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 909

District of Rangitikei Quarter ending 30 September 1890

No	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
16	11 July 1890	Joseph Broadbell Mary Jane Riley	Joseph Broadbelt Mary Jane Riley 💍 1890/2320 Joseph Vincent Lousdale Mary Jane Riley 💍 1891/58	Widower Widow	Carpenter	47 40	Bulls Bulls	5 days 14 years	The Presbyterian Manse, Bulls	90/2179		11 July 1890	Rev. F. Doull, Presbyterian
17	18 July 1890	George Rye Mary Matilda Vickery	George Nye Mary Matilda Vickery 💍 1890/3381	Bachelor Spinster	Schoolmaster	28 18	Awa Huri Hunterville	2 months 3 years	The Presbyterian Church, Marton	90/2177	James Vickery, Father	18 July 1890	Rev. W. Gordon, Presbyterian
18	24 July 1890	William Beuson Julia Jane Merrett	William Benson Julia Jane Merrett 💍 1890/2811	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	24 26	Bulls Turakina	2 months 3 weeks	The Church of England, Turakina	90/2175		24 July 1890	Rev. A. Towgood, Church of England
19	28 July 1890	Basil Newton Love Augusta Harriett Willis	Basil Newton Lane Augusta Harriot Willis 💍 1890/2318	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	25 25	Woodend, Rangitikei Woodend, Rangitikei	3 days 20 years	St. Martin's Church, Greatford	90/2175		28 July 1890	Rev. A. Towgood, Church of England
20	11 August 1890	Lowry Baskin Lizzie Hill	Lowry Baskin Lizzie Hill 💍 1890/3390	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	33 23	Marton Marton	3 days 5 years	The Presbyterian Manse, Marton	90/2178		11 August 1890	Rev. W. Gordon, Presbyterian
21	12 August 1890	William James Lewis Agnes Jeffery	William James Lewis Agnes Jeffery 💍 1890/2321	Bachelor Spinster	Farm Laborer	23 24	Parewanui Parewanui	6 years 4 years	The house of Mr. John Jeffery, Parewanui	90/2180		12 August 1890	Rev. F. Houll, Presbyterian
22	23 August 1890	Taliesin Thomas Lucy Cheesman Willson	Taliesin Thomas Lucy Chesman Wilton 💍 1890/2316	Bachelor Spinster	School teacher	26 27	Marton Marton	3 days 10 years	Wesleyan Church, Marton	90/2174		23 August 1890	Rev. Thos. Fee, Wesleyan
23	5 September 1890	William Simpson Catherine Cameron	William Simpson Catharine Cameron 💍 1890/3488	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	25 23	Turakina Purakauiti	2.5 years 5 years	The house of Mr. F. C. Morgan, Turakina	90/3762		5 September 1890	Rev. W. Gordon, Presbyterian
24	8 September 1890	Robert William Switzer Madeline Luella Murch	Robert William Smith Madeline Lucillia Marsh 💍 1890/2319	Bachelor Spinster	Storekeeper	19 19	Hunterville Hunterville	6 years 3 weeks	St. Stephen's Church, Marton	90/2176	Robert Murch, Father	8 September 1890	Rev. A. O. Williams, Church of England

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 1894. More registers will be added as the project continues.

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).