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 926

District of Wellington 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
169	1 July 1890	Harry Hulse Jane Gilbert	Harry Hulse Jane Gilbert 💍 1890/1402	Bachelor Spinster	Stonemason	28 26	Wellington Wellington	years months	Wesley Church, Taranaki Street	90/2213		1 July 1890	Rev. C. H. Laws
170	2 July 1890	Thomas Huland Patterson Agnes Bassell	Thomas William Patterson Agnes Bessett 💍 1890/2354	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	28 25	Wellington Ohariu	1 week years	Ohariu Church	90/2241		2 July 1890	Rev. P. Power
171	3 July 1890	John Thomas Ringo Emily Alice Collett	John Thomas Benge Emily Alice Collett 💍 1890/2362	Bachelor Spinster	Milkman	21 18	Petone Nungarra	month years	Registrars Office Wellington	90/2248	Thomas George Collett, Father	3 July 1890	W. T. Wyatt
172	5 July 1890	Alfred Hartwell Price Martha Louisa Light	Alfred Hartwell Price Martha Louisa Light 💍 1890/3580	Bachelor Spinster	Watchmaker	22 22	Wellington Wellington	3 days 10 days	House of Mrs Bell, Glenbervie Terrace	90/2221		5 July 1890	Revd. H. B. Redstone
173	7 July 1890	Charles Henry Parsons Julia Hefferan	Charles Henry Parsons Julia Hefferan 💍 1890/2361	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	22 19	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars Office Wellington	90/2247	Kate Hefferan, Mother	7 July 1890	W. T. Wyatt
174	9 July 1890	Albert Edward Jeffs Mary Carter	Albert Edward Jeffs May Carter 💍 1890/2347	Bachelor Spinster	Driver	31 20	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of George Carter, Riddiford Street	90/2234	George Carter, Father	9 July 1890	Revd. John Muir
175	9 July 1890	William Smith Alice Emma Dickens	William Smith Alice Emma Dickens 💍 1890/2359	Bachelor Spinster	Stonemason	26 30	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Pauls Cathedral	90/2245		9 July 1890	Rev. E. I. Howell
176	10 July 1890	James Edward Nisbett Ann Maria Lord	James Edward Nisbett Annie Maria Lord 💍 1890/1417	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	26 26	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Bridegroom, Victoria Place	90/2205		10 July 1890	Mr. Edward Lewis
177	12 July 1890	John Wilson Brownlee Harriet Jane Giles	John Wilson Brownlee Harriet Jane Giles 💍 1890/2356	Bachelor Spinster	Sawmiller	31 26	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	St Pauls Cathedral	90/2243		12 July 1890	Revd. E. I. Howell
178	12 July 1890	Alfred Adams Leah Hopkins	Alfred Adams Leah Hopkins 💍 1890/2363	Widower Spinster	Labourer	38 29	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars Office Wellington	90/2249		12 July 1890	W. T. Wyatt
179	12 July 1890	David Bourke Alice Abbott	David Bourke Alice Abbott 💍 1890/2364	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	33 23	Wellington Pahautanui	3 days years	Roman Catholic Church	90/2227		12 July 1890	Revd. John Land
180	12 July 1890	William Matthew Roberts Edith Mary Palmer	William Mathew Roberts Edith Mary Palmer 💍 1890/2358	Bachelor Spinster	Banker	26 25	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	St. Pauls Cathedral	90/2244		12 July 1890	Rev. E. I. Howell

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).