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 474

District of Turanga Quarter ending 30 June 1890

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

600

28 May 1890

Robert Noble Jones
Martha Thompstone Lowndes

Robert Noble Jones
Martha Thompstone Lowndes
💍 1890/2085

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

25
23

Gisborne Poverty Bay
Gisborne Poverty Bay

11 years
10 years

The Wesleyan Church at Gisborne

90/1894

28 May 1890

Rev. Josiah Ward

No	600
Date of Notice	28 May 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Noble Jones	Martha Thompstone Lowndes
	💍 1890/2085
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Gisborne Poverty Bay	Gisborne Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	11 years	10 years
Marriage Place	The Wesleyan Church at Gisborne
Folio	90/1894
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 May 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. Josiah Ward

601

21 May 1890

William John Walters
Annie Hackett

William John Walters
Annie Hackett
💍 1890/1024

Bachelor
Spinster

Coachbuilder
Domestic Servant

24
18

Gisborne Poverty Bay
Gisborne Poverty Bay

11 years
4 years

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages at Gisborne

90/1100

21 May 1890

The Registrar of Marriages at Gisborne

No	601
Date of Notice	21 May 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Walters	Annie Hackett
	💍 1890/1024
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coachbuilder	Domestic Servant
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Gisborne Poverty Bay	Gisborne Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	11 years	4 years
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages at Gisborne
Folio	90/1100
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 May 1890
Officiating Minister	The Registrar of Marriages at Gisborne

602

23 May 1890

Maurice Fitzgerald
Mary Bruce Spence

Maurice Fitzgerald
Mary Bruce Spence
💍 1890/3634

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd

26
23

Tolaga Bay Cook County
Tolaga Bay Cook County

4 years
3 years

The Residence of Mr. George Spence at Tolaga Bay

90/1103

23 May 1890

The Rev. W. L. Williams

No	602
Date of Notice	23 May 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Maurice Fitzgerald	Mary Bruce Spence
	💍 1890/3634
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Tolaga Bay Cook County	Tolaga Bay Cook County
Length of Residence	4 years	3 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of Mr. George Spence at Tolaga Bay
Folio	90/1103
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 May 1890
Officiating Minister	The Rev. W. L. Williams

603

26 May 1890

Albert Victor Klee
Margaret Mary Frances Fanning

Albert Klee
Margaret Mary Fanning
💍 1890/1030

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

24
19

Gisborne Poverty Bay
Gisborne Poverty Bay

18 months
12 years

The Roman Catholic Church at Gisborne

90/1107

Thomas Oliver Fanning, Father of Minor

26 May 1890

The Rev. Joseph Paul Mehae

No	603
Date of Notice	26 May 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Victor Klee	Margaret Mary Frances Fanning
BDM Match (67%)	Albert Klee	Margaret Mary Fanning
	💍 1890/1030
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Gisborne Poverty Bay	Gisborne Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	18 months	12 years
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church at Gisborne
Folio	90/1107
Consent	Thomas Oliver Fanning, Father of Minor
Date of Certificate	26 May 1890
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Joseph Paul Mehae

604

27 May 1890

Albert McKay
Celia Cathleen Greening

Albert McKay
Celia Kathleen Greening
💍 1890/1028

Bachelor
Spinster

Licensed Interpreter

38
17

Gisborne Poverty Bay
Gisborne Poverty Bay

11 years
2 years

Holy Trinity Church at Gisborne

90/1105

Mr. A. Tirinini, Mother of Minor

27 May 1890

The Rev. Allen Francis Gardiner

No	604
Date of Notice	27 May 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert McKay	Celia Cathleen Greening
BDM Match (98%)	Albert McKay	Celia Kathleen Greening
	💍 1890/1028
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Licensed Interpreter
Age	38	17
Dwelling Place	Gisborne Poverty Bay	Gisborne Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	11 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church at Gisborne
Folio	90/1105
Consent	Mr. A. Tirinini, Mother of Minor
Date of Certificate	27 May 1890
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Allen Francis Gardiner

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).