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 775

District of Russton Quarter ending 30 June 1890 Registrar Alexander Millar Eyre

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

278

5 April 1890

Bristow Savage
Mary Watson Richards

Bristow Savage
Mary Watson Richards
💍 1890/2068

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer's Assistant

28 years
23 years

Russton
Russton

4 years
11 years

St Mary Church of England, Russton

90/1867

5 April 1890

Rev. H. Stocker, Church of England

No	278
Date of Notice	5 April 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bristow Savage	Mary Watson Richards
	💍 1890/2068
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer's Assistant
Age	28 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Russton	Russton
Length of Residence	4 years	11 years
Marriage Place	St Mary Church of England, Russton
Folio	90/1867
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 April 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Stocker, Church of England

279

14 April 1890

Andrew Henry Helm Ogilvie
Lindsay Rogers

Bachelor
Spinster

Saw Miller

23 years
21 years

Oraki
Russton

14 years
3 years

House of George Rogers, Russton

90/1868

14 April 1890

Rev. S.B. Fellows (Wesleyan)

No	279
Date of Notice	14 April 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Henry Helm Ogilvie	Lindsay Rogers
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saw Miller
Age	23 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Oraki	Russton
Length of Residence	14 years	3 years
Marriage Place	House of George Rogers, Russton
Folio	90/1868
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. S.B. Fellows (Wesleyan)

280

22 April 1890

John Winter Copley Connor
Mary Amy Ann Small

John Winter Copley Connor
Mary Amy Ann Small
💍 1890/2069

Bachelor
Spinster

Station Manager

48 years
25 years

Paihi
Russton

3 years
25 years

House of Caleb Small, South Russton

90/1869

22 April 1890

Rev. S.B. Fellows (Wesleyan)

No	280
Date of Notice	22 April 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Winter Copley Connor	Mary Amy Ann Small
	💍 1890/2069
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Station Manager
Age	48 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Paihi	Russton
Length of Residence	3 years	25 years
Marriage Place	House of Caleb Small, South Russton
Folio	90/1869
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. S.B. Fellows (Wesleyan)

281

1 May 1890

Timothy O'Connor
Mary Ann O'Brien

Timothy OConnor
Mary Ann OBrien
💍 1890/3754

Arthur Carlton Brown
Mary Ann O'Brien
💍 1890/1008

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

26 years
22 years

Mery Bush
Mery Bush

5 years
2 years

Roman Catholic Church, Russton

90/1861

1 May 1890

Father Verrier (Roman Catholic)

No	281
Date of Notice	1 May 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Timothy O'Connor	Mary Ann O'Brien
BDM Match (94%)	Timothy OConnor	Mary Ann OBrien
	💍 1890/3754
BDM Match (60%)	Arthur Carlton Brown	Mary Ann O'Brien
	💍 1890/1008
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	26 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Mery Bush	Mery Bush
Length of Residence	5 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Russton
Folio	90/1861
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 May 1890
Officiating Minister	Father Verrier (Roman Catholic)

282

8 May 1890

Jeremiah Finn
Julia Boyle

Jeremiah Finn
Julia Boyle
💍 1890/3755

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

36 years
23 years

Wreys Bush
Wreys Bush

9 years
23 years

Roman Catholic Church, Riverton

90/1862

8 May 1890

Father Vereker (Roman Catholic)

No	282
Date of Notice	8 May 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jeremiah Finn	Julia Boyle
	💍 1890/3755
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	36 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Wreys Bush	Wreys Bush
Length of Residence	9 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Riverton
Folio	90/1862
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 May 1890
Officiating Minister	Father Vereker (Roman Catholic)

283

15 May 1890

Charles Robert Foster
Susan Marie Macdonald

Charles Robert Foster
Susan Marie Macdonald
💍 1890/2060

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Dressmaker

22 years
25 years

Thorbury
Campbelltown

22 years
25 years

House of John Macdonald, Campbelltown

90/1877

15 May 1890

Rev. Thos. H. Lyon (Primitive Methodist)

No	283
Date of Notice	15 May 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Robert Foster	Susan Marie Macdonald
	💍 1890/2060
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Dressmaker
Age	22 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Thorbury	Campbelltown
Length of Residence	22 years	25 years
Marriage Place	House of John Macdonald, Campbelltown
Folio	90/1877
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 May 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos. H. Lyon (Primitive Methodist)

284

17 May 1890

Thomas Wilson
Margaret Blackstock

Thomas Wilson
Margaret Blackstock
💍 1890/2066

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

31 years
20 years

Jacob River near Russton
Gummiso Bush

13 years
11 years

House of Wm. Blackstock, Gummiso Bush

90/1865

Father of Margaret Blackstock

17 May 1890

Rev. Thos. Neave (Presbyterian)

No	284
Date of Notice	17 May 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Wilson	Margaret Blackstock
	💍 1890/2066
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	31 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Jacob River near Russton	Gummiso Bush
Length of Residence	13 years	11 years
Marriage Place	House of Wm. Blackstock, Gummiso Bush
Folio	90/1865
Consent	Father of Margaret Blackstock
Date of Certificate	17 May 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos. Neave (Presbyterian)

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).