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 1040

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 1890 Registrar J. M. Parker Esq.

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

253

25 July 1890

John Rudd
Minnie Peddle

John Rudd
Minnie Puddle
💍 1890/2468

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office

90/2494

25 July 1890

Registrar J. M. Parker Esq.

No	253
Date of Notice	25 July 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Rudd	Minnie Peddle
BDM Match (96%)	John Rudd	Minnie Puddle
	💍 1890/2468
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	90/2494
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 July 1890
Officiating Minister	Registrar J. M. Parker Esq.

254

25 July 1890

Percival Francis Buchanan
Mary Isabella Ruston

Percival Francis Butman
Mary Isabella Ruxton
💍 1890/1475

Bachelor
Spinster

Master Mariner

30
22 years

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 months
2 years

House of Mrs. Ruston, Ferry Road

90/2444

25 July 1890

Rev. C. H. Bradbury, Congregational

No	254
Date of Notice	25 July 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percival Francis Buchanan	Mary Isabella Ruston
BDM Match (90%)	Percival Francis Butman	Mary Isabella Ruxton
	💍 1890/1475
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Master Mariner
Age	30	22 years
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 months	2 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Ruston, Ferry Road
Folio	90/2444
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 July 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Bradbury, Congregational

255

29 July 1890

Charles Atkinson Blick
Emily Lucretia Dunn

Charles Atkinson Blick
Emily Lucretia Dunn
💍 1890/2512

Bachelor
Widow

Gentleman

24
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
4 years

St. Savior's Church, Sydenham

90/2470

29 July 1890

Rev. H. B. Cocks, Church of England

No	255
Date of Notice	29 July 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Atkinson Blick	Emily Lucretia Dunn
	💍 1890/2512
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Gentleman
Age	24	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Savior's Church, Sydenham
Folio	90/2470
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 July 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. B. Cocks, Church of England

256

29 July 1890

Simon Thomas Mitchell
Emma Jane Trevhella

Simon Thomas Mitchell
Emma Jane Trewhella
💍 1890/2469

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

38
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
2 months

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

90/2495

29 July 1890

Registrar J. M. Parker Esq.

No	256
Date of Notice	29 July 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Simon Thomas Mitchell	Emma Jane Trevhella
BDM Match (97%)	Simon Thomas Mitchell	Emma Jane Trewhella
	💍 1890/2469
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	38	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	2 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	90/2495
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 July 1890
Officiating Minister	Registrar J. M. Parker Esq.

257

29 July 1890

Walter Hunt
Sarah Holt

Walter Flint
Sarah Holt
💍 1890/1486

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

25
18

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
10 years

House of Hodgson, Heathcote

90/2449

Hodgson, Father

29 July 1890

Rev. C. Dewdney, Baptist

No	257
Date of Notice	29 July 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Hunt	Sarah Holt
BDM Match (88%)	Walter Flint	Sarah Holt
	💍 1890/1486
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	25	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	10 years
Marriage Place	House of Hodgson, Heathcote
Folio	90/2449
Consent	Hodgson, Father
Date of Certificate	29 July 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Dewdney, Baptist

258

31 July 1890

Alfred Henry Bishop Greening
Emily Wood

Alfred Henry Bishop Grinling
Emily Wood
💍 1890/1490

Bachelor
Spinster

Officer, Salvation Army

30
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
6 months

House of Wm. Greening, Peacock St., Christchurch

90/2427

Josiah Parsons, Taylor, Salvation Army

31 July 1890

Josiah Parsons, Salvation Army

No	258
Date of Notice	31 July 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Henry Bishop Greening	Emily Wood
BDM Match (95%)	Alfred Henry Bishop Grinling	Emily Wood
	💍 1890/1490
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Officer, Salvation Army
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	6 months
Marriage Place	House of Wm. Greening, Peacock St., Christchurch
Folio	90/2427
Consent	Josiah Parsons, Taylor, Salvation Army
Date of Certificate	31 July 1890
Officiating Minister	Josiah Parsons, Salvation Army

259

31 July 1890

William Russell
Emma Jane Grove

William Russell
Emma Jane Grove
💍 1890/2500

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairyman
Servant

25
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
5 years

House of Mr. Russell, 24 Durham Street, Sydenham

90/2482

Andrew Grove, Father

31 July 1890

Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

No	259
Date of Notice	31 July 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Russell	Emma Jane Grove
	💍 1890/2500
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairyman	Servant
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	5 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Russell, 24 Durham Street, Sydenham
Folio	90/2482
Consent	Andrew Grove, Father
Date of Certificate	31 July 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

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).