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 1042

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 1889 Registrar J M Walker

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

267

06 August 1890

Richard Jeston
Beatrice Ogles

Richard Jeston Ogle
Beatrice Palmer
💍 1890/1504

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder

32
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
23 years

St. Michael's Church, Christchurch

90/2440

05 August 1890

Rev W Harper, Church of England

No	267
Date of Notice	06 August 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Jeston	Beatrice Ogles
BDM Match (74%)	Richard Jeston Ogle	Beatrice Palmer
	💍 1890/1504
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	32	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Christchurch
Folio	90/2440
Consent
Date of Certificate	05 August 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev W Harper, Church of England

268

05 August 1890

Frederick Henry Pyne
Ethel Stanley Low

Frederick Henry Pyne
Ethel Stanley Low
💍 1890/2520

Bachelor
Spinster

Stock Agent

34
21

Christchurch
Annuri

12 years
3 years

House of Mr. Way, St. Helens

90/2359

05 August 1890

Rev W R Campbell, Presbyterian

No	268
Date of Notice	05 August 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Henry Pyne	Ethel Stanley Low
	💍 1890/2520
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stock Agent
Age	34	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Annuri
Length of Residence	12 years	3 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Way, St. Helens
Folio	90/2359
Consent
Date of Certificate	05 August 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev W R Campbell, Presbyterian

269

05 August 1890

William Henry Jordan
Edith Mary Rupson

William Henry Jordan
Edith Mary Empson
💍 1890/2497

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Dressmaker

35
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

16 years
6 years

House of Mr. J. R. [illegible]

90/2479

05 August 1890

Rev J Orchard, Bible Christian

No	269
Date of Notice	05 August 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Jordan	Edith Mary Rupson
BDM Match (94%)	William Henry Jordan	Edith Mary Empson
	💍 1890/2497
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Dressmaker
Age	35	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	16 years	6 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. J. R. [illegible]
Folio	90/2479
Consent
Date of Certificate	05 August 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev J Orchard, Bible Christian

270

08 August 1890

William Lavery
Maria Wilson

William Lavery
Maria Wilson
💍 1890/1498

William Colvin
Annie Wilson
💍 1890/3666

Widower
Spinster

Grocer

31
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

31 years
16 years

S. Mary's Church, Merivale

90/2435

08 August 1890

Rev J Havell, Church of England

No	270
Date of Notice	08 August 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Lavery	Maria Wilson
	💍 1890/1498
BDM Match (62%)	William Colvin	Annie Wilson
	💍 1890/3666
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	31 years	16 years
Marriage Place	S. Mary's Church, Merivale
Folio	90/2435
Consent
Date of Certificate	08 August 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev J Havell, Church of England

271

09 August 1890

Charles Ranest Fisher
Maria Mary Ann Smith

Charles Ernest Fisher
Maria Mary Ann Smith
💍 1890/2507

Bachelor
Spinster

Fitter
Servant

24
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

15 years
15 years

House of Jas. H. E. Smith, Stirling St.

90/2488

09 August 1890

Rev J M Isitt, Wesleyan

No	271
Date of Notice	09 August 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Ranest Fisher	Maria Mary Ann Smith
BDM Match (95%)	Charles Ernest Fisher	Maria Mary Ann Smith
	💍 1890/2507
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fitter	Servant
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	15 years	15 years
Marriage Place	House of Jas. H. E. Smith, Stirling St.
Folio	90/2488
Consent
Date of Certificate	09 August 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev J M Isitt, Wesleyan

272

09 August 1890

John Berry Goss
Martha Ann Goss

John Berry
Martha Ann Goss
💍 1890/2494

Bachelor
Spinster

Chemist

37
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

9 years
30 years

House of Jas. Goss, Salisbury St.

90/2468

09 August 1890

Rev R Erwin, Presbyterian

No	272
Date of Notice	09 August 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Berry Goss	Martha Ann Goss
BDM Match (83%)	John Berry	Martha Ann Goss
	💍 1890/2494
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chemist
Age	37	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 years	30 years
Marriage Place	House of Jas. Goss, Salisbury St.
Folio	90/2468
Consent
Date of Certificate	09 August 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev R Erwin, 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).