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 1470

District of Timaru Quarter ending 31 December 1890 Registrar Thomas Stanley

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
64	9 October 1890	George Frederick Taigel Charlotte Scoringe	George Frederick Faigel Charlotte Scoringe 💍 1890/3272	Bachelor Spinster	Baker	24 years 21 years	Timaru Timaru	6 years 21 years	Residence of Francisco Scoringe, Timaru	90/3539		9 October 1890	Revd William Woollass, Primitive Methodist Minister
65	22 October 1890	Eli Alfred Aron Jones Phoebe Bradding	Eli Alfred Aron Jones Phoebe Bradding 💍 1890/3269	Bachelor Spinster	Plumber Domestic Servant	23 years 19 years	Timaru Timaru	16 years 16 years	The Revd C.C. Brown's residence, Timaru	90/3536	Elizabeth Bradding, Mother	22 October 1890	Revd C. C. Brown, Baptist Minister
66	20 October 1890	Robert Erskine Polly Laurie	Robert Erskine Polly Unwin 💍 1890/3265	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher General Servant	24 years 23 years	Timaru Timaru	10 years 3 years	Residence of Mrs Vetty, Beach road	90/3524		20 October 1890	Revd William Gillies, Presbyterian Minister
67	31 October 1890	Kenneth Scott Catherine McLennan	Kenneth Scott Catherine McLennan 💍 1890/3276	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd	28 years 23 years	Pareara Pareara	3 years 23 years	Presbyterian Church, Timaru	90/3525		31 October 1890	Revd William Gillies, Presbyterian Minister
68	4 November 1890	Samuel Mc. Murray Sarah Jane Hay	Samuel McMurray Sarah Jane Hay 💍 1890/3266	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	28 years 26 years	Timaru Kingsdown	3 days 3 Weeks	St Mary's English Church, Timaru	90/3533		4 November 1890	Revd McKenzie Gibson, Church of England Minister
69	5 November 1890	Robert Mangin Agnes Hay	Robert Mangin Agnes Hay 💍 1890/3547	Bachelor Spinster	Farm hand	24 years 22 years	Timaru Claremont	3 days 18 months	Residence of Mr George Hay, Claremont	90/3813		5 November 1890	Revd William White, Presbyterian Minister
70	6 November 1890	Daniel John Caldwell Helen Philps	David John Caldwell Helen Philp 💍 1890/3280	Bachelor Spinster	Ironmonger's assistant	28 years 21 years	Timaru Waiiti	2 years 21 years	Residence of Mr James Philp, Waiiti	90/3526		6 November 1890	Revd William Gillies, Presbyterian Minister
71	25 November 1890	George Edward Rhodes Ellen Laura Amy Perry	George Edward Rhodes Ellen Laura Amy Perry 💍 1890/3267	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep farmer	24 years 20 years	Timaru Timaru	3 days 20 years	St Mary's English Church, Timaru	90/3534	Arthur Perry, Father	25 November 1890	Right Revd Henry John Chitty Harper - Bishop of Christchurch, Church of England Minister
72	27 November 1890	William Graham Gunnion Annie Brooks	William Graham Gunnion Annie Brooks 💍 1890/3273	Bachelor Spinster	Station Manager Domestic Servant	31 years 24 years	Timaru Timaru	3 days 7 years	Mr Joseph Brooks' residence, Timaru	90/3540		27 November 1890	Revd Edward Durrant Cocks, Congregational Independent Minister
73	1 December 1890	John Cameron Macintyre Mary Eliza Lough	John Cameron Macintyre Mary Eliza Lough 💍 1890/3281	Bachelor Spinster	Railway Station Master	30 years 26 years	Timaru Timaru	3 days 26 years	Mr Edwin Henry Lough's residence, Timaru	90/3527		1 December 1890	Revd William Gillies, Presbyterian 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).