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 1003

District of Rangiora Quarter ending 30 September 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
575	7 July 1889	James Thomas Mary Ann Collie	James Thomas Mary Ann Collie 💍 1889/2229	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer not any	30 24	Fan View, Ashley Ashley Downes	22 years 13 years	Willington House	89/2257		7 July 1889	Rev. Hudson Todd
576	12 July 1889	Hugh McLean Ellen Eliza Todd	Hugh McLean Helen Eliza Todd 💍 1889/3566	Bachelor Spinster	Sea Farer Officer not any	31 26	on Board Ship Light Rangiora	6 years 6 years	Residence of Ellen Eliza Todd	89/2251		12 July 1889	Rev. Jas. Smellie
577	17 July 1889	Daniel Scott Annie McKenzie		Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic Servant	52 29	Loburn Loburn	9 years 3 years	Office of Registrar	89/2255		17 July 1889	A. H. Cunningham
578	13 August 1889	William John Barlow Margaret Chapman	William John Barlow Margaret Chapman 💍 1889/3567	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith Teacher	22 24	Fernside Fernside	4 days 8 days	Dwelling House	89/2252		13 August 1889	Rev. John Chapman
579	13 August 1889	Henry Ford Clara Agnes Hall	Henry Frost Clara Agnes Hall 💍 1889/2221	Widower Spinster	Carpenter Teacher	25 22	Rangiora Rangiora	25 years 1 year	Office of Registrar	89/2256		13 August 1889	Registrar
580	14 August 1889	Henry Thos. Burrell Frances Ann Miller		Bachelor Spinster	Saddler Domestic Servant	26 20	Rangiora Rangiora	21 years 13 years	Dwelling House	89/2253	Arthur W. Miller, Father	14 August 1889	Rev. Jos. H. Gray, Wesleyan Minister
581	20 August 1889	William Stark Catherine McIntosh	William Stark Catherine McIntosh 💍 1889/2217	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer not any	40 30	Southbrook Southbrook	15 years 12 years	Dwelling House	89/2250		20 August 1889	Rev. R. H. McGregor, Presbyterian Minister
582	23 August 1889	Charles H. Gossett Ellen Pope	Charles William Chinnery Ellen Pope 💍 1889/2215	Bachelor Spinster	Flat Draper not any	29 21	Woodend Woodend	5 years 3 days	Church of England	89/2248		23 August 1889	Rev. Chas. H. Gossett, Minister Church of England
583	31 August 1889	George Walton Elizabeth McFarlane	George Watson Elizabeth Macfarlane Shepherd 💍 1889/2220 George Butters Elizabeth Chapman 💍 1889/1378	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter not any	28 21	Rangiora Swannanoa	4 weeks 4 months	Wesleyan Church	89/2254		31 August 1889	Rev. J. H. Gray, Wesleyan Minister
584	3 September 1889	William Hood Edith Press	William Hodgson Edith Pring 💍 1889/2216	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher Dressmaker	29 20	Rangiora Rangiora	5 years 20 years	Church of England	89/2249	Thomas Press, father	3 September 1889	Rev. H. W. Dudley, Minister Church of England
585	16 September 1889	Michael McSweeney Annie McDavitt	Michael McSweeney Annie McDonald 💍 1889/2250	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith not any	24 22	Kaiapoi Flaxlea, Rangiora	2 years 3 years	Roman Catholic Church	89/2263		16 September 1889	The Very Rev. P. L. O'Connor, 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 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).