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 443

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 June 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

177

10 May 1889

William Stephen Wilson
Anne Keziah Wilson

Bachelor
Widow

Bricklayer

50
45

Onehunga
Auckland

23 years
30 months

St Pauls Church

89/1897

10 May 1889

Rev. R. M. Field, Ch. of England

No	177
Date of Notice	10 May 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Stephen Wilson	Anne Keziah Wilson
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Bricklayer
Age	50	45
Dwelling Place	Onehunga	Auckland
Length of Residence	23 years	30 months
Marriage Place	St Pauls Church
Folio	89/1897
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 May 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Field, Ch. of England

178

9 May 1889

Alfred Robert Mainwaring
Maria Emily Margaret Phillipps

Alfred Pooley
Mary Emily Margaret Phillipps
💍 1889/1859

Bachelor
Spinster

Musician

49
37

Devonport
Auckland

7 years
4 years

St Matthews Church

89/1820

9 May 1889

Rev. W. Tebbs, Ch. of England

No	178
Date of Notice	9 May 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Robert Mainwaring	Maria Emily Margaret Phillipps
BDM Match (63%)	Alfred Pooley	Mary Emily Margaret Phillipps
	💍 1889/1859
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Musician
Age	49	37
Dwelling Place	Devonport	Auckland
Length of Residence	7 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St Matthews Church
Folio	89/1820
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 May 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Tebbs, Ch. of England

179

14 May 1889

George Barr Hutchinson
Jane Jamieson

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

25
20

Victoria Street
Victoria Street

25 years
20 years

Dwelling of George Barr Hutchinson, Parnell

89/1938

Jane Jamieson, Father

14 May 1889

Rev. R. F. Macnicol, Presbyterian

No	179
Date of Notice	14 May 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Barr Hutchinson	Jane Jamieson
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Victoria Street	Victoria Street
Length of Residence	25 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of George Barr Hutchinson, Parnell
Folio	89/1938
Consent	Jane Jamieson, Father
Date of Certificate	14 May 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. F. Macnicol, Presbyterian

180

15 May 1889

James Thomas Whitecliffe
Ellen Whitecliffe

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

32
26

Ponsonby
Ponsonby

8 years
25 years

Dwelling of Andrew Whitecliffe, Ireland

89/1939

15 May 1889

Rev. R. F. Macnicol, Presbyterian

No	180
Date of Notice	15 May 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Thomas Whitecliffe	Ellen Whitecliffe
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	Ponsonby	Ponsonby
Length of Residence	8 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Andrew Whitecliffe, Ireland
Folio	89/1939
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 May 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. F. Macnicol, Presbyterian

181

20 May 1889

Nathaniel Murphey
Johanna Ellen Milow

Nathaniel Murphy
Johanna Fletcher
💍 1889/1033

Bachelor
Spinster

Shopman

30
24

Otahuhu
Otahuhu

30 years
3 years

St Benedicts Church

89/1919

20 May 1889

Rev. W. Edward, R. Catholic

No	181
Date of Notice	20 May 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Nathaniel Murphey	Johanna Ellen Milow
BDM Match (73%)	Nathaniel Murphy	Johanna Fletcher
	💍 1889/1033
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shopman
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Otahuhu	Otahuhu
Length of Residence	30 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St Benedicts Church
Folio	89/1919
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 May 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Edward, R. Catholic

182

21 May 1889

Daniel Reidy
Christina Thompson

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman

32
28

Dargaville
Mt Eden

7 years
7 years

St Benedicts Church

89/1953

21 May 1889

Rev. R. E. O'Hara, R. Catholic

No	182
Date of Notice	21 May 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Reidy	Christina Thompson
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman
Age	32	28
Dwelling Place	Dargaville	Mt Eden
Length of Residence	7 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St Benedicts Church
Folio	89/1953
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 May 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. E. O'Hara, R. Catholic

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).