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 529

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 June 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
140	6 June 1890	William George Chance Emily Ellen Knocks	William George Chaney Emily Ellen Knocks 💍 1890/1178	Bachelor Spinster	Boiler maker	22 18	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mrs Sexton, Cambridge Terrace	90/1235	No relation in Colony	20 June 1890	Revd H. B. Reaston
141	6 June 1890	Andrew Cooper Riggs Bessie Maggie Lucas	Andrew Cooper Riggs Bessie Maggie Lucas 💍 1890/1205	Bachelor Spinster	Shoemaker	36 26	Wellington Wellington	years 14 days	House of Mr A. Riggs, Lloyd Street	90/1250		6 June 1890	Revd William Shiver
142	6 June 1890	George Hamilton Grapes Elizabeth Crump	George Hamilton Grapes Elizabeth Crump 💍 1890/1192	Bachelor Spinster	Setter	30 30	Wellington Wellington	14 days 14 days	St. Pauls Cathedral	90/1254		6 June 1890	Revd E. J. Howell
143	9 June 1890	James Ellis Duckworth Evelyn Ellen Harland	James Ellis Duckworth Evelyn Ellen Harland 💍 1890/1207	Bachelor Spinster	Auctioneer	32 29	Wellington Wellington	3 days 3 days	St. Pauls Cathedral	90/1253	(Carried by S.S. [illegible] known)	9 June 1890	Revd E. J. Howell
144	9 June 1890	Alfred Warren Alice Small	Alfred Warren Alice Small 💍 1890/1210	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	22 23	Wellington Wellington	3 days 3 days	House of Mr Whear, Lorne Street	90/1276		9 June 1890	Revd Joseph Berry
145	9 June 1890	Harry William Goudard Kate Meech		Bachelor Spinster	Cabinet maker	24 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Marks Church	90/1230		9 June 1890	Revd R. Coffey
146	9 June 1890	James Brightman Jessie Minnifie	James Brightmore Jessie Minnifie 💍 1890/1224	Bachelor Spinster	Bricklayer	25 27	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr G. R. Wilton, Adelaide Road	90/1268		9 June 1890	Revd W. H. Beck
147	10 June 1890	Robert Leedham Irving Mary Ann Austin	Robert Leedham Irving Mary Ann Austin 💍 1890/1183	Widower Spinster	Grocer	39 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mrs Austin, Ingestre Street	90/1239		10 June 1890	Revd C. E. Ward
148	11 June 1890	Arthur Henderson Alice Charlotte Johnston	Arthur Henderson Alice Charlotte Johnston 💍 1890/1255	Bachelor Spinster	Harness maker	23 18	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars Office, Wellington	90/1297	Thomas Johnstone, Father	11 June 1890	Mr W. T. Wyatt
149	11 June 1890	Thomas Wolland Annas Smith	Thomas Wolland Annas Smith 💍 1890/1232	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	25 21	Lower Hutt Lower Hutt	years years	Registrars Office, Wellington	90/1298		11 June 1890	Mr W. T. Wyatt
150	13 June 1890	Frank Anson Mayendie Rosina Louisa Frances	Frank Anton Majendie Rosina Louisa France 💍 1890/2370	Bachelor Widow	Farmer	47 52	Johnsonville Ohariu	years years	St. Johns Church, Johnsonville	90/2233		13 June 1890	Venble Archdeacon Fancourt
151	16 June 1890	Frederick William Mills Rose Ellen Alley	Frederick William Mills Rose Ellen Alley 💍 1890/1202	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor	24 24	Petone Petone	years 1 year	House of Bridegroom, Petone	90/1243		16 June 1890	Revd A. Thomson

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).