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 930

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
217	22 August 1890	Thomas Charles Rayner Emily Corbett	Thomas Charles Rayner Emily Corbett 💍 1890/2396	Bachelor Widow	Hotel Keeper	30 37	Wellington Wellington	1 week 1 week	Registrar's office, Wellington	90/2260		22 August 1890	Mr. T. Wyatt
218	22 August 1890	John Brough Mary Ann Barry	John Brough Mary Ann Barry 💍 1890/2366	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	29 21	Petone Petone	years years	Roman Catholic Church, Corner Hutt	90/2229		22 August 1890	Rev. John Lane
219	23 August 1890	George Henry Brown Jane Rasmussen	George Henry Brown Jane Rasmussen 💍 1890/2397	Widower Widow	Labourer	46 45	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrar's office, Wellington	90/2261		23 August 1890	Mr. T. Wyatt
220	29 August 1890	William Rouse Mary Ann Roony	William Rouse Margaret Rooney 💍 1890/2367	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	32 27	Upper Hutt Wellington	years years	Roman Catholic Church, Lower Hutt	90/2230		29 August 1890	Rev. John Lane
221	1 September 1890	Frederick George Inks Elizabeth McWhinney	Frederick Geo Tonks Elizabeth McWhinney 💍 1890/1411	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	29 25	Wellington Lower Hutt	years years	House of Mrs McWhinney, Lower Hutt	90/2222		1 September 1890	Rev. W. J. Watkin
222	4 September 1890	William Shepherd Smith Stanton Annie Ada Brown	William Shepherd Smith Stanton Annie Ada Brown 💍 1890/1405	Widower Spinster	Commission agent	45 21	Wellington Taranaki Street	6 months years	Wesley Church	90/2216		4 September 1890	Rev. Joseph Berry
223	8 September 1890	Clive Henry Ernest Rhodes Holmes Edith Maud Champion Holmes	Clive Henry Ernest Rhodes Edith Maud Champem Holmes 💍 1890/2352	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep farmer	30 20	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	St. Mark's Church	90/2239	Annie Sophia Holmes, mother	8 September 1890	Rev. R. Coffey
224	8 September 1890	Francis Varden Hemah Mary Wall	Francis Vardon Hennah Mary Wall 💍 1890/2398	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	22 21	Wellington Wellington	3 days 2 months	Registrar's office, Wellington	90/2262		8 September 1890	Mr. T. Wyatt
225	9 September 1890	Joseph Thomas Nestill Catherine Sugrue	Joseph Thomas Nesbitt Catherine Sugrue 💍 1890/3393	Bachelor Spinster	Polisher	24 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Bridegroom, Jacob Place	90/2207		9 September 1890	Mr. Edward Lewis
226	9 September 1890	George Thomas Johns Ada Charlotte Banks	George Thomas Johns Ada Charlotte Banks 💍 1890/1407	Bachelor Spinster	Storeman	28 18	Wellington Wellington	years years	Wesleyan Church, Molesworth Street	90/2218	Henry Banks, Father	9 September 1890	Rev. C. H. Laws
227	10 September 1890	Albert Edward Redman Kate Backhouse	Albert Edward Rudman Kate Backhouse 💍 1890/1406	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	21 18	Wellington Wellington	years years	Wesleyan Parsonage, Taranaki Street	90/2217	Sarah Ann Backhouse, mother	10 September 1890	Rev. Joseph Berry
228	11 September 1890	John Thomas Blissett Ellen Bagust	John Thomas Blissett Ellen Bagust 💍 1890/2399	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	24 26	Wellington Wellington	14 days 14 days	Registrar's office, Wellington	90/2263		11 September 1890	Mr. T. Wyatt
229	13 September 1890	John Beck Finlay Helen Smith	John Beck Finlay Helen Smith 💍 1890/1608	Bachelor Spinster	Minister	28 23	Wellington Wellington Terrace	1 week years	House of Mr. James Smith, Wellington Terrace	90/3147		13 September 1890	Rev. J. Paterson
230	12 September 1890	George Hutton Poynton Eva Louise Elizabeth Poynton	George Hutton Poynter Eva Louisa Elizabeth Pointon 💍 1890/2400	Bachelor Spinster	Bootmaker	27 18	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrar's office, Wellington	90/2264	George Poynton, father	12 September 1890	Mr. T. Wyatt
231	15 September 1890	John Mackee Emily Frethey	John Mackie Emily Frethey 💍 1890/1412	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	32 29	Lower Hutt Lower Hutt	1 week years	House of Mr. Frethey, Lower Hutt	90/2223		15 September 1890	Rev. W. J. Watkin

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).