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 244

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1890 Registrar Henry Adams

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

15 January 1890

Mathew Lougheen
Nellie Ashton

Matthew Longden
Nellie Ashton
💍 1890/117

Widower
Spinster

Fishmonger

47
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

25 years
9 months

St. Michael's Church

90/502

15 January 1890

Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

No	16
Date of Notice	15 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Mathew Lougheen	Nellie Ashton
BDM Match (87%)	Matthew Longden	Nellie Ashton
	💍 1890/117
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Fishmonger
Age	47	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	9 months
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church
Folio	90/502
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Harper, Church of England

16 January 1890

John Calderwood
Sarah Oliff

John Calderwood
Sarah Jane Uliff
💍 1890/3658

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
15 years

St. Andrew's Manse, Tuam Street

90/513

16 January 1890

Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

No	17
Date of Notice	16 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Calderwood	Sarah Oliff
BDM Match (81%)	John Calderwood	Sarah Jane Uliff
	💍 1890/3658
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	15 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Manse, Tuam Street
Folio	90/513
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

17 January 1890

Samuel Asher
Catherine Teresa Baldwin

Samuel Asher
Catherine Teresa Baldwin
💍 1890/394

Bachelor
Spinster

Dealer

26
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
3 years

Registrar's Office

90/540

17 January 1890

Dpty. Registrar of Marriages, Henry Adams

No	18
Date of Notice	17 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Asher	Catherine Teresa Baldwin
	💍 1890/394
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dealer
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	90/540
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Dpty. Registrar of Marriages, Henry Adams

20 January 1890

William Walker
Margaret Webster

William Walker
Margaret Webster
💍 1890/395

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Servant

22
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office

90/541

20 January 1890

Dpty. Registrar of Marriages, Henry Adams

No	19
Date of Notice	20 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Walker	Margaret Webster
	💍 1890/395
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Servant
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	90/541
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Dpty. Registrar of Marriages, Henry Adams

20 January 1890

Edward Pollock
Elizabeth Jane Triggs

Edward Pollock
Elizabeth Jane Triggs
💍 1890/457

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Dressmaker

24
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

16 years
23 years

Registrar's Office

90/544

20 January 1890

Dpty. Registrar of Marriages, Henry Adams

No	20
Date of Notice	20 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Pollock	Elizabeth Jane Triggs
	💍 1890/457
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Dressmaker
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	16 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	90/544
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Dpty. Registrar of Marriages, Henry Adams

20 January 1890

Arthur James Geddes
Alice Emma Edwards

Arthur James Gardner
Alice Emma Edwards
💍 1890/396

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 months
8 months

Registrar's Office

90/542

20 January 1890

Dpty. Registrar of Marriages, Henry Adams

No	21
Date of Notice	20 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur James Geddes	Alice Emma Edwards
BDM Match (90%)	Arthur James Gardner	Alice Emma Edwards
	💍 1890/396
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 months	8 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	90/542
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Dpty. Registrar of Marriages, Henry Adams

21 January 1890

Francis George Bailey
Frances Maria Thompson

Francis George Bailey
Frances Maria Thompson
💍 1890/397

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
12 days

Registrar's Office

90/543

21 January 1890

Dpty. Registrar of Marriages, Henry Adams

No	22
Date of Notice	21 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis George Bailey	Frances Maria Thompson
	💍 1890/397
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	12 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	90/543
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Dpty. Registrar of Marriages, Henry Adams

21 January 1890

Alexander Rattray
Jane Louise Jones

Alexander Rathray
Jeanie Lousa Jones
💍 1890/85

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

23
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

9 years
5 years

St. John's Church, Latimer Square

90/518

Edward Jones, Father

21 January 1890

Rev. J. O. B. Home, Church of England

No	23
Date of Notice	21 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Rattray	Jane Louise Jones
BDM Match (86%)	Alexander Rathray	Jeanie Lousa Jones
	💍 1890/85
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Latimer Square
Folio	90/518
Consent	Edward Jones, Father
Date of Certificate	21 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O. B. Home, 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).