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 248

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1890 Registrar J. W. Parkerson

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

13 February 1890

William Gold
Johann Wilson

William Gold
Johan Wilson
💍 1890/83

William Colvin
Annie Wilson
💍 1890/3666

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic Servant

32
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

14 days
3 days

House of Mr P. R. Munro

90/516

13 February 1890

Rev. P. R. Munro

No	48
Date of Notice	13 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Gold	Johann Wilson
BDM Match (96%)	William Gold	Johan Wilson
	💍 1890/83
BDM Match (63%)	William Colvin	Annie Wilson
	💍 1890/3666
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic Servant
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	14 days	3 days
Marriage Place	House of Mr P. R. Munro
Folio	90/516
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. R. Munro

14 February 1890

Isaac Robinson
Sophia Shepherd

Isaac Robinson
Sophia Shepherd
💍 1890/103

Bachelor
Spinster

Corn dealer

38
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
4 years

House of Richd. Shepherd, Windmill Rd.

90/488

14 February 1890

Rev. A. R. Fitchett, Wesleyan

No	49
Date of Notice	14 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Isaac Robinson	Sophia Shepherd
	💍 1890/103
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Corn dealer
Age	38	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	House of Richd. Shepherd, Windmill Rd.
Folio	90/488
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. R. Fitchett, Wesleyan

17 February 1890

William Walter Davey
Mary Ellen Stevenson

William Walter Davey
Mary Ellen Stevenson
💍 1890/2680

Bachelor
Spinster

Clothier

27
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 days
21 years

Avonside Church

90/461

17 February 1890

Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Church of England

No	50
Date of Notice	17 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Walter Davey	Mary Ellen Stevenson
	💍 1890/2680
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clothier
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 days	21 years
Marriage Place	Avonside Church
Folio	90/461
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Church of England

17 February 1890

James Matthew Rodger Jack
Elizabeth Jane Hart

James Matthew Rodger Jack
Elizabeth Jane Hart
💍 1890/475

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

26
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 years
21 years

Registrars Office, Christchurch

90/548

17 February 1890

Registrar of Marriages, J. W. Parkerson

No	51
Date of Notice	17 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Matthew Rodger Jack	Elizabeth Jane Hart
	💍 1890/475
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Christchurch
Folio	90/548
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1890
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. W. Parkerson

17 February 1890

Arthur John Birdling
Emily Agnes Calleghan

Arthur John Birdling
Emily Agnes Callaghan
💍 1890/3659

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

26 years
14 days

St. John's Church, Ch Ch

90/520

17 February 1890

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

No	52
Date of Notice	17 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur John Birdling	Emily Agnes Calleghan
BDM Match (98%)	Arthur John Birdling	Emily Agnes Callaghan
	💍 1890/3659
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	26 years	14 days
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Ch Ch
Folio	90/520
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O. B. Hoare, Church of England

20 February 1890

William Brown
Isabella Arbuckle

William Brown
Isabella Arbuckle
💍 1890/121

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

31
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Wesleyan Church, Durham Street

90/482

20 February 1890

Rev. W. Morley, Wesleyan

No	53
Date of Notice	20 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Brown	Isabella Arbuckle
	💍 1890/121
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	31	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Durham Street
Folio	90/482
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Morley, Wesleyan

21 February 1890

Joseph Blofield Buzz
Maude Louisa Hicks

Joseph Blofield Bugg
Maude Louisa Wicks
💍 1890/381

Bachelor
Spinster

Clicker
Tailoress

25
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

25 years
22 years

St. Luke's Church, Manchester Street

90/475

21 February 1890

The Archdeacon Lingard, Church of England

No	54
Date of Notice	21 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Blofield Buzz	Maude Louisa Hicks
BDM Match (92%)	Joseph Blofield Bugg	Maude Louisa Wicks
	💍 1890/381
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clicker	Tailoress
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Manchester Street
Folio	90/475
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1890
Officiating Minister	The Archdeacon Lingard, 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).