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 239

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1889 Registrar J. M. Dalkerson

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

3 January 1889

James Weephy
Mary Ann Deans

James Murphy
Mary Anne Quinn
💍 1889/403

James Humm
Mary Ann Burns
💍 1889/498

James Foley
Mary Anne Irvine
💍 1889/2691

Widower
Spinster

Teacher

33
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
21 years

Roman Catholic Church

89/493

3 January 1889

Rev. J. Cumming, Roman Catholic

No	1
Date of Notice	3 January 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Weephy	Mary Ann Deans
BDM Match (71%)	James Murphy	Mary Anne Quinn
	💍 1889/403
BDM Match (64%)	James Humm	Mary Ann Burns
	💍 1889/498
BDM Match (60%)	James Foley	Mary Anne Irvine
	💍 1889/2691
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Teacher
Age	33	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	21 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	89/493
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Cumming, Roman Catholic

3 January 1889

Joseph Flavel
Eliza Jane McCausland

Joseph Flavel
Eliza Jane McCausland
💍 1889/467

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Servant

24
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

24 years
10 years

Baptist Chapel, Oxford Terrace

89/556

3 January 1889

Rev. C. Dallaston, Baptist

No	2
Date of Notice	3 January 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Flavel	Eliza Jane McCausland
	💍 1889/467
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Servant
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	24 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Chapel, Oxford Terrace
Folio	89/556
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Dallaston, Baptist

3 January 1889

Robert Alfred Stock
Violet Cobb

Robert Alfred Stock
Violet Cobb
💍 1889/3453

Widower
Widow

Gentleman

42
35

Ship Wairarapa
Christchurch

6 days
20 years

Episcopalian Church

89/554

3 January 1889

Rev. R. R. Tosswill, Church of England

No	3
Date of Notice	3 January 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Alfred Stock	Violet Cobb
	💍 1889/3453
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Gentleman
Age	42	35
Dwelling Place	Ship Wairarapa	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Episcopalian Church
Folio	89/554
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. R. Tosswill, Church of England

4 January 1889

Thomas Court Stanley
Louisa Ellen Langford

Thomas Court Stanley
Louisa Ellen Langford
💍 1889/486

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

35
27

Christchurch
Harewood Road

30 years
20 years

St. James Church

89/552

4 January 1889

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

No	4
Date of Notice	4 January 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Court Stanley	Louisa Ellen Langford
	💍 1889/486
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	35	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Harewood Road
Length of Residence	30 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. James Church
Folio	89/552
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. B. Hoare, Church of England

5 January 1889

John Thompson
Emily Catherine Johnston

John Thompson
Emily Catherine Johnston
💍 1889/385

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Machinist

27
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
1 year

House of Rev. J. Plewsie, Lichfield St

89/497

5 January 1889

Rev. J. Plewsie, Presbyterian

No	5
Date of Notice	5 January 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thompson	Emily Catherine Johnston
	💍 1889/385
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Machinist
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	House of Rev. J. Plewsie, Lichfield St
Folio	89/497
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 January 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Plewsie, Presbyterian

8 January 1889

William Thomas Hines
Isabella Callender

William Ths Hines
Isabella Callender
💍 1889/386

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

21
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

21 years
4 years

House of Rev. J. Plewsie, Lichfield St

89/498

8 January 1889

Rev. J. Plewsie, Presbyterian

No	6
Date of Notice	8 January 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Thomas Hines	Isabella Callender
BDM Match (93%)	William Ths Hines	Isabella Callender
	💍 1889/386
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	21	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	21 years	4 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. J. Plewsie, Lichfield St
Folio	89/498
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 January 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Plewsie, Presbyterian

8 January 1889

William Henry Harwood
Agnes Maugon

William Henry Harwood
Agnes Manson
💍 1889/435

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Servant

25
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

25 years
21 years

St. Michaels Church

89/514

8 January 1889

Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

No	7
Date of Notice	8 January 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Harwood	Agnes Maugon
BDM Match (92%)	William Henry Harwood	Agnes Manson
	💍 1889/435
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Servant
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	21 years
Marriage Place	St. Michaels Church
Folio	89/514
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 January 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

12 January 1889

Joseph Batty
Clara Archer

Joseph Batty
Clara Archer
💍 1889/436

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

39
28

Christchurch
Ship Waimate

3 days
6 days

St. Michaels Church

89/515

12 January 1889

Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

No	8
Date of Notice	12 January 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Batty	Clara Archer
	💍 1889/436
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	39	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Ship Waimate
Length of Residence	3 days	6 days
Marriage Place	St. Michaels Church
Folio	89/515
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).