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 515

District of Palmerston North Quarter ending 30 June 1889 Registrar Robert North Keeling

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

4 May 1889

Edward Collenas
Ada Mary Moss

Edward Elliness
Ada Mary Moss
💍 1889/1141

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

23 years
18 years

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
3 months

Registrars Office Palmerston N.

89/1106

Driff Maught, Mother

4 May 1889

Robert North Keeling, Registrar Palmerston North

No	20
Date of Notice	4 May 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Collenas	Ada Mary Moss
BDM Match (83%)	Edward Elliness	Ada Mary Moss
	💍 1889/1141
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	23 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	3 months
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Palmerston N.
Folio	89/1106
Consent	Driff Maught, Mother
Date of Certificate	4 May 1889
Officiating Minister	Robert North Keeling, Registrar Palmerston North

15 May 1889

Frederick Hooper Smith
Mary Selina Reece

Frederick Cooper Smith
Mary Gobbie Reeve
💍 1889/1142

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

32 years
22 years

Jackeytown
Jackeytown

3 months
1 month

Registrars Office Palmerston N.

89/1107

15 May 1889

Robert North Keeling, Registrar Palmerston North

No	21
Date of Notice	15 May 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Hooper Smith	Mary Selina Reece
BDM Match (77%)	Frederick Cooper Smith	Mary Gobbie Reeve
	💍 1889/1142
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	32 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Jackeytown	Jackeytown
Length of Residence	3 months	1 month
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Palmerston N.
Folio	89/1107
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 May 1889
Officiating Minister	Robert North Keeling, Registrar Palmerston North

16 May 1889

Charles Richard Hall
Mary Ethel Goode

Charlie Richard Hill
Mary Ethel Goode
💍 1889/1137

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

21 years
21 years

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

5 months
20 months

House of Mr. Hankins

89/1102

16 May 1889

Rev. A. Mr. Wright, Presbyterian Minister Palmerston North

No	22
Date of Notice	16 May 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Richard Hall	Mary Ethel Goode
BDM Match (93%)	Charlie Richard Hill	Mary Ethel Goode
	💍 1889/1137
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	21 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	5 months	20 months
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Hankins
Folio	89/1102
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 May 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Mr. Wright, Presbyterian Minister Palmerston North

22 May 1889

Alfred Goldsmith
Minnie Appleton

Alfred Goldfinch
Minnie Eggleton
💍 1889/1139

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23 years
21

Sanson
Palmerston North

6 years
1 year

House of Mr. G. Goldsmith Palmerston N.

89/1104

22 May 1889

Rev. W. Tinsley, Wesleyan Minister Palmerston North

No	23
Date of Notice	22 May 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Goldsmith	Minnie Appleton
BDM Match (78%)	Alfred Goldfinch	Minnie Eggleton
	💍 1889/1139
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23 years	21
Dwelling Place	Sanson	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	6 years	1 year
Marriage Place	House of Mr. G. Goldsmith Palmerston N.
Folio	89/1104
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 May 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Tinsley, Wesleyan Minister Palmerston North

24 May 1889

Edward Lawrence
Anna Prosser

Edward Lawrence
Anna Bogun
💍 1889/1846

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

28 years
21 years

Ashurst
Ashurst

2 years
5 years

All Saints Church Palmerston N.

89/1824

24 May 1889

Rev. H. P. D. Hasted, Anglican Minister Palmerston North

No	24
Date of Notice	24 May 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Lawrence	Anna Prosser
BDM Match (75%)	Edward Lawrence	Anna Bogun
	💍 1889/1846
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	28 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Ashurst	Ashurst
Length of Residence	2 years	5 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church Palmerston N.
Folio	89/1824
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 May 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. P. D. Hasted, Anglican Minister Palmerston North

6 June 1889

John Uke
Mary Ann Drawbridge

John Oke
Mary Ann Davison
💍 1889/1143

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

29 years
22 years

Karangi
Singhburn

3 days
11 years

Registrars Office Palmerston N.

89/1108

6 June 1889

Robert North Keeling, Registrar Palmerston North

No	25
Date of Notice	6 June 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Uke	Mary Ann Drawbridge
BDM Match (75%)	John Oke	Mary Ann Davison
	💍 1889/1143
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	29 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Karangi	Singhburn
Length of Residence	3 days	11 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Palmerston N.
Folio	89/1108
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 June 1889
Officiating Minister	Robert North Keeling, Registrar Palmerston North

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).