Intentions to Marry, 1891

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840403, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole and Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, May 28 2025

A few pages are missing due to focus issues.

The Archives NZ CSV index has recorded pages 765, 767 and 769 incorrectly as 795, 797 and 796.

Page 629

District of Wellington Quarter ending 30 September 1891

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
210	13 July 1891	William Robert Steil Hannah Elizabeth Hamilton	William Bull Jane Elizabeth Hamilton 💍 1891/3577	Bachelor Spinster	Hatter	26 25	Wellington Wellington	years years	Wesley Church Taranaki St	91/2255		13 July 1891	Revd J. J. Lewis
211	14 July 1891	Maurice Henry Lessington Elizabeth Ellen Lessington	Maurice Drury Elizabeth Ellen Lassington 💍 1891/1368	Bachelor Spinster	Publican	33 19	Wellington Wellington	years years	Sincerity Catheral	91/2213	Mary Lessington mother	14 July 1891	Very Revd J. K. Tamana
212	15 July 1891	Henry Ford Helen Rose Macfarlane	Henry Ford Helen Ross Macfarlane 💍 1891/1385	Bachelor Spinster	Labour	20 25	Wellington Wellington	1 Week 1 Week	Registrars office Wellington	91/2278		15 July 1891	W. I. Wyatt
213	16 July 1891	William Henry Overend Alice Nisbet	William Henry Overend Alice Nisbet 💍 1891/1386	Bachelor Spinster	Bootmaker	20 21	Kauwana Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	91/2279	James Henry Overend Father	16 July 1891	W. I. Wyatt
214	17 July 1891	Alexander Macarauld Jessie King	Alexander Macdonald Jessie King 💍 1891/1469	Widower Spinster	Settler	40 34	Wellington Wellington	4 days 5 days	Registrars office Wellington	91/2280		17 July 1891	W. I. Wyatt
215	18 July 1891	Charles Shibbs Helena Comyn Charlick	Charles Stubbs Helena Comyn Charlick 💍 1891/1480	Widower Spinster	Accountant	50 23	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	91/2281		18 July 1891	W. I. Wyatt
216	18 July 1891	Alfred Joseph Christy Rosina Buldock	Alfred Joseph Christey Rosina Baldock 💍 1891/1487	Bachelor Spinster	Liver	30 25	Wellington Wellington	4 days 13 months	Registrars office Wellington	91/2282		18 July 1891	W. I. Wyatt
217	18 July 1891	John Montgomery Minnie Freeman	John Montgomery Minnie Freeman 💍 1891/1488	Bachelor Spinster	Bushfeller	29 20	Wellington Wellington	3 days 3 days	Registrars office Wellington	91/2283	Mary Ann Freeman mother	18 July 1891	W. I. Wyatt
218	20 July 1891	Allan Macaskill Mary Pryce	Allan MacAskill Mary Pryde 💍 1891/1353	Bachelor Spinster	Bootmaker	30 24	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr Taylor Hunter St	91/2222		20 July 1891	Revd J. Paterson
219	20 July 1891	Edward Arnold Ellen Scott Simpson	Edward Arnold Ellen Scott Philpott 💍 1891/1489	Bachelor Spinster	Garner	32 27	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	91/2284		20 July 1891	W. I. Wyatt
220	20 July 1891	Mark Clayton Margaret Ann Ellis	Mark Clayton Margaret Ann Ellis 💍 1891/1490	Bachelor Spinster	Bootmaker	23 20	Wellington Wellington	months months	Registrars office Wellington	91/2286	William Ellis Father	20 July 1891	W. I. Wyatt
221	28 July 1891	John Walker Sinclair Matilda Ann London	John Walker Sinclair Matilda Anne London 💍 1891/1356	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep Farmer	26 23	Porirua Pahautanui	years years	House of Mr Green Pahautanui	91/2224		28 July 1891	Revd J. Paterson
222	28 July 1891	Edwin Barling Janet Ash	Edwin Barling Janet Ash 💍 1891/1491	Bachelor Spinster	Coachman	24 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	91/2286		28 July 1891	W. I. Wyatt
223	28 July 1891	John Kennelly Johanna Sullivan	John Kennelly Johanna Sullivan 💍 1891/1345	Bachelor Spinster	Labour	24 28	Wellington Wellington	1 Week years	St Marys	91/2214		28 July 1891	Very Revd J. K. Tamana
224	28 July 1891	Thomas Kemp Ada Laura Russell	Thomas Kemp Kate Louisa Russell 💍 1891/1470	Bachelor Spinster	Labour	28 24	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrars office Wellington	91/2289		28 July 1891	W. I. Wyatt

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).