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 062

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 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

115

12 March 1890

Joseph Howard
Emily Somerville

Joseph Howard
Lily Somervell
💍 1890/705

Bachelor
Spinster

25
19

Auckland
Auckland

Dwelling of James Somerville, Victoria Avenue

90/823

James Somerville, father

12 March 1890

Rev. A. Smith, Methodist

No	115
Date of Notice	12 March 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Howard	Emily Somerville
BDM Match (88%)	Joseph Howard	Lily Somervell
	💍 1890/705
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence
Marriage Place	Dwelling of James Somerville, Victoria Avenue
Folio	90/823
Consent	James Somerville, father
Date of Certificate	12 March 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Smith, Methodist

116

15 March 1890

Albert Fieldsend
Elizabeth Rolph

Albert Fieldsend
Elizabeth Ralph
💍 1890/205

Widower
Widow

Carter

37
27

Newton
Newton

7 years
4 years

Dwelling of John Fieldsend, Karangahape Road

90/779

15 March 1890

Rev. C. Greyhurst, Presbyterian

No	116
Date of Notice	15 March 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Fieldsend	Elizabeth Rolph
BDM Match (97%)	Albert Fieldsend	Elizabeth Ralph
	💍 1890/205
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Carter
Age	37	27
Dwelling Place	Newton	Newton
Length of Residence	7 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of John Fieldsend, Karangahape Road
Folio	90/779
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Greyhurst, Presbyterian

117

15 March 1890

Thomas Edward Day
Helen Ann Patterson

Thomas Edward Haye
Hellen Ann Patterson
💍 1890/174

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

27
23

Three Kings
Auckland

27 years
4 years

Dwelling of Charles McGregor, Cranfield Road

90/769

15 March 1890

Rev. R. West, Presbyterian

No	117
Date of Notice	15 March 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Edward Day	Helen Ann Patterson
BDM Match (92%)	Thomas Edward Haye	Hellen Ann Patterson
	💍 1890/174
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Three Kings	Auckland
Length of Residence	27 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of Charles McGregor, Cranfield Road
Folio	90/769
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. West, Presbyterian

118

15 March 1890

Frederick Earl Bamford
Ethel Mildred Schmitt

Frederick Earl
Ethel Mildred Schmitt
💍 1890/269

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironfounder

32
18

Auckland
Auckland

14 years
4 years

Church of St. Sepulchre

90/102

Carl Schmitt, father

15 March 1890

Rev. B. T. Dudley, Ch. of England

No	118
Date of Notice	15 March 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Earl Bamford	Ethel Mildred Schmitt
BDM Match (82%)	Frederick Earl	Ethel Mildred Schmitt
	💍 1890/269
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironfounder
Age	32	18
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	14 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Church of St. Sepulchre
Folio	90/102
Consent	Carl Schmitt, father
Date of Certificate	15 March 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. T. Dudley, Ch. of England

119

19 March 1890

Jasper Caldwell Sproule
Mary Connolly

Jasper Caldwell Sproule
Mary Connolly
💍 1890/28

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23
25

Papakura
Papakura

3 years
8 years

Registrar's Office

90/143

19 March 1890

J. Owen Lord, Regr

No	119
Date of Notice	19 March 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jasper Caldwell Sproule	Mary Connolly
	💍 1890/28
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Papakura	Papakura
Length of Residence	3 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	90/143
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1890
Officiating Minister	J. Owen Lord, Regr

120

18 March 1890

William Collins
Elizabeth Annie Croskery

William Collins
Elizabeth Annie Croskery
💍 1890/151

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

21
22

Auckland
Parnell

3 years
7 years

Dwelling of John Ewen, Russell Street, Arch Hill, Auckland

90/139

18 March 1890

Rev. R. Sommerville, Presbyterian

No	120
Date of Notice	18 March 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Collins	Elizabeth Annie Croskery
	💍 1890/151
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Parnell
Length of Residence	3 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling of John Ewen, Russell Street, Arch Hill, Auckland
Folio	90/139
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 March 1890
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Sommerville, Presbyterian

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).