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 177

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 March 1890 Registrar Sydney J. Jago

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

11 February 1890

Charles Toon
Eliza Ann Gibbs

Charles Toon
Eliza Ann Gibbs
💍 1890/503

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic

29
20

Pt Ahuriri
Napier

1 year
12 years at Napier

The Cathedral

90/365

William Gibbs, Father of Eliza Ann Gibbs

11 February 1890

Dean Hovell, Church of England

No	18
Date of Notice	11 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Toon	Eliza Ann Gibbs
	💍 1890/503
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Pt Ahuriri	Napier
Length of Residence	1 year	12 years at Napier
Marriage Place	The Cathedral
Folio	90/365
Consent	William Gibbs, Father of Eliza Ann Gibbs
Date of Certificate	11 February 1890
Officiating Minister	Dean Hovell, Church of England

13 February 1890

Arthur Henry Packer
Emma Rundle

Arthur Henry Packer
Emma Rundle
💍 1890/249

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd

38
21

Taradale
Taradale

3 days
6 years at Marriages Napier

Office of Registrar

90/378

13 February 1890

S. J. Jago, Registrar

No	19
Date of Notice	13 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Henry Packer	Emma Rundle
	💍 1890/249
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd
Age	38	21
Dwelling Place	Taradale	Taradale
Length of Residence	3 days	6 years at Marriages Napier
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar
Folio	90/378
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1890
Officiating Minister	S. J. Jago, Registrar

20 February 1890

Henry Arthur Lowe
Alice Dobbie

Henry Arthur Lowe
Alice Dobbie
💍 1890/779

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

25
19

Napier
Port Ahuriri

18 months Residence of the Revd J. G. Paterson, Napier
5 years

90/902

Andrew Dobbie, father of Alice Dobbie

20 February 1890

J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	20
Date of Notice	20 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Arthur Lowe	Alice Dobbie
	💍 1890/779
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Napier	Port Ahuriri
Length of Residence	18 months Residence of the Revd J. G. Paterson, Napier	5 years
Marriage Place
Folio	90/902
Consent	Andrew Dobbie, father of Alice Dobbie
Date of Certificate	20 February 1890
Officiating Minister	J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

25 February 1890

David Glendeuing
Clara Hannah Gleadow

David Glendinning
Clara Hannah Gleadow
💍 1890/3586

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

26
19

Napier
Port Ahuriri

11 Years Residence of Bride's father, Pt Ahuriri
15 years

90/903

John Bee Gleadow, father of Clara Hannah Gleadow

25 February 1890

Revd J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	21
Date of Notice	25 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Glendeuing	Clara Hannah Gleadow
BDM Match (91%)	David Glendinning	Clara Hannah Gleadow
	💍 1890/3586
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Napier	Port Ahuriri
Length of Residence	11 Years Residence of Bride's father, Pt Ahuriri	15 years
Marriage Place
Folio	90/903
Consent	John Bee Gleadow, father of Clara Hannah Gleadow
Date of Certificate	25 February 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

25 February 1890

Frederick William Hoddinott
Lusanne Bunling

Bachelor
Spinster

Schoolmaster

24
23

Napier
Napier

14 years
21 years

Christhurch Cathedral

90/366

25 February 1890

Dean Hovell, Church of England

No	22
Date of Notice	25 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Hoddinott	Lusanne Bunling
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Schoolmaster
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	14 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Christhurch Cathedral
Folio	90/366
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 February 1890
Officiating Minister	Dean Hovell, Church of England

3 March 1890

Herbert Douglas Knight
Ellen McGlashan

Herbert Douglas Knight
Ellen McGlashan
💍 1890/510

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

31
19

Hastings
Clive

12 years
3 months at Clive

90/372

William McGlashan, father of Ellen McGlashan

3 March 1890

Revd Robert Fraser, Presbyterian

No	23
Date of Notice	3 March 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Douglas Knight	Ellen McGlashan
	💍 1890/510
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	31	19
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Clive
Length of Residence	12 years	3 months at Clive
Marriage Place
Folio	90/372
Consent	William McGlashan, father of Ellen McGlashan
Date of Certificate	3 March 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd Robert Fraser, Presbyterian

4 March 1890

John Henderson
Emma Porteous

John Henderson
Emma Porter
💍 1890/513

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

46
34

Western Spit
Western Spit

18 months
5 months

Presbyterian Church, Pt Ahuriri

90/374

4 March 1890

Revd J. Douglas, Presbyterian

No	24
Date of Notice	4 March 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henderson	Emma Porteous
BDM Match (88%)	John Henderson	Emma Porter
	💍 1890/513
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	46	34
Dwelling Place	Western Spit	Western Spit
Length of Residence	18 months	5 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Pt Ahuriri
Folio	90/374
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd J. Douglas, Presbyterian

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).