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 638

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1889 Registrar J. J. Palluison

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

155

30 April 1889

James Walter Tucker
Ada Lucey Holles

James Walter Tucker
Ada Lucy Stokes
💍 1889/1460

Bachelor
Spinster

Gasfitter
Dressmaker

23
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

23 years
19 years

House of Joseph Holles, Park Road

89/1430

Joseph Holles, father

30 April 1889

Rev. W. J. Williams, Wesleyan

No	155
Date of Notice	30 April 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Walter Tucker	Ada Lucey Holles
BDM Match (84%)	James Walter Tucker	Ada Lucy Stokes
	💍 1889/1460
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gasfitter	Dressmaker
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	23 years	19 years
Marriage Place	House of Joseph Holles, Park Road
Folio	89/1430
Consent	Joseph Holles, father
Date of Certificate	30 April 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Williams, Wesleyan

156

30 April 1889

Joseph Firth
Janet McRae

Joseph Firth
Janet McRae
💍 1889/1413

Bachelor
Spinster

Teacher

30
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
1 year

St. Michaels Church

89/1386

30 April 1889

Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

No	156
Date of Notice	30 April 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Firth	Janet McRae
	💍 1889/1413
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Teacher
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	1 year
Marriage Place	St. Michaels Church
Folio	89/1386
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 April 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

157

2 May 1889

Herbert Henry Ward
Nelly Ann Brown

Herbert Henry Ward
Nelly Swinson Brown
💍 1889/1489

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Servant

27
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

27 years
17 years

Registrar's Office

89/1482

2 May 1889

J. J. Palluison, Registrar of Marriages

No	157
Date of Notice	2 May 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Henry Ward	Nelly Ann Brown
BDM Match (87%)	Herbert Henry Ward	Nelly Swinson Brown
	💍 1889/1489
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Servant
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	27 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	89/1482
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 May 1889
Officiating Minister	J. J. Palluison, Registrar of Marriages

158

3 May 1889

Ernest Rhind Anderson
Annie McTaggart Harman

Ernest Rhind Anderson
Anne McTaggert Harman
💍 1889/1420

Bachelor
Spinster

Commission Agent

33
31

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 years
30 years

St. Michaels Church

89/1387

3 May 1889

Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

No	158
Date of Notice	3 May 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Rhind Anderson	Annie McTaggart Harman
BDM Match (95%)	Ernest Rhind Anderson	Anne McTaggert Harman
	💍 1889/1420
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commission Agent
Age	33	31
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 years	30 years
Marriage Place	St. Michaels Church
Folio	89/1387
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 May 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

159

4 May 1889

Thomas Preston Pratt
Catherine Macfarland

Thomas Merton Pratt
Catherine McFarland
💍 1889/1645

Bachelor
Spinster

Seedsman

32
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
8 years

House of Andrew Macfarland, Sydenham

89/1444

4 May 1889

Rev. P. R. Munro, Presbyterian

No	159
Date of Notice	4 May 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Preston Pratt	Catherine Macfarland
BDM Match (88%)	Thomas Merton Pratt	Catherine McFarland
	💍 1889/1645
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seedsman
Age	32	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	8 years
Marriage Place	House of Andrew Macfarland, Sydenham
Folio	89/1444
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 May 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. R. Munro, Presbyterian

160

4 May 1889

David Lusk
Isabella Macfarland

David Lusk
Isabella McFarland
💍 1889/1646

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

29
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
11 years

House of Andrew Macfarland, Hutchinson, Sydenham

89/1445

4 May 1889

Rev. P. R. Munro, Presbyterian

No	160
Date of Notice	4 May 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Lusk	Isabella Macfarland
BDM Match (95%)	David Lusk	Isabella McFarland
	💍 1889/1646
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	11 years
Marriage Place	House of Andrew Macfarland, Hutchinson, Sydenham
Folio	89/1445
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 May 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. R. Munro, Presbyterian

161

4 May 1889

George Henry Lilley
Susan Brown

George Henry Lilley
Susan Brown
💍 1889/1490

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

21
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

11 years
17 years

Registrar's Office

89/1483

4 May 1889

J. W. Parkerson, Registrar

No	161
Date of Notice	4 May 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Lilley	Susan Brown
	💍 1889/1490
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	11 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	89/1483
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 May 1889
Officiating Minister	J. W. Parkerson, Registrar

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).