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 1321

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 1890 Registrar W. J. 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
267	18 October 1890	Richard Bowden Martin Ann Croucher	Richard Bowden Martin Junr Ann Croucher 💍 1890/3057	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep Farmer	31 20	Wellington Wellington	15 months years	Registrars office Wellington	90/3192	Eliza Croucher mother	20 October 1890	Mr. J. Wyatt
268	20 October 1890	William Henry Rack Barbara Margaret Graham	William Henry Back Barbara Margaret Graham 💍 1890/3019	Widower Spinster	Hotel Keeper	45 35	Wellington Lower Hutt	years years	St. James Church Lower Hutt	90/3177		20 October 1890	Revd. Joshua Jones
269	21 October 1890	Eardley Bulley Reynolds Frances Edith Richardson	Eardley Culley Reynolds Frances Edith Richardson 💍 1890/3016	Bachelor Spinster	Auctioneer	26 26	Wellington Wellington	4 days years	St. Peters Church	90/3174		21 October 1890	Revd. W. C. Waters
270	21 October 1890	William Reckie Bethune Adelaide Clara Sawyer	William Reekie Bethane Adelaide Clara Sawyer 💍 1890/1610	Bachelor Spinster	Warder	28 19	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	St. Johns Church	90/3149		21 October 1890	Revd. J. Paterson
271	21 October 1890	James Millward Mary Agnes Conway	James Millward Mary Agnes Conway 💍 1890/3058	Bachelor Spinster	Bootmaker	20 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	90/3193	Charles Millward father	21 October 1890	Mr. J. Wyatt
272	23 October 1890	Thomas Richard Cripps Maggie Dow	Thomas Richard Cripps Maggie Dow 💍 1890/3059	Bachelor Spinster	Steward	30 24	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	90/3194		23 October 1890	Mr. J. Wyatt
273	25 October 1890	Frederick De Lenen Annie Grose	Frederick de Luen Annie Grose 💍 1890/3031	Bachelor Spinster	Sailor	21 22	Wellington Wellington	9 days 6 months	Wesleyan Church Molesworth St	90/3166		25 October 1890	Revd. C. H. Laws
274	27 October 1890	Moses Oates Victor Dimock Lilian Jane Rogerson	Moses Oates Victor Dimock Lillian Jane Rogerson 💍 1890/3032	Bachelor Spinster	Bacon Curer	26 21	Kaiwara Johnsonville	years 12 months	Home of Mr. W. Dimock Kaiwara	90/3167		27 October 1890	Revd. C. H. Laws
275	27 October 1890	Francis John Gordon Graham Marian Agnes McGinity	Francis John Gordon Graham Marian Agnes McGinihy 💍 1890/3036	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	22 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	90/3195		27 October 1890	Mr. J. Wyatt
276	27 October 1890	John Parkin Ellen Ann Edwards	John Parkin Ellen Ann Edwards 💍 1890/3037	Bachelor Widow	Contractor	36 40	Wellington Wellington	3 days weeks	Registrars office Wellington	90/3196		27 October 1890	Mr. J. Wyatt
277	29 October 1890	Charles Thompson Olive Carlson	Charles Thompson Olive Carlson 💍 1890/3038	Widower Widow	Draper	33 38	Wellington Wellington	6 weeks weeks	Registrars office Wellington	90/3197		29 October 1890	Mr. J. Wyatt
278	29 October 1890	John Hulbert Wale Clara Emera Watkins	John Hulbert Wall Clara Enora Watkins 💍 1890/1611	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	36 23	Wellington Wellington	4 days years	House of Mrs. Grainer Taranaki St	90/3150		29 October 1890	Revd. J. Paterson
279	29 October 1890	William Ferguson Mary Louisa Moorhouse	William Ferguson Mary Louisa Moorhouse 💍 1890/3001	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer	39 25	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Pauls Cathedral	90/3133		29 October 1890	Revd. John Still
280	3 November 1890	Thomas James Emery Emma Berry	Thomas James Emery Emma Berry 💍 1890/3034	Bachelor Spinster	Upholsterer	29 24	Wellington Wellington	years years	Wesley Church Taranaki St	90/3169		3 November 1890	Revd. C. H. Laws
281	3 November 1890	Gibbes Claude Borlase Jordan Lilian Isabella Ganno	Gibbes Claude Borlase Jordan Lilian Isabella Gawne 💍 1890/3025	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	25 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	Wesley Church Taranaki St	90/3182		3 November 1890	Revd. W. H. Beck

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).