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 563

District of Napier 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
42	6 June 1889	Alex Rogle Emma Richards	Alexander Boyle Emma Richards 💍 1889/641	Bachelor Spinster	Coach trimmer	24 21	Napier Napier	3 years 5 days	Residence of Vere Bogle, Swan St, Napier	89/1269		6 June 1889	Revd I. G. Paterson, Presbyterian
43	6 June 1889	Ernest Edward Morton Rosa Himmery		Bachelor Spinster	Maltster	24 23	Napier Napier	3 Months 1 Month	Residence of Revd I. G. Paterson, Napier	89/1270		6 June 1889	Revd I. G. Paterson, Presbyterian
44	7 June 1889	John Mannder Charlotte Butwell	John Maunder Neno Charlotte Butwell 💍 1889/653	Widower Widow	Plumber	38 37	Napier Napier	2 years 13 years	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier	89/1257		7 June 1889	S. D. Ingo, Registrar
45	11 June 1889	Walter Franklin Emily Williams	Walter Franklin Emily Williams 💍 1889/1333	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	33 19	Clive Clive	4 years 13 years	The Cathedral, Napier	89/1248	Jas Williams, Father	11 June 1889	Revd De Berdt Hovell, Church of England
46	11 June 1889	Seed Wm Bundy Ann Holland	Jacob William Bundy Ann Holland 💍 1889/643	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd Domestic	49 39	Havelock N. Napier	12 years 6 Months	Residence of Mr Riddle at Port Ahuriri	89/1271		11 June 1889	Revd I. G. Paterson, Presbyterian
47	24 June 1889	Mathew Davidson Clara Spriggs Jane Arnold	Matthew Davidson Spriggs Clara Jane Arnold 💍 1889/654	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinet Maker	26 23	Napier Napier	5 3/4 years 9 1/2 years	Wesleyan Church, Napier	89/1258		24 June 1889	Revd C. B. Beecroft, Wesleyan
48	24 June 1889	Robt McMillan Annie Barry	Robert MacMillan Annie Barry 💍 1889/1337	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd Domestic	24 24	Napier Napier	3 years 5 years	Roman Catholic Chapel, Napier	89/1252		24 June 1889	Father Grogan, R C Priest
49	25 June 1889	George Ridley Sarah Jane Harpham	George Ridley Sarah Jane Harpham 💍 1889/657	Widower Spinster	Farmer	40 28	Taradale Taradale	6 1/2 years 2 3/4 years	All Saints Church, Taradale	89/1261		25 June 1889	Revd C. L. Luke, Ch. of England
50	26 June 1889	Sebastian Gros Histender Poppelwell Margaret Pearse	Sebastian George Alex Pappelwell Margaret Pearse 💍 1889/1336	Bachelor Spinster	Journalist	28 26	Napier Napier	1 1/2 years 1 1/2 years	Roman Catholic Chapel, Napier	89/1251		26 June 1889	Father Grogan, R C Priest

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 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).