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 1290

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 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
3 December 1889	Alfred Henry Read Mary Jane Munsell	Alfred Henry Read Mary Jane Wimsett 💍 1889/2870	Bachelor Spinster	Ironmonger	25 27	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Marks Church	89/2904		3 December 1889	Revd. R. Coffey
4 December 1889	William John Churchill Kate Andrews	William John Churchill Kate Andrews 💍 1889/2897	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinet Maker	21 19	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Jones, Austin Street	89/2956	Mary Ann Churchill, mother	4 December 1889	Revd. C. Penney
4 December 1889	Cyril Newland Leader Emma Louisa Johnson	Cyril Newland Pedder Emma Louisa Johnson 💍 1889/2911	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	24 22	Johnsonville Wellington	months years	Registrars Office, Wellington	89/2971		4 December 1889	Mr. S. Wyatt
5 December 1889	Frederick Scott Jeffries Winifred Bella Darling	Frederick Scott Jeffries Winifred Bell Darling 💍 1889/2879	Bachelor Spinster	Confectioner	23 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Peters Church	89/2938		5 December 1889	Revd. W. C. Waters
5 December 1889	John William Taylor Catherine Mary Hickson	John W Taylor Catherine May Hickson 💍 1889/3487	Bachelor Widow	Commercial Traveller	42 32	Wellington Lower Hutt	years years	Roman Catholic Church, Lower Hutt	89/3537		5 December 1889	Revd. John Lane
5 December 1889	William Graveson Elizabeth Jane Knowles	William Graveson Elizabeth Jane Knowles 💍 1889/2877	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener	25 25	Wellington Wellington	years 5 weeks	St. Peters Church	89/2936		5 December 1889	Revd. W. C. Waters
6 December 1889	Edgar James Chatham Gertrude Mary Lark	Edgar James Chatwin Gertrude Mary Lark 💍 1889/2848	Bachelor Spinster	Journalist	27 23	Petone Wellington	years 14 days	St. Marks Church	89/2905		6 December 1889	Revd. R. Coffey
6 December 1889	Peter Campbell Maggie McGillivray	Peter Campbell Maggie McGillivray 💍 1889/2836	Bachelor Spinster	Warder	29 33	Wellington Wellington	years 1 week	House of Revd. J. K. Elliott, Oriental Bay	89/2892		6 December 1889	Revd. J. K. Elliott
9 December 1889	James Joseph Coulter Elizabeth Somerville	James Joseph Coulter Elizabeth Somerville 💍 1889/2867	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	26 27	Petone Lower Hutt	years years	St. James Church, Lower Hutt	89/2901		9 December 1889	Revd. Joshua Jones
10 December 1889	George Edward Davis Nora Ellen Mountain	George Edward Davis Nora Ellen Mountain 💍 1889/2919	Bachelor Spinster	Pipemaker	21 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars Office, Wellington	89/2972		10 December 1889	Mr. S. Wyatt
10 December 1889	William Callaghan Ada Tryphena Stanford	William Callaghan Ada Teyphosa Stanford 💍 1889/2878	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	26 23	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Peters Church	89/2937		10 December 1889	Revd. W. C. Waters
12 December 1889	Jesse Taylor Emma Louisa Fidler	Isaac Taylor Emma Louisa Fidler 💍 1889/2849	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	22 21	Wellington Wellington	years 14 days	St. Marks Church	89/2906		12 December 1889	Revd. R. Coffey

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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 1894. More registers will be added as the project continues.

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).