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 461

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 June 1890 Registrar Edward Honiss

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

19 April 1890

Richard Ivey
Agnes Chalmers

Richard Ivey
Agnes Chalmers
💍 1890/3633

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Dressmaker

52
42

Pollen St Thames
Tararu Thames

16 years
15 years

The Dwelling of Miss Chalmers Tararu Road Thames

90/1088

19 April 1890

Revd L. J. Neill Presbyterian

No	15
Date of Notice	19 April 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Ivey	Agnes Chalmers
	💍 1890/3633
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Dressmaker
Age	52	42
Dwelling Place	Pollen St Thames	Tararu Thames
Length of Residence	16 years	15 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Miss Chalmers Tararu Road Thames
Folio	90/1088
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 April 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd L. J. Neill Presbyterian

28 April 1890

Harry Ernest Smith
Mary Ann White

Harry Ernest Smith
Mary Ann White
💍 1890/1038

Widower
Widow

Gum Sorter
Cook

34
35

Thames
Thames

18 months
12 years

The Office of The Registrar of Marriages Mary St Thames

90/1093

28 April 1890

Edward Honiss Registrar of Marriages

No	16
Date of Notice	28 April 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Ernest Smith	Mary Ann White
	💍 1890/1038
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Gum Sorter	Cook
Age	34	35
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	18 months	12 years
Marriage Place	The Office of The Registrar of Marriages Mary St Thames
Folio	90/1093
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 April 1890
Officiating Minister	Edward Honiss Registrar of Marriages

2 May 1890

George Morrison
Margaret Crosbie

George Morrison
Margaret Crosbie
💍 1890/1032

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Servant

20
23

Thames
Thames

20 years
17 years

The Dwelling of George Morrison Rolleston St Thames

90/1089

George Thompson Morrison Father of minor

2 May 1890

Revd L. J. Neill Presbyterian

No	17
Date of Notice	2 May 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Morrison	Margaret Crosbie
	💍 1890/1032
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Servant
Age	20	23
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	20 years	17 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of George Morrison Rolleston St Thames
Folio	90/1089
Consent	George Thompson Morrison Father of minor
Date of Certificate	2 May 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd L. J. Neill Presbyterian

5 May 1890

William Hancock
Rosina Easley

William Hancock
Rosina Casley
💍 1890/1039

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

21
21

Moanataiari Thames
Moanataiari Thames

11 years
20 years

The Office of The Registrar of Marriages Mary St Thames

90/1094

5 May 1890

Edward Honiss Registrar of Marriages

No	18
Date of Notice	5 May 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hancock	Rosina Easley
BDM Match (96%)	William Hancock	Rosina Casley
	💍 1890/1039
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Moanataiari Thames	Moanataiari Thames
Length of Residence	11 years	20 years
Marriage Place	The Office of The Registrar of Marriages Mary St Thames
Folio	90/1094
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 May 1890
Officiating Minister	Edward Honiss Registrar of Marriages

8 May 1890

John Farrant
Minnie Mahoney

John McDermid
Minnie Mahoney
💍 1890/1011

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman
Domestic Servant

26
20

Thames
Thames

14 years
20 years

The Office of The Registrar of Marriages Mary St Thames

90/1095

There is no person resident in the Colony having authority to give consent

8 May 1890

No	19
Date of Notice	8 May 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Farrant	Minnie Mahoney
BDM Match (73%)	John McDermid	Minnie Mahoney
	💍 1890/1011
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman	Domestic Servant
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	14 years	20 years
Marriage Place	The Office of The Registrar of Marriages Mary St Thames
Folio	90/1095
Consent	There is no person resident in the Colony having authority to give consent
Date of Certificate	8 May 1890
Officiating Minister

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).