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 236

District of Kaiapoi Quarter ending 31 March 1890 Registrar Samuel Johnston

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

734

11 January 1890

William Anderson
Mary Ann Jane Anderson

William Anderson
Mary Ann Jane Anderson
💍 1890/371

Widower
Spinster

Saddler
Dressmaker

32
29

Kaiapoi
Kaiapoi

13 years
29 years

The Residence of Mrs Mary Ann Anderson, Under Street, Kaiapoi

90/452

11 January 1890

Rev. Robb Macgregor, Presbyterian

No	734
Date of Notice	11 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Anderson	Mary Ann Jane Anderson
	💍 1890/371
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Saddler	Dressmaker
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Kaiapoi	Kaiapoi
Length of Residence	13 years	29 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of Mrs Mary Ann Anderson, Under Street, Kaiapoi
Folio	90/452
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robb Macgregor, Presbyterian

735

30 January 1890

Charles Alfred Henwood
Mary Elizabeth Morriss

Charles Alfred Henwood
Mary Elizabeth Morriss
💍 1890/382

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Weaver

29
24

Kaiapoi
Kaiapoi

4 years
9 years

The Residence of Samuel Morriss, Black Street, Kaiapoi

90/453

30 January 1890

Rev. P. W. Fairclough, Wesleyan

No	735
Date of Notice	30 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Alfred Henwood	Mary Elizabeth Morriss
	💍 1890/382
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Weaver
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Kaiapoi	Kaiapoi
Length of Residence	4 years	9 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of Samuel Morriss, Black Street, Kaiapoi
Folio	90/453
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. W. Fairclough, Wesleyan

736

30 January 1890

James Stevenson
Maggie Major

James Stevenson
Maggie Major
💍 1890/384

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

21
21

Kaiapoi
Kaiapoi

21 years
6 years

The Residence of William Major, Charles Street, Kaiapoi

90/454

30 January 1890

Rev. Robb Macgregor, Presbyterian

No	736
Date of Notice	30 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Stevenson	Maggie Major
	💍 1890/384
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Kaiapoi	Kaiapoi
Length of Residence	21 years	6 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of William Major, Charles Street, Kaiapoi
Folio	90/454
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robb Macgregor, Presbyterian

737

12 February 1890

Mark Morriss
Sarah Jane Rice

Mark Morriss
Sarah Jane Rice
💍 1890/786

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

23
21

Clarkville
Clarkville

6 years
the whole of England

The Church of England, Clarkville

90/911

12 February 1890

Rev. G. E. Phillips, Church of England

No	737
Date of Notice	12 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Mark Morriss	Sarah Jane Rice
	💍 1890/786
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Clarkville	Clarkville
Length of Residence	6 years	the whole of England
Marriage Place	The Church of England, Clarkville
Folio	90/911
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. E. Phillips, Church of England

738

17 February 1890

John Biggs
Elizabeth Dawson

John Briggs
Elizabeth Dawson
💍 1890/3656

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

24
22

Woodend
Ohoka

13 years
9 years

The Residence of her George Dawson, Rangiora, Ohoka

90/441

17 February 1890

Rev. Joseph H. Gray, Wesleyan

No	738
Date of Notice	17 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Biggs	Elizabeth Dawson
BDM Match (95%)	John Briggs	Elizabeth Dawson
	💍 1890/3656
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Woodend	Ohoka
Length of Residence	13 years	9 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of her George Dawson, Rangiora, Ohoka
Folio	90/441
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. Joseph H. Gray, Wesleyan

739

19 February 1890

Daniel McLaughlin
Eliza Cott

Daniel McLaughlin
Eliza Cox
💍 1890/388

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic servant

46
25

Kaiapoi
Kaiapoi

3 days
25 years

The Registrar's Office, Kaiapoi

90/458

19 February 1890

The Registrar

No	739
Date of Notice	19 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel McLaughlin	Eliza Cott
BDM Match (90%)	Daniel McLaughlin	Eliza Cox
	💍 1890/388
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic servant
Age	46	25
Dwelling Place	Kaiapoi	Kaiapoi
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	The Registrar's Office, Kaiapoi
Folio	90/458
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1890
Officiating Minister	The Registrar

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).