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 997

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 June 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
47	22 May 1891	Charles Robinson Bridget Glynn	Charles Robinson Bridget Glynn 💍 1891/577	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd Domestic	28 29	Tussockdale Hotel	3 months 5 months	The [illegible]	91/1393		22 May 1891	Rev. Father Jardin R.C. Priest
48	23 May 1891	Alexander Mowatt Homesham Annie O'Hara	Alexander Manatt Homersham Annie O'Hara 💍 1891/3001	Bachelor Spinster	Woolclasser Domestic	40 27	Napier Napier	3 months 3 months	Roman Catholic Chapel	91/1394		23 May 1891	Rev. M. Grogan R.C. Priest
49	26 May 1891	Joseph Williams Nellie McRae	Joseph Williams Violet McVicker 💍 1891/572	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Dressmaker	25 22	Clive Napier	1 year 2 years	Office of the Registrar of Marriages	91/1414		26 May 1891	S. S. Lago Registrar
50	30 May 1891	Walter James Cooper Emily Fort	Walter James Couper Emily Fox 💍 1891/576	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd	30 19	Puketitiri Napier	13 years 1 year	The Cathedral	91/1397	Kate Fort, Mother	30 May 1891	Rev. C. L. Tuke Church of England
51	1 June 1891	William Easlitt Catherine Sellar	William Corbett Catherine Sellar 💍 1891/562	Bachelor Spinster	Surveyor	21 21	Napier Napier	14 years 14 years	Residence of Bride's father, Marine Parade	91/1405		1 June 1891	Rev. G. Patterson Presbyterian
52	1 June 1891	William John Wood Ellen Christopherson Johnson		Bachelor Spinster	Coach Builder Domestic	23 23	Napier Napier	23 years 4 years	Presbyterian Church	91/1404		10 June 1891	Rev. G. Patterson Presbyterian
53	11 June 1891	Charles Richard Allen Adsline Bodson	Charles Richard Allen Adelina Bodin 💍 1891/574	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinet Maker Dressmaker	25 23	Napier Napier	14 years 14 years	Roman Catholic Chapel	91/1395		11 June 1891	Rev. M. Grogan R.C. Priest
54	17 June 1891	Lawrence Edward Ruth Radford	Albert Edward Lawrance Ruth Radford 💍 1891/3002	Widower Spinster	Painter Tailoress	29 24	Napier Napier	1 year 6 years	Residence of Edward St.	91/1405		17 June 1891	Rev. E. Pennsy Free Methodist
55	22 June 1891	Andrew Gilmore Agnes Alexandra Hopkins	Andrew Gilmore Agnes Alexander Hopkins 💍 1891/571	Widower Spinster	Coachbuilder	44 28	Napier Napier	10 days 10 days	Wesleyan Methodist Chapel	91/1392		25 June 1891	Rev. R. G. Best Wesleyan

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 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).