoll, Wesleyan

11 February 1899

Edward McCole Munro
May Thomiski

Edward McCole Munro
Mary Shomiski
💍 1899/1161

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

19
17

Christchurch
Christchurch

19 Years
17 Years

Roman Catholic Church, Manchester St.

99/706

John Munro, Father; Janet Munro, Mother

11 February 1899

Rev. W. J. Mannowe, Roman Catholic

No	64
Date of Notice	11 February 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward McCole Munro	May Thomiski
BDM Match (92%)	Edward McCole Munro	Mary Shomiski
	💍 1899/1161
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	19	17
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	19 Years	17 Years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Manchester St.
Folio	99/706
Consent	John Munro, Father; Janet Munro, Mother
Date of Certificate	11 February 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Mannowe, Roman Catholic

13 February 1899

Charles Innes
Selina O'Brien

Charles Johnson
Delia O'Brien
💍 1899/851

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

34
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 Month
4 days

Pro Cathedral

99/783

13 February 1899

A. W. Averill, Roman Catholic

No	65
Date of Notice	13 February 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Innes	Selina O'Brien
BDM Match (73%)	Charles Johnson	Delia O'Brien
	💍 1899/851
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	34	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 Month	4 days
Marriage Place	Pro Cathedral
Folio	99/783
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1899
Officiating Minister	A. W. Averill, Roman Catholic

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).