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 209

District of Greymouth Quarter ending 31 March 1889 Registrar Andrew D. Thomson

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

18 January 1889

William Wright
Laura Maud White

William Wright
Laura Maude White
💍 1889/417

Bachelor
Spinster

Coach Painter

21
22

Greymouth
Greymouth

6 mos.
19 years

In the Roman Catholic Church, Greymouth

89/455

18 January 1889

Rev. Denis Carew (Roman Catholic)

No	1
Date of Notice	18 January 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Wright	Laura Maud White
BDM Match (97%)	William Wright	Laura Maude White
	💍 1889/417
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coach Painter
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	6 mos.	19 years
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church, Greymouth
Folio	89/455
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 January 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. Denis Carew (Roman Catholic)

22 January 1889

Henry Irvine
Mary Adelaide Thompson

Henry Irvine
Mary Adelaide Thompson
💍 1889/419

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

42
25

Greymouth
Greymouth

21 years
10 mos.

At the residence of Mr. Jackson, Greymouth

89/457

22 January 1889

Rev. I. G. Brooke (Wesleyan)

No	2
Date of Notice	22 January 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Irvine	Mary Adelaide Thompson
	💍 1889/419
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	42	25
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	21 years	10 mos.
Marriage Place	At the residence of Mr. Jackson, Greymouth
Folio	89/457
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. G. Brooke (Wesleyan)

23 January 1889

Frederick Arthur Levy
Florence Eyles

Fredrick Arthur Levy
Florence Eyles
💍 1889/420

Bachelor
Spinster

Shipping Clerk

21
20

Greymouth
Greymouth

6 weeks
3 days

At the residence of Mr. Humphriss, Greymouth

89/458

Selina Biggins communicated by Selina Eyles (mother)

No	3
Date of Notice	23 January 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Arthur Levy	Florence Eyles
BDM Match (98%)	Fredrick Arthur Levy	Florence Eyles
	💍 1889/420
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shipping Clerk
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	6 weeks	3 days
Marriage Place	At the residence of Mr. Humphriss, Greymouth
Folio	89/458
Consent	Selina Biggins communicated by Selina Eyles (mother)
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister

24 January 1889

Julius Adolph Lutz
Frances Sarah McLean

Julius Adolph Lutz
Frances Sarah McLeod
💍 1889/421

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

30
23

Greymouth
Greymouth

3 1/2 years
20 years

In the Church of England, Greymouth

89/459

24 January 1889

Rev. I. B. Maclean (Church of England)

No	4
Date of Notice	24 January 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Julius Adolph Lutz	Frances Sarah McLean
BDM Match (95%)	Julius Adolph Lutz	Frances Sarah McLeod
	💍 1889/421
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In the Church of England, Greymouth
Folio	89/459
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. B. Maclean (Church of England)

25 January 1889

Timothy Morgan O'Brien
Isabella Roffe

Timothy Morgan O'Brien
Isabella Roff
💍 1889/3630

Bachelor
Spinster

School teacher

33
22

Greymouth
Greymouth

1 1/2 years
15 years

In the Roman Catholic Church, Greymouth

89/456

25 January 1889

Rev. Denis Carew (Roman Catholic)

No	5
Date of Notice	25 January 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Timothy Morgan O'Brien	Isabella Roffe
BDM Match (96%)	Timothy Morgan O'Brien	Isabella Roff
	💍 1889/3630
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	School teacher
Age	33	22
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	1 1/2 years	15 years
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church, Greymouth
Folio	89/456
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. Denis Carew (Roman Catholic)

26 January 1889

Alexander Manderson
Helen Heslin

Alexander Manderson
Helen Heslin
💍 1889/371

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

21
17

Brunnerton
Greymouth

4 years
17 years

In the Registrar's office, Greymouth

89/463

Thomas Heslin (Father)

No	6
Date of Notice	26 January 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Manderson	Helen Heslin
	💍 1889/371
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	21	17
Dwelling Place	Brunnerton	Greymouth
Length of Residence	4 years	17 years
Marriage Place	In the Registrar's office, Greymouth
Folio	89/463
Consent	Thomas Heslin (Father)
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister

4 February 1889

Dye Mary
Adeline Gray

Dye Mong
Adelina Gray
💍 1889/423

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

32
18

Greymouth
Greymouth

8 years
3 days

At the residence of Chas Poye, Greymouth

89/461

James Gray (Father)

No	7
Date of Notice	4 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Dye Mary	Adeline Gray
BDM Match (77%)	Dye Mong	Adelina Gray
	💍 1889/423
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	32	18
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	8 years	3 days
Marriage Place	At the residence of Chas Poye, Greymouth
Folio	89/461
Consent	James Gray (Father)
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister

6 February 1889

James Colin Williamson
Elizabeth Evans

James Colin Williamson
Elizabeth Evans
💍 1889/377

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine driver

28
22

Taylorville
Taylorville

15 years
5 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth

89/464

No	8
Date of Notice	6 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Colin Williamson	Elizabeth Evans
	💍 1889/377
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine driver
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Taylorville	Taylorville
Length of Residence	15 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Greymouth
Folio	89/464
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister

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).