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 1246

District of Timaru Quarter ending 31 March 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
11	14 February 1891	William John Hampton Larisa Trevella	William John Hampton Louisa Trevella 💍 1891/3242	Bachelor Spinster	Platelayer House Keeper	30 years 19 years	St. Andrews The Cave	6 months 2 years	Registrar's Office, Timaru	91/707	Stephen Trevella, Father	14 February 1891	Thomas Hawley, Registrar of Marriages, Timaru
12	23 February 1891	James Derose Sarah Jane Wilson	James Heron Sarah Jane Wilson 💍 1891/3136	Bachelor Spinster	Baker Tailoress	22 years 23 years	Timaru Timaru	3 days 4 months	Residence of Mr. James Symron, Theodosia Street, Timaru	91/697		23 February 1891	Rev. William Gillies, Presbyterian Minister
13	2 March 1891	Edward John Thorean Susan Gibson	Edward John Thoreau Susan Gibson 💍 1891/3243	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	21 years 26 years	Mount Horrible Mount Horrible	2 years 15 years	Registrar's Office, Timaru	91/708		2 March 1891	Thomas Hawley, Registrar of Marriages, Timaru
14	16 March 1891	John Corbett Mary Elizabeth Gray	John Corbett Mary Elizabeth Gray 💍 1891/3137	Bachelor Spinster	Salesman	27 years 22 years	Timaru Timaru	3 days 7 years	Residence of Mr. Walter Pratt Brown, Otipua Road, Timaru	91/698		16 March 1891	Rev. William Gillies, Presbyterian Minister
15	16 March 1891	Alexander Macpherson Maria Gray	Alexander Macpherson Maria Gray 💍 1891/3138	Widower Spinster	Station Manager	35 years 25 years	Timaru Timaru	15 years 7 years	Residence of Mr. Walter Pratt Brown, Otipua Road, Timaru	91/699		16 March 1891	Rev. William Gillies, Presbyterian Minister
16	17 March 1891	Alexander Down Sarah Isabella Ward	Alexander Donn Janet Isabella Ward 💍 1891/3145	Bachelor Spinster	Plumber	22 years 22 years	Timaru Geraldine	1 year 3 weeks	Residence of Mr. George Ward, Geraldine	91/683		17 March 1891	Rev. Alexander Bruce Todd, Presbyterian Minister
17	24 March 1891	John William Blackwood Frances Mary Rapsey	John William Blackwood Frances Mary Rapsey 💍 1891/3132	Widower Spinster	Blacksmith	30 years 26 years	Timaru Pareora	4 years 26 years	Residence of Mr. James Rapsey, Pareora	91/694		24 March 1891	Rev. William James Williams, Wesleyan Minister
18	24 March 1891	Andrew Gyall Jessie Gammie	Andrew Fyall Jessie Gammie 💍 1891/3139	Bachelor Spinster	Ploughman	34 years 21 years	The Levels Levels	7 years 6 months	Presbyterian Church, Timaru	91/700		24 March 1891	Rev. William Gillies, Presbyterian Minister
19	31 March 1891	David Alexander Fergusson Christina Maria Gripp	Daniel Alexander Fergusson Christina Maria Gripp 💍 1891/3140	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith General Servant	20 years 23 years	Timaru Timaru	3 days 3 days	Presbyterian Church, Timaru	91/701	Alexander Fergusson, Father	31 March 1891	Rev. William Gillies, Presbyterian Minister
20	31 March 1891	Albert Childds Anna Coleman	Albert Childs Anna Coleman 💍 1891/799	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	38 years 17 years	Pleasant Point Pleasant Point	15 years 12 years	Church of England, Pleasant Point	91/666	Hannah Coleman, Mother	31 March 1891	Rev. Thomas Jasper Smythe, Church of England Minister

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).