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 251

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1890 Registrar J. M. Ollivier

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

4 March 1890

James Boleyn
Charlotte Burness

James Boleyn
Charlotte Burniss
💍 1890/105

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

59
43

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
6 years

Wesleyan Chapel

90/490

4 March 1890

Rev W. J. Williams

No	71
Date of Notice	4 March 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Boleyn	Charlotte Burness
BDM Match (97%)	James Boleyn	Charlotte Burniss
	💍 1890/105
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	59	43
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	6 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Chapel
Folio	90/490
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev W. J. Williams

5 March 1890

John Broughton
Maria Clarke

John Broughton
Anna Maria Clarke
💍 1890/88

Widower
Widow

59
54

Christchurch
Christchurch

37 years
3 years

St. Johns Church

90/523

5 March 1890

Rev J. B. Hoare, Church of England

No	72
Date of Notice	5 March 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Broughton	Maria Clarke
BDM Match (85%)	John Broughton	Anna Maria Clarke
	💍 1890/88
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession
Age	59	54
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	37 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Johns Church
Folio	90/523
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev J. B. Hoare, Church of England

5 March 1890

William Brice
Edith Malvina Giles

William Brice
Edith Malvina Giles
💍 1890/110

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

24
19

Christchurch
Shirley

24 years
5 years

House of John Giles

90/495

John Giles, Father

5 March 1890

Rev F. W. Isitt, Church of England

No	73
Date of Notice	5 March 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Brice	Edith Malvina Giles
	💍 1890/110
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Shirley
Length of Residence	24 years	5 years
Marriage Place	House of John Giles
Folio	90/495
Consent	John Giles, Father
Date of Certificate	5 March 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev F. W. Isitt, Church of England

5 March 1890

Samuel Burrows
Lucy Dunna Thompson

Samuel Burrows
Lucy Emma Thompson
💍 1890/90

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28
20

Prebbleton
Christchurch

21 years
20 years

Episcopal Church

90/526

George Thompson, Father

5 March 1890

Rev W. F. Knowles, Church of England

No	74
Date of Notice	5 March 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Burrows	Lucy Dunna Thompson
BDM Match (89%)	Samuel Burrows	Lucy Emma Thompson
	💍 1890/90
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Prebbleton	Christchurch
Length of Residence	21 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Episcopal Church
Folio	90/526
Consent	George Thompson, Father
Date of Certificate	5 March 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev W. F. Knowles, Church of England

6 March 1890

William Holle
Elizabeth Fannie Johnstone

William Stokell
Elizabeth Farnie Johnstone
💍 1890/461

Bachelor
Spinster

Surgeon

41
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
5 years

Registrars Office, Marriages

90/556

6 March 1890

J. M. Ollivier

No	75
Date of Notice	6 March 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Holle	Elizabeth Fannie Johnstone
BDM Match (81%)	William Stokell	Elizabeth Farnie Johnstone
	💍 1890/461
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surgeon
Age	41	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Marriages
Folio	90/556
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1890
Officiating Minister	J. M. Ollivier

6 March 1890

Harry Edwin Newson Robbins
Clarce Anne Hyman

Harry Edwin Newson Robbins
Clara Ann Hyman
💍 1890/111

Bachelor
Spinster

Millwright

24
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

9 years
25 years

St. Lukes Church Christchurch

90/478

6 March 1890

Rev Cecil Leigard, Church of England

No	76
Date of Notice	6 March 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Edwin Newson Robbins	Clarce Anne Hyman
BDM Match (91%)	Harry Edwin Newson Robbins	Clara Ann Hyman
	💍 1890/111
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Millwright
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 years	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Lukes Church Christchurch
Folio	90/478
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev Cecil Leigard, Church of England

7 March 1890

Walter Hamblew
Kate Eliza Neale

Walter Horniblow Turvey
Kate Eliza Male
💍 1890/2666

Bachelor
Spinster

Bricklayer
Dressmaker

22
21

Christchurch
Avonside

16 years
10 years

Holy Trinity Church

90/463

7 March 1890

Rev W. A. Pascoe, Church of England

No	77
Date of Notice	7 March 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Hamblew	Kate Eliza Neale
BDM Match (68%)	Walter Horniblow Turvey	Kate Eliza Male
	💍 1890/2666
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer	Dressmaker
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Avonside
Length of Residence	16 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church
Folio	90/463
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 March 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev W. A. Pascoe, Church of England

8 March 1890

John Gray
Alice Maud Thompson

John Gray
Alice Maud Thompson
💍 1890/87

Bachelor
Spinster

Teacher
Teacher

26
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
2 months

St. Johns Church

90/522

7 March 1890

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

No	78
Date of Notice	8 March 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Gray	Alice Maud Thompson
	💍 1890/87
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Teacher	Teacher
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	2 months
Marriage Place	St. Johns Church
Folio	90/522
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 March 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).