Intentions to Marry, 1890

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840402, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, May 23 2025

Page 149

District of Masterton Quarter ending 31 March 1890

No	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
1	4 January 1890	William August Jessen Christine Johansen	William August Jessen Christine Johansen 💍 1890/2665	Bachelor Spinster	Storekeeper	32 16	Mauriceville Mauriceville	6 1/2 years 12 years	Lutheran Church, Mauriceville	90/328	Daniel Johansen, father	4 January 1890	Rev Mads Christensen, Lutheran Minister
2	6 January 1890	James O'Callaghan Ellen O'Leary	James O'Callaghan Ellen O'Leary 💍 1890/75 James Clarke Mary Ellen O'Leary 💍 1891/3836	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer Cook	28 26	Masterton Masterton	14 days 14 days	Roman Catholic Chapel, Masterton	90/330		6 January 1890	Rev John McKenna, Roman Catholic Priest
3	10 January 1890	Robert Taucher Helen Evans	Robert Taucher Helen Evans 💍 1890/77	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	29 26	Masterton Masterton	13 years 26 years	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Masterton	90/333		10 January 1890	James Aitken, Deputy Registrar
4	21 January 1890	George Sanders Elizabeth Ann Scadden	George Sanders Elizabeth Ann Scadden 💍 1890/76	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	23 16	Masterton Masterton	4 days 9 years	House of George William Scadden, Masterton	90/332	George William Scadden, father	21 January 1890	Rev William Rowse, Wesleyan Methodist
5	21 January 1890	Joseph Donnelly Minnie Wilson	Joseph Donnelly Minie Wilson 💍 1890/74	Bachelor Spinster	Carrier	31 21	Masterton Masterton	4 days 4 days	Roman Catholic Chapel, Masterton	90/329		21 January 1890	Rev John McKenna, Roman Catholic Priest
6	1 February 1890	Andrew Gordon Ada Amelia Grantham	Andrew Gordon Ada Amelia Grantham 💍 1890/3827	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	24 20	Teoreore Manaia	4 years 12 years	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Masterton	90/334	Hannah Maria Stone, mother	1 February 1890	James Aitken, Deputy Registrar
7	20 February 1890	James Alfred Webb Ellen Walker	James Alfred Webb Ellen Walker 💍 1890/80	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor Servant	33 19	Masterton Masterton	18 months 6 weeks	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Masterton	90/337	No one in Colony to give consent. Certificate detained 14 days.	11 March 1890	John Bagge, Registrar
8	1 March 1890	Paul Paulsen Anna Ella Wilton	Paul Paulsen Anna Ella Wilton 💍 1890/78	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd	24 21	Homewood Bideford	2 1/2 years 9 years	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Masterton	90/335		1 March 1890	James Aitken, Deputy Registrar
9	8 March 1890	Joseph James Ashdown Ellen Frances Guyde	Joseph James Ashdown Ellen Frances Gyde 💍 1890/79	Bachelor Spinster	Labour	23 17	Newman Newman	10 months 3 years	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Masterton	90/336	Edward Gyde, Father	8 March 1890	John Bagge, Registrar
10	12 March 1890	George James Russell Margaret Stewart Sandiman Graham	George James Russell Margaret Stewart Sandiman Graham 💍 1890/59	Bachelor Spinster	Painter	22 25	Masterton Masterton	5 years 6 years	House of Mr John Graham	90/338		12 March 1890	Rev David Fulton, Presbyterian Clergyman
11	13 March 1890	John Edward Broadbent Mary Ann Trout	John Edward Broadbent Mary Anne Trout 💍 1890/61	Bachelor Spinster	Groom Servant	26 19	Masterton Masterton	10 years 2 months	House of Mrs Mandell, Queen Street, Masterton	90/340	No one in Colony to give consent. Certificate detained 14 days.	14 March 1890	Rev David Fulton, Clergyman
12	15 March 1890	James Alfred Daysh Jane McKenzie	James Alfred Daysh Jane McKenzie 💍 1890/60	Bachelor Spinster	Labour	23 23	Opaki Te White	3 months 13 years	House of Mr John McKenzie, Te White	90/339		15 March 1890	Rev David Fulton, Presbyterian Clergyman

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 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).