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 1320

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 1890 Registrar William Thomas Wyatt

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
252	2 October 1890	Robert Adair Bridget Fanny Sullivan	Robert Adair Bridget Fanny Sullivan 💍 1890/2990	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer	30 23	Wellington Wellington	years years	St Mary of the Angels	90/3122		2 October 1890	Rev. P. Kerrigan
253	2 October 1890	Robert Smith Alma Catherine Gardner	Robert Smith Alma Catherine Gardner 💍 1890/3035	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	27 24	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	90/3186		2 October 1890	W. T. Wyatt
254	2 October 1890	William George E. Dance Brown Nora Elizabeth McEwen	William George David Brown Nora Elizabeth McEwen 💍 1890/3029	Bachelor Spinster	Accountant	26 20	Wellington Wellington	years years	Home of Mr. McEwen Lambton Quay	90/3164	Peter Cooper, father	2 October 1890	Rev. Joseph Berry
255	6 October 1890	Ernest Winter Rosa Emma Adam	Ernest Winter Rosa Emma Adams 💍 1890/3046	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinet maker	22 18	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	90/3187	Elizabeth Lines, mother	6 October 1890	W. T. Wyatt
256	7 October 1890	Joseph Motley Helena Lucey	Joseph Motley Helena Lucey 💍 1890/3053	Widower Spinster	Coach builder	35 31	Wellington Wellington	1 week 6 months	Registrars office Wellington	90/3188		7 October 1890	W. T. Wyatt
257	7 October 1890	William Daniel Egan Annie Elizabeth Lee	William Daniel Egan Annie Elizabeth Lee 💍 1890/1615	Divorced Spinster	Contractor	54 22	Wellington Wellington	years months	Wesleyan Church Lower Hutt	90/3154		7 October 1890	Rev. W. J. Watkin
258	9 October 1890	William Coates Matilda Sheppard	William Coates Matilda Sheppard 💍 1890/1616	Widower Spinster	Boiler maker	39 24	Wellington Wellington	years years	St Marks Church	90/3155		9 October 1890	Rev. R. Coffey
259	11 October 1890	Richard Forster Annie Foote	Richard Foster Annie Foote 💍 1890/1624	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	26 20	Wellington Wellington	3 days 1 month	Home of John Foote Tasman St. / Wesleyan Church Molesworth Street	90/3142	John Foote, relative, colony	25 October 1890	Rev. N. B. Redstone
260	13 October 1890	George James Johnson Sarah Margaret Richmond	George James Johnson Sarah Margaret Richmond 💍 1890/3030	Widower Widow	Engine Driver	46 36	Wellington Wellington	years years	St Marks Church	90/3165		13 October 1890	Rev. C. H. Laws
261	13 October 1890	William Browning What Mary Bella Bennett	William Browning Whale Mary Bella Bennett 💍 1890/1617	Widower Widow	Machinist	49 44	Wellington Wellington	years years	St Marks Church	90/3156		13 October 1890	Rev. R. Coffey
262	14 October 1890	Frederic Arthur Staples Kate Gardiner	Frederic Arthur Staples Kate Gardiner 💍 1890/3054	Bachelor Spinster	Plumber	20 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	90/3189	John Staples, father	14 October 1890	W. T. Wyatt
263	15 October 1890	Harry Antonio Amadei Eliza Saylor		Bachelor Widow	Carpenter	22 39	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Budd Barker Street	90/3163		15 October 1890	Rev. John Muir
264	16 October 1890	Herbert Gifford Mone Martha Harriet Pearson	Herbert Gifford Moore Martha Harriet Pearson 💍 1890/1609	Bachelor Spinster	Flax Dresser	26 22	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	St Johns Church	90/3148		16 October 1890	Rev. J. Paterson
265	17 October 1890	Andrew Edwards Maria Matilda White	Andrew Edwards Maria Matilda White 💍 1890/3056	Bachelor Spinster	Station Hand	26 29	Wellington Khandallah	years years	Registrars office Wellington	90/3191		17 October 1890	W. T. Wyatt
266	17 October 1890	William Edwin Fuller Margaret Fanny Murray	William Edwin Fuller Margaret Fanny Murray 💍 1890/3033	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	33 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. James Petherick Willis Street	90/3168		17 October 1890	Rev. C. H. Laws

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 1899. 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).