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 210

District of Greymouth Quarter ending 31 March 1889 Registrar Andrew O. Thomson

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

9 February 1889

John Henry Baucke
Edith Georgina Blick

John Henry Bancke
Edith Georgina Blick
💍 1889/378

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

26
17

Kumara
Greymouth

4 years
4 mos.

In the office of the Registrar of marriages, Kumara

89/465

Elizabeth Pearl (mother)

9 February 1889

A. D. Thomson (Registrar)

No	10
Date of Notice	9 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Baucke	Edith Georgina Blick
BDM Match (97%)	John Henry Bancke	Edith Georgina Blick
	💍 1889/378
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	26	17
Dwelling Place	Kumara	Greymouth
Length of Residence	4 years	4 mos.
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of marriages, Kumara
Folio	89/465
Consent	Elizabeth Pearl (mother)
Date of Certificate	9 February 1889
Officiating Minister	A. D. Thomson (Registrar)

21 February 1889

William Daly Carrington
Fanny Steer

William Daly Revington
Frances Fanny Steer
💍 1889/413

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

31
23

Greymouth
Greymouth

4 years
4 years

In the residence of Mr. Wm. Steer

89/451

21 February 1889

Rev. C. Griffin (Wesleyan)

No	11
Date of Notice	21 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Daly Carrington	Fanny Steer
BDM Match (70%)	William Daly Revington	Frances Fanny Steer
	💍 1889/413
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Mr. Wm. Steer
Folio	89/451
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Griffin (Wesleyan)

26 February 1889

George Wacker Ross
Annie Turner

George Walker Ross
Annie Turner
💍 1889/414

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

32
24

Greymouth
Greymouth

3 days
4 years

In the residence of Mr. D. Olson, Kumara

89/452

26 February 1889

Rev. C. Griffin (Wesleyan)

No	11
Date of Notice	26 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Wacker Ross	Annie Turner
BDM Match (97%)	George Walker Ross	Annie Turner
	💍 1889/414
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	32	24
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Mr. D. Olson, Kumara
Folio	89/452
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Griffin (Wesleyan)

2 March 1889

Richard Jones William
Mary Bourke

Richard John Williams
Mary Bourke
💍 1889/415

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

23
22

Cobden
Cobden

12 mos.
2 years

In the residence of Mr. James Bourke

89/453

2 March 1889

Rev. C. Griffin (Wesleyan)

No	12
Date of Notice	2 March 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Jones William	Mary Bourke
BDM Match (91%)	Richard John Williams	Mary Bourke
	💍 1889/415
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Cobden	Cobden
Length of Residence	12 mos.	2 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Mr. James Bourke
Folio	89/453
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Griffin (Wesleyan)

6 March 1889

William James Lackey Worthley
Sarah Hartshorne

William James Tonking Wathley
Sarah Hartshorne
💍 1889/416

Widower
Widow

Miner

32
31

Taylorville
Taylorville

18 mos.
2 1/2 years

At the residence of Rev. C. Griffin

89/454

6 March 1889

Rev. C. Griffin (Wesleyan)

No	13
Date of Notice	6 March 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Lackey Worthley	Sarah Hartshorne
BDM Match (86%)	William James Tonking Wathley	Sarah Hartshorne
	💍 1889/416
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Miner
Age	32	31
Dwelling Place	Taylorville	Taylorville
Length of Residence	18 mos.	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Rev. C. Griffin
Folio	89/454
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Griffin (Wesleyan)

7 March 1889

David Hooley
Janet Binnie

David Hooley
Janet Binnie
💍 1889/360

Bachelor
Spinster

Coal miner

26
23

Brunnerton
Brunnerton

2 years
2 years

In the residence of Rev. B. J. Westbrook, Greymouth

89/462

7 March 1889

Rev. B. J. Westbrook (Presbyterian)

No	14
Date of Notice	7 March 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Hooley	Janet Binnie
	💍 1889/360
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coal miner
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Brunnerton	Brunnerton
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Rev. B. J. Westbrook, Greymouth
Folio	89/462
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 March 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. J. Westbrook (Presbyterian)

14 March 1889

Theodor Schubert
Sarah Elizabeth Ellis

Theodor Schubert
Sarah Elizabeth Ellis
💍 1889/379

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook
Dressmaker

29
24

Greymouth
Greymouth

18 months
3 months

In the office of the Regr. of marriages, Greymouth

89/466

14 March 1889

A. D. Thomson (Registrar)

No	15
Date of Notice	14 March 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Theodor Schubert	Sarah Elizabeth Ellis
	💍 1889/379
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook	Dressmaker
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	18 months	3 months
Marriage Place	In the office of the Regr. of marriages, Greymouth
Folio	89/466
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1889
Officiating Minister	A. D. Thomson (Registrar)

15 March 1889

Frederick Austin
Emily Dowlinjg Forrest

Frederick Austin
Emily Dowling Forrest
💍 1889/422

Widower
Widow

Butcher

53
42

Greymouth
Greymouth

19 years
16 years

At the residence of Mr. Frederick Austin, Chapel St. Greymouth

89/460

15 March 1889

Rev. I. B. Maclean (Church of England)

No	16
Date of Notice	15 March 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Austin	Emily Dowlinjg Forrest
BDM Match (98%)	Frederick Austin	Emily Dowling Forrest
	💍 1889/422
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Butcher
Age	53	42
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	19 years	16 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Mr. Frederick Austin, Chapel St. Greymouth
Folio	89/460
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. B. Maclean (Church of England)

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).