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 1335

District of Masterton Quarter ending 31 December 1890 Registrar John Bagge

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
40	4 October 1890	Richard Herrmann Louisa Marian Eton	Richard Herrmann Louisa Marian Eton 💍 1890/1306	Bachelor Spinster	Photographer	44 26	Masterton Masterton	3 days 3 weeks	Church of England, Masterton	90/3231		4 October 1890	Rev W E Paige, Church of England Minister
41	10 October 1890	William Henry Hooking Alice Vallance	William Henry Hosking Alice Vallance 💍 1890/1307	Widower Spinster	Surgeon	48 31	Masterton Kahumingi	16 years 7 years	House of A. Vallance, Kahumingi	90/3232		10 October 1890	Rev W E Paige, Church of England Minister
42	25 October 1890	James George Nelson Helen Jane Hopcroft	James George Wilson Lilian Jane Hopcroft 💍 1890/3184	Bachelor Spinster	Surveyor	30 24	Masterton Masterton	8 days 5 days	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Masterton	90/3242		25 October 1890	John Bagge, Registrar
43	4 November 1890	Michael O'Connor Mary Burke	Michael OConnor Mary Burke 💍 1890/1310	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	27 26	Masterton Masterton	3 days 6 weeks	Roman Catholic Chapel, Masterton	90/3235		4 November 1890	Rev John McKenna, Roman Catholic Priest
44	20 November 1890	John Delling Jessie Cameron	John Pelling Jessie Cameron 💍 1890/3180	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith Servant	26 28	Kuripuni Masterton	12 years 6 months	Residence of Mr Frank Delling, Kuripuni	90/3238		20 November 1890	Rev Robert Wood, Presbyterian Minister
45	25 November 1890	George Osborne Evernden Agnes Allen	George Osborne Evernden Agnes Allen 💍 1890/3181	Bachelor Spinster	Sawyer	21 21	Masterton Manaia	16 years 10 years	Residence of Robert Allen, Manaia	90/3239		25 November 1890	Rev Robert Wood, Presbyterian Minister
46	29 November 1890	Herbert Millington Mary Annie Jago	Herbert Millington Mary Annie Jago 💍 1890/1308	Bachelor Spinster	Drapers Assistant	22 22	Masterton Masterton	4 years 13 years	Church of England, Masterton	90/3233		29 November 1890	Rev W E Paige, Church of England Minister
47	6 December 1890	Gilbert Johnstone Isabella Annie Carswell	Gilbert Johnstone Isabella Annie Carswell 💍 1890/3182	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	24 25	Bowlands Blantogie Junction	10 months 5 years	House of Thomas Carswell, Blantogie Junction	90/3240		6 December 1890	Rev Robert Wood, Presbyterian Minister
48	16 December 1890	Alexander Hafka Agnes Smith	Alex Haftka Agnes Smith 💍 1890/3164 James Walker Agnes Smith 💍 1890/612	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	26 23	Masterton Masterton	15 years 3 weeks	Roman Catholic Chapel, Masterton	90/3236		16 December 1890	Rev John McKenna, Roman Catholic Priest
49	22 December 1890	Piripi Ihaka Mildred Mabel Baker	Piripi Ihaka Mildred Mabel Baker 💍 1890/1309	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	29 18	Taneru Taneru	4 years 5 years	Te poho Ohine Pare, Taneru	90/3234	George Thomas Baker, Father	22 December 1890	Rev W E Paige, Church of England Minister

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).