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 246

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1889 Registrar J. M. Pauling

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

13 February 1889

John Horatio Harris
Charlotte Elizabeth Clarke

John Horatio Harris
Charlotte Elizabeth Clarke
💍 1889/899

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

29
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
25 years

St. Peter's Church, Riccarton

89/856

13 February 1889

Rev. C. Bowen, Church of England

No	48
Date of Notice	13 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Horatio Harris	Charlotte Elizabeth Clarke
	💍 1889/899
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Riccarton
Folio	89/856
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Bowen, Church of England

14 February 1889

James Weatherell
Emily Binnell

James Weatherall
Emily Binnall
💍 1889/448

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook
Dealer

27
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
1 year

House of J. P. Taylor, Manchester St.

89/536

14 February 1889

J. P. Taylor, Col. Sal: Army

No	49
Date of Notice	14 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Weatherell	Emily Binnell
BDM Match (93%)	James Weatherall	Emily Binnall
	💍 1889/448
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook	Dealer
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	House of J. P. Taylor, Manchester St.
Folio	89/536
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1889
Officiating Minister	J. P. Taylor, Col. Sal: Army

14 February 1889

John Thomas Nancarrow
Sarah Jane Colenso Williams

John Thomas Nancarrow
Sara Jane Colends Williams
💍 1889/406

Bachelor
Spinster

Fruiterer

24
25

Christchurch
Linwood

23 years
9 years

House of Rev. F. Williams, Armagh St.

89/496

14 February 1889

Rev. F. Dolamore, Baptist

No	50
Date of Notice	14 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas Nancarrow	Sarah Jane Colenso Williams
BDM Match (94%)	John Thomas Nancarrow	Sara Jane Colends Williams
	💍 1889/406
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fruiterer
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	23 years	9 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. F. Williams, Armagh St.
Folio	89/496
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Dolamore, Baptist

18 February 1889

James Kenneth Paton
Mary Wood

George Beaney
Mary Wood
💍 1889/1796

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

34
32

Christchurch
Linwood

4 days
8 months

House of Wm. Good, Stanmore Road

89/560

18 February 1889

Rev. C. Dallaston, Baptist

No	51
Date of Notice	18 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Kenneth Paton	Mary Wood
BDM Match (61%)	George Beaney	Mary Wood
	💍 1889/1796
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	34	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	4 days	8 months
Marriage Place	House of Wm. Good, Stanmore Road
Folio	89/560
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Dallaston, Baptist

19 February 1889

George Slater
Ellen Jones

George Slater
Ellen Jones
💍 1889/439

Bachelor
Spinster

Land Surveyor

26
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
28 years

St. Michael's Church

89/518

19 February 1889

Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

No	52
Date of Notice	19 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Slater	Ellen Jones
	💍 1889/439
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Land Surveyor
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	28 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church
Folio	89/518
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

20 February 1889

John McGloon
Mary Teresa Enright

John McAloon
Mary Teresa Enright
💍 1889/405

Bachelor
Spinster

Gauger
Servant

29
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

9 years
7 years

Roman Catholic Church

89/495

20 February 1889

Rev. J. Cummings, Roman Catholic

No	53
Date of Notice	20 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McGloon	Mary Teresa Enright
BDM Match (92%)	John McAloon	Mary Teresa Enright
	💍 1889/405
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gauger	Servant
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	89/495
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Cummings, Roman Catholic

20 February 1889

William Henry Holmes
Mary Isabel Atkinson

William Henry Holmes
Mary Isabel Atkinson
💍 1889/466

Bachelor
Spinster

Currier

26
23

Christchurch
Ferry Road

3 days
9 years

House of Mr. Berry, Ferry Road

89/555

20 February 1889

Rev. C. H. Bradbury, Congregational

No	54
Date of Notice	20 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Holmes	Mary Isabel Atkinson
	💍 1889/466
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Currier
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Ferry Road
Length of Residence	3 days	9 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Berry, Ferry Road
Folio	89/555
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Bradbury, Congregational

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).