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 254

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 December 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
291	1 October 1891	William Greenfield Mary Kate Cigarette	William Greenfield Mary Kate Lysaght 💍 1891/2267	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	27 24	Wellington Wellington	1 year 1 year	Registrar's Office, Wellington	91/3171		1 October 1891	W. S. Wyall
292	2 October 1891	John Campbell Post Mary Jane Costall	John Campbell Port Mary Jane Costall 💍 1891/2231	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	26 24	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Creation, Wellington	91/3111		2 October 1891	Rev. John W. Hope
293	3 October 1891	John Goran Bella Knight	John Gordon Bella Knight 💍 1891/2234	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	33 23	Taita Wairarapa	years years	House of W. N. Nicholls, Wairarapa	91/3114		3 October 1891	Captain Robinson (Salvation Army)
294	5 October 1891	John White Harriet Chapman	John White Harriet Chitman 💍 1891/2262	Bachelor Spinster	Bench maker	21 69	Petone Wellington	years years	Jamieson's School, Petone	91/3167		5 October 1891	Rev. James Paterson
295	5 October 1891	Alexander McLean Annie Hay	Alexander Scott Annie Keenan 💍 1891/3058 Alexander Sharp Annie Wenham 💍 1891/3481	Widower Spinster	Carter	49 22	Wellington Wellington	years years				5 October 1891	Rev. W. Powell
296	7 October 1891	Richard Augustus Charles Henrietta Gunson	Richard Augustus Charles Frederic Henrietta Thomson 💍 1891/2255	Bachelor Spinster	Storeman	26 22	Wellington Wellington	6 months 6 months	House of Mrs. W. Sheen, Tory Street	91/3160		7 October 1891	W. S. Wyall
297	8 October 1891	Charles James Stowell Catherine Christiana [illegible]	Charles James Howell Catherine Christina Minor 💍 1891/2268	Bachelor Widow	Clothier	37 39	Wellington Wellington	1 week 1 week	Registrar's Office, Wellington	91/3172		8 October 1891	Rev. J. Berry
298	9 October 1891	John James Turner Mary Reave Hand	John James Turner Mary Roves Harris 💍 1891/2203	Bachelor Spinster	Labour	29 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mary of the Angels	91/3125		9 October 1891	Rev. R. Coffey
299	12 October 1891	John Walter Trinder Ellen Kinsella	John Waller Bendon Ellen Kinsella 💍 1891/2237	Bachelor Spinster	Settler	42 26	Wellington Wellington	6 days years	St. Mark's Church	91/3117		12 October 1891	Rev. J. J. Lewis
300	12 October 1891	William Thompson Margaret Sarah Ann	William Thompson Ellen Dawson 💍 1891/3438	Bachelor Spinster	Storeman	23 22	Wellington Wellington	year year	Wesley Church, Taranaki Street	91/3148		12 October 1891	Rev. John Muir
301	12 October 1891	James Jack Orr Jane Orr	James Jacob Esson Jane Orr 💍 1891/2245	Bachelor Spinster	Telegraphist	22 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of W. Orr, Alma Road	91/3124		12 October 1891	Very Rev. J. C. Jamieson
302	12 October 1891	Grant Thomas Rout Kate Connolly	Charles Thomas Rout Kate Connolly 💍 1891/2244	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	24 21	Wellington Wellington	6 months 6 months	Cathedral	91/3123		12 October 1891
303	15 October 1891	Carson Britton Catherine Elizabeth Gordon		Bachelor Spinster	Painter	25 18	Wellington Wellington	6 months 5 weeks	Presbyterian Church, Taranaki Street	91/3107	Alexander Stewart Gelchirst, father	15 October 1891	Rev. W. C. Yaldon
304	20 October 1891	George Thomas Simpson Sarah Jane Owen	George Edward Simpson Sarah Jane Owen 💍 1891/2275	Bachelor Spinster	Foreman-Freyer	28 27	Wellington Wellington	3 days 3 days	St. Peter's Church	91/3156		21 October 1891	Rev. R. Coffey
305	21 October 1891	Elyah John Flied Thora Amelia Lawson		Bachelor Spinster	Labour	28 21	Wellington Wellington	9 weeks 9 weeks	St. Mark's Church	91/3118		21 October 1891	Rev. R. Coffey

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).