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 050

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 1889

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

17 February 1889

William Harding
Christine Hamilton

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

26
23

Valley Road
Mt Roskill

5 years
9 months

Dwelling of Mr Rich Mitchell

89/55

12 February 1889

Rev B. L. Thomas Cong. Indept.

No	55
Date of Notice	17 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Harding	Christine Hamilton
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Valley Road	Mt Roskill
Length of Residence	5 years	9 months
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mr Rich Mitchell
Folio	89/55
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev B. L. Thomas Cong. Indept.

15 February 1889

James Sampson
Ellen Heenan

James Guerin
Ellen Phelan
💍 1890/452

James Kirly
Ellen Hogan
💍 1889/3577

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

36
22

Cambridge
Mauku

20 years
22 years

Church

89/99

15 February 1889

Rev W. Nelson Ch of England

No	56
Date of Notice	15 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Sampson	Ellen Heenan
BDM Match (64%)	James Guerin	Ellen Phelan
	💍 1890/452
BDM Match (61%)	James Kirly	Ellen Hogan
	💍 1889/3577
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	36	22
Dwelling Place	Cambridge	Mauku
Length of Residence	20 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Church
Folio	89/99
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev W. Nelson Ch of England

5 February 1889

Elijah Sutcliffe
Jemima White

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor

31
19

Wellington Street
North Shore

31 years
3 months

St Matthews Church

89/30

Henry White Father

15 February 1889

Rev W. Tibbs Ch of England

No	57
Date of Notice	5 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Elijah Sutcliffe	Jemima White
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor
Age	31	19
Dwelling Place	Wellington Street	North Shore
Length of Residence	31 years	3 months
Marriage Place	St Matthews Church
Folio	89/30
Consent	Henry White Father
Date of Certificate	15 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev W. Tibbs Ch of England

15 February 1889

William Fothergill
Sarah Simpson

William Fothergill
Sarah Simpson
💍 1889/630

William McKenzie
Mary Simpson
💍 1889/988

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

38
33

East Timaru
Ponsonby

10 years
33 years

Dwelling of James Simpson Currandura

89/83

15 February 1889

Rev R. J. Smith P. Methodist

No	58
Date of Notice	15 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Fothergill	Sarah Simpson
	💍 1889/630
BDM Match (66%)	William McKenzie	Mary Simpson
	💍 1889/988
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	38	33
Dwelling Place	East Timaru	Ponsonby
Length of Residence	10 years	33 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of James Simpson Currandura
Folio	89/83
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev R. J. Smith P. Methodist

16 February 1889

Robert J. Lowman
Mary Ann Lindsay

Bachelor
Spinster

Coal Dealer

26
28

Parnell
Ponsonby

1 year
20 years

Dwelling of Rev. J. Buller

89/26

16 February 1889

Rev J. Buller Presbyterian

No	59
Date of Notice	16 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert J. Lowman	Mary Ann Lindsay
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coal Dealer
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Parnell	Ponsonby
Length of Residence	1 year	20 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Rev. J. Buller
Folio	89/26
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Buller Presbyterian

16 February 1889

John Strang
Mary Ann Compton

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer
Assistant

21
21

Auckland
Auckland

4 years
2 years

Dwelling of Mrs Elizabeth Campton

89/53

16 February 1889

Mr F. Aldridge Church of Christ

No	60
Date of Notice	16 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Strang	Mary Ann Compton
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer	Assistant
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Mrs Elizabeth Campton
Folio	89/53
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Mr F. Aldridge Church of Christ

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).