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 673

District of Timaru Quarter ending 30 June 1890 Registrar C. E. Cooper

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

5 April 1890

George Smith
Mary McPeak

George Smith
Mary McPeak
💍 1890/3728

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Servant

33
29

Washdyke
Timaru

4 years
3 months

R. C. Church

90/1656

5 April 1890

Rev. James Foley, Roman Catholic

No	21
Date of Notice	5 April 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Smith	Mary McPeak
	💍 1890/3728
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Servant
Age	33	29
Dwelling Place	Washdyke	Timaru
Length of Residence	4 years	3 months
Marriage Place	R. C. Church
Folio	90/1656
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 April 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Foley, Roman Catholic

10 April 1890

James Elliott
Elizabeth Irwin

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

36
26

Hadlow
Timaru

9 years
10 years

Dwelling House of Robt. Irwin, Town Beeb [unclear] Timaru

No marriage (See [unclear] attd..)

10 April 1890

Revd. William Gillies, Presbyterian

No	22
Date of Notice	10 April 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Elliott	Elizabeth Irwin
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	36	26
Dwelling Place	Hadlow	Timaru
Length of Residence	9 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling House of Robt. Irwin, Town Beeb [unclear] Timaru
Folio
Consent	No marriage (See [unclear] attd..)
Date of Certificate	10 April 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd. William Gillies, Presbyterian

11 April 1890

Richard John Penrose
Lizzie Howe

Richard John Penrose
Lizzie Howe
💍 1890/1961

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

22
21

Timaru
Timaru

10 years
15 years

Dwelling House of Will Penrose, Stafford St Timaru

90/1652

11 April 1890

Rev. O. C. Brown, Baptist

No	23
Date of Notice	11 April 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard John Penrose	Lizzie Howe
	💍 1890/1961
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	10 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling House of Will Penrose, Stafford St Timaru
Folio	90/1652
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. C. Brown, Baptist

12 April 1890

Patrick Coll
Bridget Casey

Patrick Coll
Bridget Casey
💍 1890/1969

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

38
28

Waitohi
Pleasant Point

18 years
4 days

Roman Catholic Church Temuka

90/1636

12 April 1890

Rev. Louis Gauvel, Roman Catholic

No	24
Date of Notice	12 April 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Coll	Bridget Casey
	💍 1890/1969
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	38	28
Dwelling Place	Waitohi	Pleasant Point
Length of Residence	18 years	4 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Temuka
Folio	90/1636
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. Louis Gauvel, Roman Catholic

14 April 1890

Charles Frederick Cork
Mary Ann Hall

Charles Frederick Cork
Mary Ann Hah
💍 1890/1952

Bachelor
Spinster

House Painter

22
21

Le Cren Street
Timaru

6 weeks
2 years

St. Mary's English Church, Timaru

90/1644

14 April 1890

Rev. W. J. P. Winter, Church of England

No	25
Date of Notice	14 April 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Frederick Cork	Mary Ann Hall
BDM Match (92%)	Charles Frederick Cork	Mary Ann Hah
	💍 1890/1952
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	House Painter
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Le Cren Street	Timaru
Length of Residence	6 weeks	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's English Church, Timaru
Folio	90/1644
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. P. Winter, Church of England

14 April 1890

Robert Henry Maxwell
Ann Marshall

Robert Henry Maxrell
Ann Marshall
💍 1890/1953

Widower
Spinster

Gardener

40
42

Marchweil
Marchweil

20 years
8 years

St. Mary's English Church, Timaru

90/1645

14 April 1890

Rev. W. J. P. Winter, Church of England

No	26
Date of Notice	14 April 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Henry Maxwell	Ann Marshall
BDM Match (98%)	Robert Henry Maxrell	Ann Marshall
	💍 1890/1953
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	40	42
Dwelling Place	Marchweil	Marchweil
Length of Residence	20 years	8 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's English Church, Timaru
Folio	90/1645
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. P. Winter, Church of England

15 April 1890

Patrick Reilly
Josephine Sullivan

Patrick Reilly
Josephine Sullivan
💍 1890/1964

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

31
24

Timaru
Timaru

12 years
9 years

Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

90/1655

15 April 1890

Rev. James Foley, Roman Catholic

No	27
Date of Notice	15 April 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Reilly	Josephine Sullivan
	💍 1890/1964
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	12 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	90/1655
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Foley, Roman Catholic

24 April 1890

Benjamin Murgatroyd
Ellen Maud Bezzant

Benjamin Murgatroyd
Ellen Maud Bezzant
💍 1890/1962

Bachelor
Spinster

Woollen factor

26
19

Timaru
Timaru

18 months
8 years

Dwelling House of Benjamin Murgatroyd, Timaru

90/1653

24 April 1890

Rev. C. C. Brown, Baptist

No	28
Date of Notice	24 April 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Benjamin Murgatroyd	Ellen Maud Bezzant
	💍 1890/1962
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Woollen factor
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	18 months	8 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling House of Benjamin Murgatroyd, Timaru
Folio	90/1653
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 April 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. C. Brown, Baptist

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).