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 969

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 September 1890

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
65	11 August 1890	Henry Ridgway Margaret Smith Cole	Henry Ridgway Margaret Smith Cole 💍 1890/1579	Bachelor Spinster	Coachbuilder	23 22	Napier Napier	15 years 3 years at Napier	The Cathedral	90/2796		11 August 1890	Dean Hovell, Church of England
66	11 August 1890	Frederick William Bridger Flora Douglas Rechaire	Frederick William Bodges Flora Douglas McKain 💍 1890/1569	Widower Spinster	Coach driver	26 24	Petane Petane	2 years 24 years	Residence of the Bride's mother at Petane	90/2792		11 August 1890	Rev J. Paterson, Presbyterian
67	12 August 1890	Walter Robert Catherine Isabella Cole	Walter Robson Catherine Isabella Cole 💍 1890/1578	Bachelor Spinster	Sheepfarmer	46 26	Napier Napier	10 days 4 years at Napier	The Cathedral	90/2795		12 August 1890	Dean Hovell, Church of England
68	15 August 1890	Frederick William Herrick Martha Annie Hobbs	Frederick William Herries Martha Annie Hobbs 💍 1890/1452	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd	32 19	Omahu Napier Napier	6 years 19 years	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier	90/2317	Sarah Ann Hobbs, mother of Martha Annie Hobbs	15 August 1890	L. J. Jago, Registrar
69	19 August 1890	Henry Jacobi Mary McKay	Henry Jacobi Mary McKay 💍 1890/1450	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	24 23	Napier Napier	6 months 5 years	Residence of the Bride's mother, Napier	90/2314		19 August 1890	Rev D. McNicoll, Wesleyan
70	19 August 1890	Richard James Love Annie Maria McKain	Richard James Lowe Annie Maria McKain 💍 1890/1576	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	30 26	Petane Petane	18 months 26 years	Presbyterian Church	90/2793		19 August 1890	Rev J. Paterson, Presbyterian
71	25 August 1890	Henry Alexander Warren Rosie Elphinstone Bell	Henry Alexander Warren Rosie Elphinstone Bell 💍 1890/1580	Bachelor Spinster	Bank Accountant	39 25	New Plymouth Napier	3 years 10 years	Cathedral, Napier	90/2797		25 August 1890	Dean Hovell, Church of England
72	27 August 1890	Henry Neale Sarah Ann Radford	Henry Halse Sarah Ann Helena Radford 💍 1890/3382	Widower Spinster	Cabinetmaker Housekeeper	39 34	Napier Napier	16 years 1 year	Baptist Chapel, Napier	90/2318		27 August 1890	Rev P.H. Comford, Baptist
73	29 August 1890	Herbert Samuel Wardell Lucy Caroline Sheehan	Herbert Samuel Wardell Lucy Caroline Shuan 💍 1890/1448	Widower Widow	Resident Magistrate	60 24	Napier Napier	1 month 6 months	Roman Catholic Chapel, Napier	90/2312		29 August 1890	Rev Father Grogan, R.C. Priest
74	12 September 1890	John Anson Martha Pollington	John Avison Martha Pollington 💍 1890/1581	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	25 19	Waipawa Napier Waipawa Napier	20 years 2 years	The Cathedral, Napier	90/2798	John Pollington, father of Martha Pollington	12 September 1890	Dean Hovell, Church of England
75	13 September 1890	James Joseph Shadmore Ada Hoyter	James Joseph Skidmore Ada Hayter 💍 1890/3383	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer Domestic	22 21	Taradale Taradale	6 months 2 years	Baptist Chapel, Taradale	90/2319		13 September 1890	Rev P.H. Comford, Baptist

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 1894. More registers will be added as the project continues.

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).