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 245

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1889 Registrar J W Parkerson

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

12 February 1889

Maurice William Edwards
Ann Wilkinson Seed

Maurice William Edwards
Ann Wilkinson Seed
💍 1889/484

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Servant

30
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
10 years

Congregational Church, Worcester

89/1550

12 February 1889

Rev. J. Hoatson, Congregational

No	41
Date of Notice	12 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Maurice William Edwards	Ann Wilkinson Seed
	💍 1889/484
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Servant
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Worcester
Folio	89/1550
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Hoatson, Congregational

12 February 1889

Joseph Murray
Catherine Mairlaw

Joseph Murray
Catherine Shirlaw
💍 1889/475

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

31
23

Christchurch
Colombo Road, Christchurch

2 years
14 years

House of Andrew Mairlaw

89/1551

12 February 1889

Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

No	42
Date of Notice	12 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Murray	Catherine Mairlaw
BDM Match (94%)	Joseph Murray	Catherine Shirlaw
	💍 1889/475
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Colombo Road, Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	14 years
Marriage Place	House of Andrew Mairlaw
Folio	89/1551
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

12 February 1889

Edwin Howard Harvey
Harriet Garard Going

Edwin Howard Harney
Harriet Garard Goring
💍 1889/507

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

21
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
12 years

Registrars Office

89/1572

12 February 1889

Registrar, J. M. Ollivier

No	43
Date of Notice	12 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Howard Harvey	Harriet Garard Going
BDM Match (95%)	Edwin Howard Harney	Harriet Garard Goring
	💍 1889/507
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	12 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office
Folio	89/1572
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Registrar, J. M. Ollivier

12 February 1889

John Bagley
Jessie Gaul

John Bagley
Jessie Gaul
💍 1889/404

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist

23
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

12 years
11 years

Roman Catholic Church

89/194

Margaret Gaul, Mother

12 February 1889

Rev. J. Cummings, Roman Catholic

No	44
Date of Notice	12 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Bagley	Jessie Gaul
	💍 1889/404
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	12 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	89/194
Consent	Margaret Gaul, Mother
Date of Certificate	12 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Cummings, Roman Catholic

12 February 1889

Arthur Costall de Rouzi
Frances Dora Harman

Arthur Castnot De Renzi
Frances Dora Harman
💍 1889/437

Bachelor
Spinster

Physician

24
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 months
25 years

St. Michaels Church

89/1516

12 February 1889

Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

No	45
Date of Notice	12 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Costall de Rouzi	Frances Dora Harman
BDM Match (85%)	Arthur Castnot De Renzi	Frances Dora Harman
	💍 1889/437
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Physician
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 months	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Michaels Church
Folio	89/1516
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

13 February 1889

Charles Baxter Russell
Mary Cockburn

Charles Baxter Russell
Mary Cockburn
💍 1889/455

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Servant

21
22

Christchurch
Cambridge Terrace, Christchurch

5 years
3 years

Methodist Chapel, Cambridge Terrace

89/1542

13 February 1889

Rev. W. Laycock, Methodist

No	46
Date of Notice	13 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Baxter Russell	Mary Cockburn
	💍 1889/455
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Servant
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Cambridge Terrace, Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Chapel, Cambridge Terrace
Folio	89/1542
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Laycock, Methodist

13 February 1889

Arthur Clement Read
Jessie Catherine Sutherland Gilmour

Arthur Clement Reed
Jessie Catherine Sutherland Gilmour
💍 1889/450

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

24
20

Christchurch
Spreydon

12 years
20 years

House of John Gilmour

89/1538

John Gilmour, Father

13 February 1889

Rev. W. J. Williams, Wesleyan

No	47
Date of Notice	13 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Clement Read	Jessie Catherine Sutherland Gilmour
BDM Match (97%)	Arthur Clement Reed	Jessie Catherine Sutherland Gilmour
	💍 1889/450
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Spreydon
Length of Residence	12 years	20 years
Marriage Place	House of John Gilmour
Folio	89/1538
Consent	John Gilmour, Father
Date of Certificate	13 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Williams, Wesleyan

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 1908. 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).