Intentions to Marry, 1889

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840401, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, May 23 2025

Page 123

District of Palmerston North Quarter ending 31 March 1889

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

7 February 1889

William Print
Eliza Allen

William Prunt
Eliza Allen
💍 1889/160

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

27 years
17 years

Pohangina
Palmerston North

4 years
4 years

Registrars Office Palmerston N.

89/240

William Pudda, Allen, Father

18 February 1889

Robert North Freeling, Registrar Palmerston North

No	7
Date of Notice	7 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Print	Eliza Allen
BDM Match (96%)	William Prunt	Eliza Allen
	💍 1889/160
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	27 years	17 years
Dwelling Place	Pohangina	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Palmerston N.
Folio	89/240
Consent	William Pudda, Allen, Father
Date of Certificate	18 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Robert North Freeling, Registrar Palmerston North

8 February 1889

Thomas Pratt
Lydia Brewer

Thomas Veat Beattie
Lydia Brewer
💍 1889/159

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor

29 years
27 years

Ashurst
Ashurst

5 years
3 years

Registrars Office Palmerston N.

89/239

21 February 1889

Robt. N. Freeling, Registrar Palmerston N.

No	8
Date of Notice	8 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Pratt	Lydia Brewer
BDM Match (76%)	Thomas Veat Beattie	Lydia Brewer
	💍 1889/159
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor
Age	29 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Ashurst	Ashurst
Length of Residence	5 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Palmerston N.
Folio	89/239
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Robt. N. Freeling, Registrar Palmerston N.

9 February 1889

Walter Rutherford
Elizabeth Margaret Innes

Walter Rutherford
Elizabeth Margaret Innes
💍 1889/3472

Bachelor
Spinster

Law Clerk

27 years
21 years

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

6 years
10 years

At the residence of Mr. J. Innes

89/3549

22 February 1889

Revd A.M. Wright, Presbyterian Minister Palmerston North

No	9
Date of Notice	9 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Rutherford	Elizabeth Margaret Innes
	💍 1889/3472
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Law Clerk
Age	27 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	6 years	10 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Mr. J. Innes
Folio	89/3549
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Revd A.M. Wright, Presbyterian Minister Palmerston North

10 February 1889

Robert Arnold Forsait
Sarah Ann Littler

Robert Arnold Forsaith
Sarah Ann Littler
💍 1889/3471

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

37 years
36 years

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

9 months
5 years

At the residence of Mrs. Littler Rangitikei Road Palmerston N.

89/3548

26 February 1889

Revd H.B. Harvey, Anglican Minister Palmerston North

No	10
Date of Notice	10 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Arnold Forsait	Sarah Ann Littler
BDM Match (98%)	Robert Arnold Forsaith	Sarah Ann Littler
	💍 1889/3471
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	37 years	36 years
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	9 months	5 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Mrs. Littler Rangitikei Road Palmerston N.
Folio	89/3548
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Revd H.B. Harvey, Anglican Minister Palmerston North

11 March 1889

Walter Bevins
Julia Fitchell Symons

Walter Bevins
Julia Fitchett Symons
💍 1889/163

Bachelor
Spinster

Draughtsman

27 years
19 years

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 months
17 years

At the house of Louisa Symons Main Street Palmerston N.

89/243

Louisa Symond, Mother

20 March 1889

Revd A.M. Wright, Presbyterian Minister Palmerston North

No	11
Date of Notice	11 March 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Bevins	Julia Fitchell Symons
BDM Match (95%)	Walter Bevins	Julia Fitchett Symons
	💍 1889/163
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draughtsman
Age	27 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 months	17 years
Marriage Place	At the house of Louisa Symons Main Street Palmerston N.
Folio	89/243
Consent	Louisa Symond, Mother
Date of Certificate	20 March 1889
Officiating Minister	Revd A.M. Wright, Presbyterian Minister Palmerston North

12 March 1889

John Mitchell Turner
Jane Ellen Ashworth

John Mitchell Turner
Jane Ellen Ashworth
💍 1889/161

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

23 years
19 years

Taonui
Taonui

6 years
6 years

Registrars Office Palmerston North

89/241

George Oscar Ashworth, Father

21 March 1889

Robert North Freeling, Registrar Palmerston North

No	12
Date of Notice	12 March 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Mitchell Turner	Jane Ellen Ashworth
	💍 1889/161
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	23 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Taonui	Taonui
Length of Residence	6 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Palmerston North
Folio	89/241
Consent	George Oscar Ashworth, Father
Date of Certificate	21 March 1889
Officiating Minister	Robert North Freeling, Registrar Palmerston North

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).