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 1265

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 31 December 1890 Registrar A. Graham Lord

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

624

11 November 1890

William Arthur Oneara
Annie Isabel Langford

William Arthur O'Meara
Annie Isabel Langford
💍 1890/2939

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

28
26

North Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Gisborne, Poverty Bay

18 years
17 years

1. Roman Catholic Church Gisborne, 2. Holy Trinity Church Gisborne

90/3020

11 November 1890

1. Rev Joseph P. Keloe, 2. Rev Allen L. Gardiner

No	624
Date of Notice	11 November 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Arthur Oneara	Annie Isabel Langford
BDM Match (95%)	William Arthur O'Meara	Annie Isabel Langford
	💍 1890/2939
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	North Gisborne, Poverty Bay	Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	18 years	17 years
Marriage Place	1. Roman Catholic Church Gisborne, 2. Holy Trinity Church Gisborne
Folio	90/3020
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 November 1890
Officiating Minister	1. Rev Joseph P. Keloe, 2. Rev Allen L. Gardiner

625

25 November 1890

David Kirkpatrick
Jessie McKenzie

David Kirkpatrick
Jessie McKenzie
💍 1890/2940

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer

28
22

Makaraka, Poverty Bay
Ormond, Poverty Bay

7 years
About 18 years at Ormond

The residence of Mr Alexander McKenzie

90/3021

25 November 1890

Rev Robert Ryburn

No	625
Date of Notice	25 November 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Kirkpatrick	Jessie McKenzie
	💍 1890/2940
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Makaraka, Poverty Bay	Ormond, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	7 years	About 18 years at Ormond
Marriage Place	The residence of Mr Alexander McKenzie
Folio	90/3021
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 November 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev Robert Ryburn

626

13 December 1890

Watene Tapu te Ranji
Miria Tapu te Ranji

Bachelor, Aborijinal Native
Spinster, Aborijinal Native

22
19

Paparatu, Poverty Bay
Paparatu, Poverty Bay

1 year
4 months at Tolaga Bay

The Maori Church at Tolaga Bay

see memo

see memo Mother of all? Minor.

13 December 1890

The Ven. W. L. Williams

No	626
Date of Notice	13 December 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Watene Tapu te Ranji	Miria Tapu te Ranji
Condition	Bachelor, Aborijinal Native	Spinster, Aborijinal Native
Profession
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Paparatu, Poverty Bay	Paparatu, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	1 year	4 months at Tolaga Bay
Marriage Place	The Maori Church at Tolaga Bay
Folio	see memo
Consent	see memo Mother of all? Minor.
Date of Certificate	13 December 1890
Officiating Minister	The Ven. W. L. Williams

627

16 December 1890

James Smith Williamson
Laura Pitcher

James Smith Williamson
Laura E Pitcher
💍 1890/3834

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic Servant

31
29

Whakatupoko, Poverty Bay
Gisborne, Poverty Bay

1 year
6 years

The residence of Mr Charles Francis at Whakatupoko

90/3019

16 December 1890

Rev Josiah Ward

No	627
Date of Notice	16 December 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Smith Williamson	Laura Pitcher
BDM Match (93%)	James Smith Williamson	Laura E Pitcher
	💍 1890/3834
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic Servant
Age	31	29
Dwelling Place	Whakatupoko, Poverty Bay	Gisborne, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	1 year	6 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Mr Charles Francis at Whakatupoko
Folio	90/3019
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 December 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev Josiah Ward

628

16 December 1890

John George Alexander Johnstone
Sarah Catherine Greene

George John Alexander Johnstone
Sarah Catherine Greene
💍 1890/2941

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

24
21

Makaraka, Poverty Bay
Matanhero, Poverty Bay

8 years
21 years at Matanhero

The dwelling of Mr W. S. Greene at Matanhero

90/3022

16 December 1890

Rev Robert M. Ryburn

No	628
Date of Notice	16 December 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John George Alexander Johnstone	Sarah Catherine Greene
BDM Match (84%)	George John Alexander Johnstone	Sarah Catherine Greene
	💍 1890/2941
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Makaraka, Poverty Bay	Matanhero, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	8 years	21 years at Matanhero
Marriage Place	The dwelling of Mr W. S. Greene at Matanhero
Folio	90/3022
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 December 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev Robert M. Ryburn

629

29 December 1890

Leslie Hartley McHardy
Mary Ann McKenzie

Leslie Harling McHardy
Mary Ann McKenzie
💍 1891/3424

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer

27
19

Ormond, Poverty Bay
Ormond, Poverty Bay

6 days
19 years at Ormond

The residence of Mr Alexander McKenzie at Ormond

90/204

29 December 1890

Rev Robert M. Ryburn

No	629
Date of Notice	29 December 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Hartley McHardy	Mary Ann McKenzie
BDM Match (91%)	Leslie Harling McHardy	Mary Ann McKenzie
	💍 1891/3424
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	Ormond, Poverty Bay	Ormond, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	6 days	19 years at Ormond
Marriage Place	The residence of Mr Alexander McKenzie at Ormond
Folio	90/204
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 December 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev Robert M. Ryburn

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 1908. 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).