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 1037

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 1890 Registrar J. Walkerson

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

235

5 July 1890

Isaac Rounceo
Annie Hartland

Isaac Lomas
Annie Hartland
💍 1890/1492

Bachelor
Spinster

Captn. Salvation Army

29
32

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
1 month

Salvation Army Barrack

90/2429

5 July 1890

Mr. J. P. Taylor, Salvation Army

No	235
Date of Notice	5 July 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Isaac Rounceo	Annie Hartland
BDM Match (77%)	Isaac Lomas	Annie Hartland
	💍 1890/1492
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Captn. Salvation Army
Age	29	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	1 month
Marriage Place	Salvation Army Barrack
Folio	90/2429
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1890
Officiating Minister	Mr. J. P. Taylor, Salvation Army

236

7 July 1890

John Connell
Mary Fitzgerald

John Connell
Mary Fitzgerald
💍 1890/1482

Percy Clifton Langton
Mary Fitzgerald
💍 1891/3281

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

33
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

12 years
7 years

St. Mary's Church

90/2445

7 July 1890

Rev. Father Cummings, Roman Catholic

No	236
Date of Notice	7 July 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Connell	Mary Fitzgerald
	💍 1890/1482
BDM Match (62%)	Percy Clifton Langton	Mary Fitzgerald
	💍 1891/3281
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	33	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	12 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church
Folio	90/2445
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 July 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Cummings, Roman Catholic

237

7 July 1890

David Sutherland
Annie Roberts

David Sutherland
Annie Roberts
💍 1890/1467

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd

31
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
14 days

Roman Catholic Church

90/2454

7 July 1890

Rev. Father Cummings, Roman Catholic

No	237
Date of Notice	7 July 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Sutherland	Annie Roberts
	💍 1890/1467
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd
Age	31	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	14 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	90/2454
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 July 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Cummings, Roman Catholic

238

8 July 1890

James Andrew Berryman
Jane Margaret Boundy

James Andrew Berryman
Jane Margaret Boundy
💍 1890/1479

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

31
25

Christchurch
Woolston

9 years
14 years

Wesleyan Church

90/2465

8 July 1890

Rev. W. Ensley, Wesleyan

No	238
Date of Notice	8 July 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Andrew Berryman	Jane Margaret Boundy
	💍 1890/1479
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	31	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Woolston
Length of Residence	9 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church
Folio	90/2465
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 July 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Ensley, Wesleyan

239

9 July 1890

Stephen Lambert
Matilda Matthews

Stephen Lambert
Matilda Matthews
💍 1890/2504

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner
Tailoress

26
22

Christchurch
Linwood

8 days
22 years

House of Mrs. Matthews, 29 St. Joseph Street

90/2486

9 July 1890

Rev. L. M. Isitt, Wesleyan

No	239
Date of Notice	9 July 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stephen Lambert	Matilda Matthews
	💍 1890/2504
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner	Tailoress
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	8 days	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Matthews, 29 St. Joseph Street
Folio	90/2486
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 July 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. M. Isitt, Wesleyan

240

10 July 1890

Henry Howell
Ellen Coster

Henry Howell Secretan
Ellen Cosker
💍 1890/1493

Henry Tibble
Ellen Cox
💍 1890/1910

Widower
Widow

Accountant

35
42

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

St. John's Church

90/2430

10 July 1890

Rev. J. C. B. Hoare, Church of England

No	240
Date of Notice	10 July 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Howell	Ellen Coster
BDM Match (74%)	Henry Howell Secretan	Ellen Cosker
	💍 1890/1493
BDM Match (63%)	Henry Tibble	Ellen Cox
	💍 1890/1910
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Accountant
Age	35	42
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. John's Church
Folio	90/2430
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. B. Hoare, Church of England

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 1903. 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).