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 504

District of Wanganui Quarter ending 30 June 1889

No	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
10	3 April 1889	Robert Baid Duff Anna Harrison	Robert Basil Duff Hewett Anna Harrison 💍 1889/1247	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	24 21	Fordell Fordell	7 days 21 yrs	In the Church of England	89/1079		3 April 1889	P. L. Cameron, Church of England
11	6 April 1889	John Hewett Mary Gordon	John Hewitt Mary Gordon 💍 1889/1266	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	40 29	Pukiko Taylorville	20 yrs 3 yrs	In the residence of Mr Thomas Gordon, Victoria Avenue, Wanganui	89/1077		6 April 1889	James Treadwell, Presbyterian
12	10 April 1889	John Campbell Agnes Gibson	John Campbell Agnes Gibson 💍 1889/1267	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	45 32	Pukopiko Wanganui	3 mos 60 days	In the residence of Mr Man [illegible], Cowrie Church Place, Wanganui	89/1075		10 April 1889	James Treadwell, Presbyterian
13	8 April 1889	George Andrews Ann Austin	George Andrews Ann Austin 💍 1889/1251	Bachelor Spinster	Station Master	28 22	Wanganui Wanganui	3 days 6 days	In the Church of England	89/1083		18 April 1889	J. W. Chapman, Church of England
14	23 April 1889	Charles Stafford Nixon Annia Louisa Grimes	Charles Stafford Nixon Arril Louisa Grimes 💍 1889/1250	Bachelor Spinster	Custom Officer	33 22	Wanganui Wanganui	4 days 4 days	In the Church of England	89/1082		23 April 1889	T. L. Tudor, Church of England
15	23 April 1889	William Austin Clarinda Foster	William Austin Clarinda Foster 💍 1889/1252	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinet maker	25 24	Wanganui Wanganui	4 days 17 yrs	In the Church of England	89/1084		23 April 1889	T. L. Tudor, Church of England
16	25 April 1889	Henry Robert Maria Tozer	Henry Roberts Maria Tozer 💍 1889/1248	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	29 20	Lougher Valley Wanganui	4 yrs 7 yrs	In the residence of Mr Mary Brough, Harrison Street, Wanganui	89/1081	Mary Brough, mother	25 April 1889	Chas. H. Kirk, Roman Catholic
17	30 April 1889	George Manson Eliana Reneti	George Manson Erana Reneti 💍 1889/1244	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	21 18	Wanganui Karatia	21 yrs 8 yrs	In the residence of Mr Heni Kena, Turakina, Wanganui	89/1080	S. H. Manson, father; Tamps [illegible], mother
18	30 April 1889	Henry H. Michael Blake Marshall Gertrude Charlotte Worgan	Hanrath Michael Blade Marshall Gertrude Charlotte Worgan 💍 1889/1253	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk in Holy orders	24 21	Wanganui Wanganui	4 days 3 yrs	In the Church of England	89/1085		30 April 1889	T. L. Tudor, Church of England
19	6 May 1889	Charles Downs Ellen Henderson	Charles Downs Ellen Danderson 💍 1889/1246	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	29 22	Wanganui Fordell	2 mos 6 mos	In the residence of Mr A. Downs, Wanganui	89/1086		6 May 1889	H. R. Dewsbury, Wesleyan
20	9 May 1889	John Davidson Emma Keys	John Davidson Emma Nellie Robina Heys 💍 1889/1245	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer	39 22	Wanganui Castle Cliff	3 days 2 yrs	In the "Castle Cliff" Hotel, Castle Cliff, Wanganui	89/1087		9 May 1889	James Treadwell, Presbyterian

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 1894. More registers will be added as the project continues.

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).