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 243

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1890 Registrar Henry Adams

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

8 January 1890

William Hands
Ann Lavinia Allsop

William Hands
Ann Lavinia Alsop
💍 1890/392

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

29
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 months
20 years

Registrar's Office

90/538

Thomas Allsop, father

8 January 1890

Registrar J.W. Parkerson

No	9
Date of Notice	8 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hands	Ann Lavinia Allsop
BDM Match (97%)	William Hands	Ann Lavinia Alsop
	💍 1890/392
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 months	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	90/538
Consent	Thomas Allsop, father
Date of Certificate	8 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Registrar J.W. Parkerson

9 January 1890

Alexander Ross
Joan Isabella Bairnsfather

Alexander Ross
Joan Isabella Bainsfather
💍 1890/95

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

32
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
6 weeks

House of Mr George Petrie, Richmond

90/507

9 January 1890

Rev S. Macfarlane, United Methodist

No	10
Date of Notice	9 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Ross	Joan Isabella Bairnsfather
BDM Match (98%)	Alexander Ross	Joan Isabella Bainsfather
	💍 1890/95
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	6 weeks
Marriage Place	House of Mr George Petrie, Richmond
Folio	90/507
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev S. Macfarlane, United Methodist

13 January 1890

Martin Henricksen
Mary Walkins

Martin Henrickson
Mary Watkins
💍 1890/393

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Housekeeper

32
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
3 years

Registrar's Office

90/539

13 January 1890

Dpy. Registrar of Marriages Henry Adams

No	11
Date of Notice	13 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Martin Henricksen	Mary Walkins
BDM Match (93%)	Martin Henrickson	Mary Watkins
	💍 1890/393
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Housekeeper
Age	32	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	90/539
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Dpy. Registrar of Marriages Henry Adams

13 January 1890

James Ash
Priscilla Thompson

James Ash
Priscilla Thompson
💍 1890/2670

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

16 years
8 years

House of Rev G. Webster, Tuam Street

90/511

13 January 1890

Rev G. Webster, Presbyterian

No	12
Date of Notice	13 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Ash	Priscilla Thompson
	💍 1890/2670
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	16 years	8 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev G. Webster, Tuam Street
Folio	90/511
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev G. Webster, Presbyterian

13 January 1890

Arthur Edward Kensington
Isabelle Maude Thompson

Arthur Edward Kensington
Mabelle Maude Thompson
💍 1890/119

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

25
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 months
9 days

St. Mark's Church, Opawa

90/480

13 January 1890

Rev G.J. Cholmondeley, Church England

No	13
Date of Notice	13 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Edward Kensington	Isabelle Maude Thompson
BDM Match (96%)	Arthur Edward Kensington	Mabelle Maude Thompson
	💍 1890/119
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 months	9 days
Marriage Place	St. Mark's Church, Opawa
Folio	90/480
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev G.J. Cholmondeley, Church England

14 January 1890

John Collins
Bessie McQueen

John Collins
Bessie McQuinn
💍 1890/399

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

29
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Roman Catholic Church, Barbados Street

90/530

14 January 1890

Rev Father Cumming, Roman Catholic

No	14
Date of Notice	14 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Collins	Bessie McQueen
BDM Match (93%)	John Collins	Bessie McQuinn
	💍 1890/399
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Barbados Street
Folio	90/530
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev Father Cumming, Roman Catholic

14 January 1890

Joseph Auton
Jane Hannah Tait

Joseph Anton
Jane Hannah Tait
💍 1890/3657

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Servant

35
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

14 years
6 years

St. Andrew's Manse, Tuam Street

90/512

14 January 1890

Rev G. Webster, Presbyterian

No	15
Date of Notice	14 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Auton	Jane Hannah Tait
BDM Match (96%)	Joseph Anton	Jane Hannah Tait
	💍 1890/3657
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Servant
Age	35	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	14 years	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Manse, Tuam Street
Folio	90/512
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev G. Webster, Presbyterian

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).