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 639

District of Quarter ending Registrar J. J. Wilkinson

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

167

David Douglas
Sarah Mills

David Douglas
Sarah Mills
💍 1889/1456

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Domestic Servant

33
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 weeks
3 years

House of Rev. G. Webster

89/1425

7 May 1889

Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

No	167
Date of Notice
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Douglas	Sarah Mills
	💍 1889/1456
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Domestic Servant
Age	33	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 weeks	3 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. G. Webster
Folio	89/1425
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 May 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

168

Hugh Urquhart
Lydia Bundy

Hugh Urquhart
Lydia Bundy
💍 1889/3560

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber

28
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
22 years

House of Rev. J. Blanshard, Lichfield Street, Chch

89/1506

9 May 1889

Rev. J. Blanshard, Presbyterian

No	168
Date of Notice
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Urquhart	Lydia Bundy
	💍 1889/3560
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. J. Blanshard, Lichfield Street, Chch
Folio	89/1506
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 May 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Blanshard, Presbyterian

Allan Gibson Fisher
Harriet Ellen Barnard

Allan Gibson Fisher
Harriet Ellen Barnard
💍 1889/1495

Bachelor
Spinster

Salvation Army Officer
Salvation Army Officer

23
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 yrs
4 days

Salvation Army Barracks, Christchurch

89/1465

6 May 1889

Josiah Parsons Taylor, Salvation Army

No
Date of Notice
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Allan Gibson Fisher	Harriet Ellen Barnard
	💍 1889/1495
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salvation Army Officer	Salvation Army Officer
Age	23	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 yrs	4 days
Marriage Place	Salvation Army Barracks, Christchurch
Folio	89/1465
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 May 1889
Officiating Minister	Josiah Parsons Taylor, Salvation Army

Joseph Albert Horner
Fanny Wild

Joseph Albert Horner
Fanny Wild
💍 1889/1397

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Weaver

22
23

Christchurch
Kaiapoi

22 years
5 yrs

House of Mr. Dann

89/1364

6 May 1889

Rev. Mr. McGregor, Presbyterian

No
Date of Notice
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Albert Horner	Fanny Wild
	💍 1889/1397
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Weaver
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Kaiapoi
Length of Residence	22 years	5 yrs
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Dann
Folio	89/1364
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 May 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. Mr. McGregor, Presbyterian

William McCafferty
Jane Scrimster

William McCaffrey
Mary Jane Simmester
💍 1889/1462

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer

28
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
23 years

Roman Catholic Church, Barbados Street

89/1413

6 May 1889

Rev. J. Cummings, Roman Catholic

No
Date of Notice
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McCafferty	Jane Scrimster
BDM Match (71%)	William McCaffrey	Mary Jane Simmester
	💍 1889/1462
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Barbados Street
Folio	89/1413
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 May 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Cummings, Roman Catholic

James McIntyre Russell
Annie Denne

James McIntyre Russell
Annie Denne
💍 1889/1626

Bachelor
Spinster

Coachbuilder

21
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

21 years
22 years

House of Mr. J. E. Broughton

89/1448

6 May 1889

Rev. W. J. Williams, Wesleyan Methodist

No
Date of Notice
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James McIntyre Russell	Annie Denne
	💍 1889/1626
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coachbuilder
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	21 years	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. J. E. Broughton
Folio	89/1448
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 May 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Williams, Wesleyan Methodist

William Pearson
Agnes Turner

William Wilson
Agnes Black
💍 1889/2381

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

32
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
7 years

Roman Catholic Church, Barbados Street

89/1414

7 May 1889

Rev. J. Cummings, Roman Catholic

No
Date of Notice
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Pearson	Agnes Turner
BDM Match (62%)	William Wilson	Agnes Black
	💍 1889/2381
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	32	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Barbados Street
Folio	89/1414
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 May 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Cummings, Roman 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).