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 379

District of Riverton Quarter ending 31 March 1890 Registrar Alexander Millar Eyes

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

270

8 January 1890

Richard Newton
Susan Hopgood

Richard Newton
Susan Hopgood
💍 1890/619

Bachelor
Widow

Laborer
Storekeeper

41 years
39 years

Colac Bay
Colac Bay

5 years
8 years

The House of Mrs Caroline Elizabeth Howes, Riverton

90/807

8 January 1890

Rev. S.B. Fellows (Wesleyan)

No	270
Date of Notice	8 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Newton	Susan Hopgood
	💍 1890/619
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Laborer	Storekeeper
Age	41 years	39 years
Dwelling Place	Colac Bay	Colac Bay
Length of Residence	5 years	8 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mrs Caroline Elizabeth Howes, Riverton
Folio	90/807
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. S.B. Fellows (Wesleyan)

271

17 January 1890

John Veitch
Elizabeth Matheson

John Veitch
Elizabeth Mathieson
💍 1890/617

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd

27 years
22 years

Wairio
Wairio

4 years
5 years

The house of Mr Thomas Matheson, Wairio

90/805

17 January 1890

Rev. Robt Ewen (Presbyterian)

No	271
Date of Notice	17 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Veitch	Elizabeth Matheson
BDM Match (97%)	John Veitch	Elizabeth Mathieson
	💍 1890/617
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd
Age	27 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Wairio	Wairio
Length of Residence	4 years	5 years
Marriage Place	The house of Mr Thomas Matheson, Wairio
Folio	90/805
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robt Ewen (Presbyterian)

272

24 January 1890

Noah Keen
Janet Hood

Noah Keen
Janet Hood
💍 1890/615

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24 years
22 years

Riverton
Riverton

5 years
22 years

The house of Mr Ellen Boiven, Riverton

90/803

24 January 1890

Rev. Thos Heave (Presbyterian)

No	272
Date of Notice	24 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Noah Keen	Janet Hood
	💍 1890/615
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Riverton
Length of Residence	5 years	22 years
Marriage Place	The house of Mr Ellen Boiven, Riverton
Folio	90/803
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos Heave (Presbyterian)

273

11 February 1890

Thomas Brown
Margaret McIntosh

Thomas Brown
Margaret McIntosh
💍 1890/618

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

28 years
22 years

Wairio
Wairio

3 days
15 years

At the house of Mr Gilroy, Wairio

90/806

11 February 1890

Rev. Robt Ewen (Presbyterian)

No	273
Date of Notice	11 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Brown	Margaret McIntosh
	💍 1890/618
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	28 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Wairio	Wairio
Length of Residence	3 days	15 years
Marriage Place	At the house of Mr Gilroy, Wairio
Folio	90/806
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robt Ewen (Presbyterian)

274

14 February 1890

Walter Alexander
Dorothy Rogers Agnes Henry

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

24 years
24 years

Riverton
Riverton

18 months
14 years

The house of Mr Francis Henry at Oraki in the County of Wallace

90/808

14 February 1890

Rev. S.B. Fellows (Wesleyan)

No	274
Date of Notice	14 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Alexander	Dorothy Rogers Agnes Henry
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	24 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Riverton
Length of Residence	18 months	14 years
Marriage Place	The house of Mr Francis Henry at Oraki in the County of Wallace
Folio	90/808
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. S.B. Fellows (Wesleyan)

275

24 February 1890

Samuel Johnston
Agnes Templeton

Samuel Johnston
Agnes Templeton
💍 1890/616

Bachelor
Spinster

Station Manager

38 years
28 years

Waimatuku
Waimatuku

3 days
17 years

In the house of John Templeton, Sea View, Waimatuku

90/804

24 February 1890

Rev. Thos Heave (Presbyterian)

No	275
Date of Notice	24 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Johnston	Agnes Templeton
	💍 1890/616
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Station Manager
Age	38 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Waimatuku	Waimatuku
Length of Residence	3 days	17 years
Marriage Place	In the house of John Templeton, Sea View, Waimatuku
Folio	90/804
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos Heave (Presbyterian)

276

26 February 1890

John McNickel
Ann Ford

John McNickel
Ann Ford
💍 1890/609

Widower
Spinster

Hotelkeeper

45 years
29 years

Riverton
Riverton

8 months
8 months

In the house of Mr John McNickel, Paddock St, Riverton

90/810

26 February 1890

Rev. James Kirkby

No	276
Date of Notice	26 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McNickel	Ann Ford
	💍 1890/609
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Hotelkeeper
Age	45 years	29 years
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Riverton
Length of Residence	8 months	8 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr John McNickel, Paddock St, Riverton
Folio	90/810
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Kirkby

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).