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 242

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1890 Registrar M. Paulserson

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

2 January 1890

Walter Adams
Lillia Ann Hill

Walter Adams
Lillia Ann Hill
💍 1890/405

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

34
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

9 years
10 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

90/537

2 January 1890

Registrar of Marriage, J.W. Parkerston

No	1
Date of Notice	2 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Adams	Lillia Ann Hill
	💍 1890/405
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	34	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	90/537
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriage, J.W. Parkerston

2 January 1890

John Ashton
Annie Fawcett

John Ashton
Annie Fawcett
💍 1890/84

Bachelor
Spinster

Hotelkeeper

25
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
21 years

St. John's Church, Latimer Square

90/577

2 January 1890

Rev. J. O'B. Hoare, Church of England

No	2
Date of Notice	2 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Ashton	Annie Fawcett
	💍 1890/84
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hotelkeeper
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	21 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Latimer Square
Folio	90/577
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'B. Hoare, Church of England

3 January 1890

James Haughey
Jane Moran

James Haughey
Jane Moran
💍 1890/376

James Keeney
Ellen Moran
💍 1890/785

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

26 years
2 years

St. Mary's Church, Manchester Street

90/470

3 January 1890

Rev. Father des Chemain, Roman Catholic

No	3
Date of Notice	3 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Haughey	Jane Moran
	💍 1890/376
BDM Match (63%)	James Keeney	Ellen Moran
	💍 1890/785
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	26 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Manchester Street
Folio	90/470
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father des Chemain, Roman Catholic

3 January 1890

Joseph Hooper
Eliza Cairns

Joseph Hooper
Eliza Cairns
💍 1890/763

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Tailoress

24
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

24 years
6 years

House of Peter Cairns, Wordsworth Street

90/884

3 January 1890

Rev. J. Elmslie, Presbyterian

No	4
Date of Notice	3 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Hooper	Eliza Cairns
	💍 1890/763
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Tailoress
Age	24	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	24 years	6 years
Marriage Place	House of Peter Cairns, Wordsworth Street
Folio	90/884
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Elmslie, Presbyterian

4 January 1890

Joseph Speight
Charlotte Johnston

Joseph Speight
Charlotte Johnstone
💍 1890/86

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

44
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
1 year

St. John's Church, Christchurch

90/519

4 January 1890

Rev. J. O'B. Hoare, Church of England

No	5
Date of Notice	4 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Speight	Charlotte Johnston
BDM Match (97%)	Joseph Speight	Charlotte Johnstone
	💍 1890/86
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	44	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	1 year
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Christchurch
Folio	90/519
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'B. Hoare, Church of England

6 January 1890

William Boyd
Mary Glenman

William Boyd
Mary Glennan
💍 1890/116

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer

24
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 months
12 years

St. Michael's Church, Oxford Terrace

90/501

6 January 1890

Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

No	6
Date of Notice	6 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Boyd	Mary Glenman
BDM Match (96%)	William Boyd	Mary Glennan
	💍 1890/116
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 months	12 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Oxford Terrace
Folio	90/501
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

6 January 1890

Thomas Herrick
Florence Ada Green

Thomas Herrick
Florence Ada Green
💍 1890/762

Bachelor
Spinster

Missionary
Dressmaker

27
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
16 years

St. Paul's Church, Cashel Street

90/883

6 January 1890

Rev. J. Uncle, Presbyterian

No	7
Date of Notice	6 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Herrick	Florence Ada Green
	💍 1890/762
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Missionary	Dressmaker
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	16 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Cashel Street
Folio	90/883
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Uncle, Presbyterian

7 January 1890

Albert Freeman
Emma Isabel Birss

Albert Freeman
Emma Isabel Brown
💍 1890/115

Bachelor
Spinster

Road Board Clerk

27
32

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
5 weeks

St. Michael's Church, Oxford Terrace

90/500

7 January 1890

Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

No	8
Date of Notice	7 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Freeman	Emma Isabel Birss
BDM Match (88%)	Albert Freeman	Emma Isabel Brown
	💍 1890/115
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Road Board Clerk
Age	27	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	5 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Oxford Terrace
Folio	90/500
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

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).