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 1323

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 1890 Registrar W. T. Wyalt

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
297	15 November 1890	George David John Buck Annie Caroline Jones	George David John Duck Annie Caroline Jones 💍 1890/3049	Widower Spinster	Painter	33 36	Wellington Wellington	1 week years	Registrars Office Wellington	90/3207		15 November 1890	W. T. Wyalt
298	15 November 1890	Robert Tansfield Kate Maude Mowbray	Robert Stansfield Kate Maude Mowbray 💍 1890/3020	Bachelor Spinster	Manager Accident Insurance Company	20 24	Wellington Lower Hutt	years years	St James Church Lower Hutt	90/3178		15 November 1890	Rev. J. McWilliam
299	17 November 1890	Arthur Harry Fullford Maria Short	Arthur Harry Fulford Maria Short 💍 1890/1619	Bachelor Spinster	Plasterer	23 20	Wellington Ohariu	years years	St Marks Church	90/3157	Henry Short, father	17 November 1890	Rev. R. Coffey
300	17 November 1890	Thomas James Malcolm Emily Elizabeth Staples	Thomas James Malcolm Emily Elizabeth Staples 💍 1890/3002	Bachelor Spinster	Warehouseman	29 28	Wellington Wellington	years years	St Pauls Cathedral	90/3134		17 November 1890	Rev. John Still
301	18 November 1890	John McNamara Julia Biggins	John McNamara Julia Biggins 💍 1890/2992	Bachelor Spinster	Farm Labourer	35 27	Wellington Wellington	3 days 1 week	St Mary of the Angels	90/3124		18 November 1890	Rev. John Doherty
302	18 November 1890	William Henry Wilson Christine Charlotte Sagan	W H Wilson Christine Charlotte Fagan 💍 1890/2993	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	36 34	Wellington Wellington	4 days 6 months	St Mary of the Angels	90/3125		18 November 1890	Rev. John Doherty
303	21 November 1890	Thomas Good Nettie McElwain		Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	26 20	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr Bateman Hill Street	90/3151	Jane Bateman, mother	21 November 1890	Rev. J. Paterson
304	22 November 1890	Thomas Gregory Sophia Nisbet	Thomas Gregory Sophia Nisbett 💍 1890/3050	Widower Widow	Ganger on Railway	40 20	Porirarikau Porirarikau	years years	Registrars Office Wellington	90/3208		22 November 1890	W. T. Wyalt
305	24 November 1890	Henry William Hale Martha Shotter	Henry William Hall Martha Shotter 💍 1890/1628	Bachelor Widow	Shepherd	24 23	Terawiti Makara	1 year years	Episcopalian Church Makara	90/3146		24 November 1890	Rev. A. D. Avent
306	24 November 1890	Walter James Dear Caroline Sarah Bridge	Walter James Dear Caroline Sarah Uridge 💍 1890/3405	Bachelor Spinster	Compositor	23 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr J. Bridge Tory Street	90/3140		24 November 1890	Rev. H. B. Reastine
307	25 November 1890	William Graham Jamieson Mary White Howe	William Graham Jamieson May Whitehouse 💍 1890/1613	Bachelor Spinster	Contractor	29 21	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	St Johns Church Willis Street	90/3152		25 November 1890	Rev. J. Paterson
308	25 November 1890	Arthur Charles Hackworth Irene Kent Lawton	Arthur Charles Hackworth Minnie Kent Lawton 💍 1890/3008	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	28 24	Miramar Wellington	1 year years	St Marys Cathedral	90/3117		25 November 1890	Very Rev. J. McNamara
309	29 November 1890	Frederick Henry Street Elizabeth Raven	Frederick Henry Streeter Elizabeth Raven 💍 1890/3022	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	27 26	Petone Lower Hutt	years years	Wesleyan Church Lower Hutt	90/3162		29 November 1890	Rev. W. J. Watkin
310	29 November 1890	Henry Messenger Rebecca Wheaton	Henry Messenger Rebecca Wheaton 💍 1890/1607	Bachelor Spinster	Expressman	42 38	Wellington Wellington	years years	St Pauls Cathedral	90/3136		29 November 1890	Rev. John Still
311	1 December 1890	Robert Bell Blanche Charles	Robert Bell Blanche Charles 💍 1890/3051	Bachelor Widow	Storeman	35 36	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars Office Wellington	90/3209		1 December 1890	W. T. Wyalt

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).