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 251

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1889 Registrar M. V. Rolleston

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

14 March 1889

Corwald Henry Peinel
Clara Neill

Oswald Henry Pinel
Clara Neill
💍 1889/473

Bachelor
Spinster

Civil Servant

31
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

House of Rev. E. Dallaston, Kilmore St.

89/562

14 March 1889

Rev. E. Dallaston, Baptist

No	79
Date of Notice	14 March 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Corwald Henry Peinel	Clara Neill
BDM Match (90%)	Oswald Henry Pinel	Clara Neill
	💍 1889/473
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Civil Servant
Age	31	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	House of Rev. E. Dallaston, Kilmore St.
Folio	89/562
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Dallaston, Baptist

14 March 1889

Oliver Bolton Wood
Annie Catherine Harriet Browne

Oliver Bolton
Annie Catherine Harriet Bourne
💍 1889/399

Bachelor
Spinster

Wood Engraver

29
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
3 months

St. Lukes Church

89/510

14 March 1889

Rev. Arch. Lingard, Church of England

No	80
Date of Notice	14 March 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Oliver Bolton Wood	Annie Catherine Harriet Browne
BDM Match (81%)	Oliver Bolton	Annie Catherine Harriet Bourne
	💍 1889/399
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wood Engraver
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	3 months
Marriage Place	St. Lukes Church
Folio	89/510
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. Arch. Lingard, Church of England

14 March 1889

William James Jenkins
Hannah Malcolm

William James Jenkins
Hannah Malcolmson
💍 1889/443

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Servant

27
23

Waddington
Courtenay

3 years
1 month

House of Henry J. P. Leslie

89/531

14 March 1889

Rev. J. Maxwell, Presbyterian

No	81
Date of Notice	14 March 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Jenkins	Hannah Malcolm
BDM Match (91%)	William James Jenkins	Hannah Malcolmson
	💍 1889/443
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Servant
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Waddington	Courtenay
Length of Residence	3 years	1 month
Marriage Place	House of Henry J. P. Leslie
Folio	89/531
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Maxwell, Presbyterian

19 March 1889

Francis William Hill
Eliza Thompson

Francis William Hill
Eliza Stemson
💍 1889/464

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Cleaner

25
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

9 years
15 years

House of Anthony Hill, Wordsworth St.

89/529

19 March 1889

Rev. H. K. Redstone, Methodist

No	82
Date of Notice	19 March 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis William Hill	Eliza Thompson
BDM Match (86%)	Francis William Hill	Eliza Stemson
	💍 1889/464
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Cleaner
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 years	15 years
Marriage Place	House of Anthony Hill, Wordsworth St.
Folio	89/529
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. K. Redstone, Methodist

19 March 1889

Harry Antill Adley
Lillian Emmeline Wronghton

Harry Antill Adley
Lillian Emma Broughton
💍 1889/459

Bachelor
Spinster

Insurance Clerk

27
24

Opawa
Avonside

4 years
10 years

Church

89/524

19 March 1889

Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Church of England

No	83
Date of Notice	19 March 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Antill Adley	Lillian Emmeline Wronghton
BDM Match (87%)	Harry Antill Adley	Lillian Emma Broughton
	💍 1889/459
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Insurance Clerk
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Opawa	Avonside
Length of Residence	4 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Church
Folio	89/524
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Church of England

19 March 1889

Walter Long
Rachel Rogers

Walter Long
Rachael Rogers
💍 1889/447

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

48
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

9 years
14 years

St. Mary's Church

89/535

19 March 1889

Rev. H. East, Church of England

No	84
Date of Notice	19 March 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Long	Rachel Rogers
BDM Match (96%)	Walter Long	Rachael Rogers
	💍 1889/447
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	48	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 years	14 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church
Folio	89/535
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. East, Church of England

19 March 1889

William Henry Pigott
Ellen Norris

William Henry Pigott
Ellen Novis
💍 1889/446

Bachelor
Spinster

Platelayer
Servant

33
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

14 years
1 year

St. Mary's Church

89/534

19 March 1889

Rev. H. East, Church of England

No	85
Date of Notice	19 March 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Pigott	Ellen Norris
BDM Match (92%)	William Henry Pigott	Ellen Novis
	💍 1889/446
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Platelayer	Servant
Age	33	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	14 years	1 year
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church
Folio	89/534
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. East, Church of England

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).