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 1017

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 1889 Registrar J. W. Patterson

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

274

29 July 1889

William Alfred Collier
Frances Rolleston Young

William Alfred Collier
Frances Rolleston Young
💍 1889/2281

Spinster

30
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
4 years

St. Johns Church, Christchurch

89/2293

29 July 1889

Rev. J. V. Hoare, Church of England

No	274
Date of Notice	29 July 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Alfred Collier	Frances Rolleston Young
	💍 1889/2281
Condition		Spinster
Profession
Age	30	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Johns Church, Christchurch
Folio	89/2293
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 July 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. V. Hoare, Church of England

275

30 July 1889

William Sheppard Cook
Emma Brouchland

Bachelor
Widow

Cook
Housekeeper

49
38

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
18 months

Registrar's Office, Christchurch (See memo attached)

30 July 1889

Registrar of Marriages, J. W. Patterson

No	275
Date of Notice	30 July 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Sheppard Cook	Emma Brouchland
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Cook	Housekeeper
Age	49	38
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	18 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch (See memo attached)
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 July 1889
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. W. Patterson

276

31 July 1889

William John Harbison
Elizabeth Ann Treeby

William John Harbison
Elizabeth Ann Treeby
💍 1889/2371

Widower
Spinster

Labourer
Cook

45
31

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 days
6 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

89/2359

31 July 1889

Registrar of Marriages, J. W. Patterson

No	276
Date of Notice	31 July 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Harbison	Elizabeth Ann Treeby
	💍 1889/2371
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Cook
Age	45	31
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 days	6 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	89/2359
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 July 1889
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. W. Patterson

277

2 August 1889

William Hewitt Backler
Julia Morgan

William Hewitt
Julia Morgan
💍 1889/2300

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

35
32

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Presbyterian Church, North Belt

89/2288

2 August 1889

Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	277
Date of Notice	2 August 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hewitt Backler	Julia Morgan
BDM Match (82%)	William Hewitt	Julia Morgan
	💍 1889/2300
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	35	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, North Belt
Folio	89/2288
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 August 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

278

2 August 1889

William Francis Williams
Emma Sophia Wright

William Francis Williams
Emma Sophia Wright
💍 1889/2304

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

28
23

Christchurch
Linwood

16 years
23 years

House of Henry Wright, Stevens St.

89/2316

2 August 1889

Rev. H. Irwin, Presbyterian

No	278
Date of Notice	2 August 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Francis Williams	Emma Sophia Wright
	💍 1889/2304
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	16 years	23 years
Marriage Place	House of Henry Wright, Stevens St.
Folio	89/2316
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 August 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Irwin, Presbyterian

279

3 August 1889

Patrick Gill
Annie Reynolds

Patrick Gill
Norah Annie Reynolds
💍 1889/2322

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Servant

27
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 days
7 years

Roman Catholic Church, Barbadoes St.

89/2340

3 August 1889

Rev. J. Cummings, Roman Catholic

No	279
Date of Notice	3 August 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Gill	Annie Reynolds
BDM Match (85%)	Patrick Gill	Norah Annie Reynolds
	💍 1889/2322
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Servant
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 days	7 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Barbadoes St.
Folio	89/2340
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 August 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Cummings, Roman Catholic

280

5 August 1889

Samuel Wallace Crotty
Mary Young Scott

Samuel Wallace Crotty
Mary Young Scott
💍 1889/2296

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

House of Jos. Peacock, R. Brougham St.

89/284

Edward Scott, father

5 August 1889

Rev. L. M. Isitt, Wesleyan

No	280
Date of Notice	5 August 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Wallace Crotty	Mary Young Scott
	💍 1889/2296
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	House of Jos. Peacock, R. Brougham St.
Folio	89/284
Consent	Edward Scott, father
Date of Certificate	5 August 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. M. Isitt, Wesleyan

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).