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 624

District of Rangiora Quarter ending 30 June 1890 Registrar Edward Richard Good

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

621

4 June 1890

George Edlin
Lila Elizabeth Porter

George Edlin
Lila Elizabeth Porter
💍 1890/1104

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
General Servant

31
20

Woodend, Rangiora
Woodend, Rangiora

28 years
20 years

Office of Deputy Registrar, Rangiora

90/1464

William Junedon Porter, father

11 June 1890

Deputy Registrar, E. R. Good

No	621
Date of Notice	4 June 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Edlin	Lila Elizabeth Porter
	💍 1890/1104
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	General Servant
Age	31	20
Dwelling Place	Woodend, Rangiora	Woodend, Rangiora
Length of Residence	28 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Office of Deputy Registrar, Rangiora
Folio	90/1464
Consent	William Junedon Porter, father
Date of Certificate	11 June 1890
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar, E. R. Good

622

14 June 1890

William Pierce
Charlotte Lydia Land

William Dierce
Charlotte Lydia Land
💍 1890/1106

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

26
24

Woodend, Rangiora
Rangiora

26 years
24 years

Church of England, Sefton

90/1466

19 June 1890

Ven. Archdeacon Dudley

No	622
Date of Notice	14 June 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Pierce	Charlotte Lydia Land
BDM Match (96%)	William Dierce	Charlotte Lydia Land
	💍 1890/1106
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Woodend, Rangiora	Rangiora
Length of Residence	26 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Sefton
Folio	90/1466
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 June 1890
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon Dudley

623

23 June 1890

James Keir
Mary Wilson Wallace

James Keir
Mary Wilson Wallace
💍 1890/1098

James Kelly
Mary Ann Wallace
💍 1891/3238

Widower
Spinster

Machinist
not any

33
25

Ashburton
Hayton, Southbrook, Rangiora

10 years
19 years

Residence of Mr. George Wallace, Hayton, Southbrook

90/1461

23 June 1890

Rev. W. B. Marten

No	623
Date of Notice	23 June 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Keir	Mary Wilson Wallace
	💍 1890/1098
BDM Match (73%)	James Kelly	Mary Ann Wallace
	💍 1891/3238
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Machinist	not any
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Hayton, Southbrook, Rangiora
Length of Residence	10 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. George Wallace, Hayton, Southbrook
Folio	90/1461
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 June 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. B. Marten

624

27 June 1890

Henry Judd
Ann Gainwood

Henry Judd
Ann Grimwood
💍 1890/1431

Widower
Widow

Baker
Storekeeper

60
72

Southbrook, Rangiora
Southbrook, Rangiora

1 year
30 years

Residence of Bride, Ann Gainwood, Southbrook

90/1412

27 June 1890

Rev. B. W. Dudley

No	624
Date of Notice	27 June 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Judd	Ann Gainwood
BDM Match (92%)	Henry Judd	Ann Grimwood
	💍 1890/1431
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Baker	Storekeeper
Age	60	72
Dwelling Place	Southbrook, Rangiora	Southbrook, Rangiora
Length of Residence	1 year	30 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Bride, Ann Gainwood, Southbrook
Folio	90/1412
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 June 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. W. Dudley

625

27 June 1890

Charles Lazenell Newton
Mary Alice Chapman

Charles Tazewell Newton
Mary Alice Chapman
💍 1890/1107

Bachelor
Spinster

Land Agent
not any

28
27

Christchurch
Rangiora

28 years
5 years

Church of England, Sefton

90/1467

29 June 1890

Rev. B. W. Dudley

No	625
Date of Notice	27 June 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Lazenell Newton	Mary Alice Chapman
BDM Match (96%)	Charles Tazewell Newton	Mary Alice Chapman
	💍 1890/1107
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Land Agent	not any
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Rangiora
Length of Residence	28 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Sefton
Folio	90/1467
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 June 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. W. Dudley

626

30 June 1890

Richard Hughes
Clara Eliza Luxton

Richard Hughes
Clara Eliza Luxton
💍 1890/1105

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
not any

32
21

Rangiora
Rangiora

3 years
21 years

Office of Deputy Registrar, Rangiora

90/1465

30 June 1890

E. R. Good, Deputy Registrar

No	626
Date of Notice	30 June 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Hughes	Clara Eliza Luxton
	💍 1890/1105
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	not any
Age	32	21
Dwelling Place	Rangiora	Rangiora
Length of Residence	3 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Office of Deputy Registrar, Rangiora
Folio	90/1465
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 June 1890
Officiating Minister	E. R. Good, Deputy Registrar

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).