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 638

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1890 Registrar I. 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

139

22 April 1890

Thomas Charles Moss
Mary William

Thomas Charles Moss
Mary Williams
💍 1890/1862

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

26
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
3 years

Wesleyan Church, Durham Street

90/1562

Edward William, Father

22 April 1890

Rev. J. J. Lewis, Wesleyan

No	139
Date of Notice	22 April 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Charles Moss	Mary William
BDM Match (96%)	Thomas Charles Moss	Mary Williams
	💍 1890/1862
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	3 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Durham Street
Folio	90/1562
Consent	Edward William, Father
Date of Certificate	22 April 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Lewis, Wesleyan

140

23 April 1890

James Mauder
Catherine Bell Adams

James Mander
Catherine Bell Adams
💍 1890/3703

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Servant

27
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
7 years

House of Rev. E. Bullaston, Oxford Terrace West

90/1521

23 April 1890

Rev. E. Bullaston, Baptist

No	140
Date of Notice	23 April 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Mauder	Catherine Bell Adams
BDM Match (96%)	James Mander	Catherine Bell Adams
	💍 1890/3703
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Servant
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	7 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. E. Bullaston, Oxford Terrace West
Folio	90/1521
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 April 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Bullaston, Baptist

141

23 April 1890

Nicholas Dwyer
Susanna Gallagher

Nicholas Dwyer
Susanna Gallagher
💍 1890/1926

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

30
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
14 years

Roman Catholic Church, Barbados Street

90/1547

23 April 1890

Rev. Father Cummings, Roman Catholic

No	141
Date of Notice	23 April 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Nicholas Dwyer	Susanna Gallagher
	💍 1890/1926
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Barbados Street
Folio	90/1547
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 April 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Cummings, Roman Catholic

142

23 April 1890

Frederick Henry
Gourlay Clara Bella Lee

Fredrick Henry Gourley
Clara Bella Lee
💍 1890/939

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor

24
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

24 years
20 years

Presbyterian Church, Colombo Street

90/1495

Isabella Lee, Mother

23 April 1890

Rev. P. R. Monro, Presbyterian

No	142
Date of Notice	23 April 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Henry	Gourlay Clara Bella Lee
BDM Match (62%)	Fredrick Henry Gourley	Clara Bella Lee
	💍 1890/939
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	24 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Colombo Street
Folio	90/1495
Consent	Isabella Lee, Mother
Date of Certificate	23 April 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. R. Monro, Presbyterian

143

24 April 1890

Charles William
Drewery Elizabeth Jane Pratt

Charles William Drewery
Elizabeth Jane Pratt
💍 1890/1868

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

23
23

Lincoln
Lincoln

6 years
23 years

Registrars Office, Christchurch

90/1577

24 April 1890

Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Harrison

No	143
Date of Notice	24 April 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles William	Drewery Elizabeth Jane Pratt
BDM Match (68%)	Charles William Drewery	Elizabeth Jane Pratt
	💍 1890/1868
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Lincoln	Lincoln
Length of Residence	6 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Christchurch
Folio	90/1577
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 April 1890
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Harrison

144

25 April 1890

Hermann Maier
Genannt Lund Mary Ellen Six

Widower
Spinster

Musician

41
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 years
24 years

St. Luke's Church, Manchester Street

90/1539

25 April 1890

Archdeacon Lingard, Church of England

No	144
Date of Notice	25 April 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hermann Maier	Genannt Lund Mary Ellen Six
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Musician
Age	41	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 years	24 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Manchester Street
Folio	90/1539
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 April 1890
Officiating Minister	Archdeacon Lingard, Church of England

145

26 April 1890

Colin Moore
Agnes Dixon Gible

Colin More
Agnes Dixon Gibb
💍 1890/1842

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

45
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

25 years
12 years

House of David Gible, Marshland

90/1510

26 April 1890

Rev. R. McGregor, Presbyterian

No	145
Date of Notice	26 April 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Colin Moore	Agnes Dixon Gible
BDM Match (90%)	Colin More	Agnes Dixon Gibb
	💍 1890/1842
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	45	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	12 years
Marriage Place	House of David Gible, Marshland
Folio	90/1510
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 April 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. McGregor, Presbyterian

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).