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 463

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

27 May 1890

John McDermid
Minnie Mahoney

John McDermid
Minnie Mahoney
💍 1890/1011

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman
Domestic Servant

26
20

Provincial Hotel, Thames
Provincial Hotel, Thames

3 years
20 years

St George's Church, Mackay St, Thames

90/1085

No person residing in the Colony having authority to give consent

27 May 1890

Revd. J. O'Callaghan B.D. Church of England

No	25
Date of Notice	27 May 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McDermid	Minnie Mahoney
	💍 1890/1011
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman	Domestic Servant
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Provincial Hotel, Thames	Provincial Hotel, Thames
Length of Residence	3 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St George's Church, Mackay St, Thames
Folio	90/1085
Consent	No person residing in the Colony having authority to give consent
Date of Certificate	27 May 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd. J. O'Callaghan B.D. Church of England

2 June 1890

Edmund Frederick Vincent
Henrietta Cummings

Edmund Frederick Vincent
Henrietta Cummings
💍 1890/1012

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinet Maker
None

23
21

Queen Street, Thames
Queen St, Thames

3 months
3 months

St George's Church, Mackay St, Thames

90/1086

2 June 1890

Revd. J. O'Callaghan B.D. Church of England

No	26
Date of Notice	2 June 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edmund Frederick Vincent	Henrietta Cummings
	💍 1890/1012
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinet Maker	None
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Queen Street, Thames	Queen St, Thames
Length of Residence	3 months	3 months
Marriage Place	St George's Church, Mackay St, Thames
Folio	90/1086
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd. J. O'Callaghan B.D. Church of England

12 June 1890

Joseph Dunn
Marion Kerr

Joseph Dunn
Marion Kerr
💍 1890/3801

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
None

24
21

Mouotahi, Thames
Bird in Hand Hill, Thames

20 years
18 years

The Dwelling of Mr. Jas Kerr, Bird in Hand Hill

90/1090

12 June 1890

Revd. I. J. Neill, Presbyterian

No	27
Date of Notice	12 June 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Dunn	Marion Kerr
	💍 1890/3801
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	None
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Mouotahi, Thames	Bird in Hand Hill, Thames
Length of Residence	20 years	18 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Mr. Jas Kerr, Bird in Hand Hill
Folio	90/1090
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 June 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd. I. J. Neill, Presbyterian

12 June 1890

George Godkin
Clara Elizabeth Watson Billings

George Godkin
Clara Elizabeth Watson Billings
💍 1890/1036

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

21
19

Davy Street, Thames
Karaka Road, Thames

2 1/2 years
19 years

The Dwelling of Mrs Billings, Karaka Road

90/1091

Emma Billings, mother of G. E. W. Billings

12 June 1890

Revd. John Dawson, Primitive Methodist

No	28
Date of Notice	12 June 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Godkin	Clara Elizabeth Watson Billings
	💍 1890/1036
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Davy Street, Thames	Karaka Road, Thames
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	19 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Mrs Billings, Karaka Road
Folio	90/1091
Consent	Emma Billings, mother of G. E. W. Billings
Date of Certificate	12 June 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd. John Dawson, Primitive Methodist

16 June 1890

George Newman
Ellen Dillon

George Newman
Ellen Dillon
💍 1890/2640

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Waitress

33
27

Rolleston Street, Thames
Rolleston Street, Thames

22 years
3 weeks

St. Francis Church, Willoughby Street, Thames

90/1081

16 June 1890

Revd. P. O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

No	29
Date of Notice	16 June 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Newman	Ellen Dillon
	💍 1890/2640
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Waitress
Age	33	27
Dwelling Place	Rolleston Street, Thames	Rolleston Street, Thames
Length of Residence	22 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Francis Church, Willoughby Street, Thames
Folio	90/1081
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 June 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd. P. O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

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).