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 958

District of Wellington 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
140	5 May 1891	Cornelius Heckey Bridget Langford	Cornelius Hickey Bridget Langford 💍 1891/417	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	31 18	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mary of the Angels	91/1280	John Langford, father	5 May 1891	Rev. J. Glevey
141	6 May 1891	Frederick William Kemish Kirk Lucy Entwistle Watkin	Fred McLeonard Kirk Lucy Entwisle Watkins 💍 1891/422	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	23 23	Wellington Lower Hutt	3 days years	Wesleyan Church	91/1267		6 May 1891	Rev. W. J. Watkin
142	8 May 1891	John Connell Clara Cross	John Connell Clara Cross 💍 1891/401	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	27 21	Wellington Wellington	years years	St. Mary's Cathedral	91/1263		8 May 1891	Very Rev. J. McKenna
143	9 May 1891	William White Emily Frewen	William White Emily Fruen 💍 1891/1928 William White Isabella Drysdale Spowart 💍 1891/1862	Widower Spinster	Messenger	46 42	Wellington Wellington	years 1 year	St. Mark's Church	91/2754		9 May 1891	Rev. R. Coffey
144	11 May 1891	Charles Edward Delacy Esther Adelaide Ellis	Charles Edward De Lay MacCarthy Esther Adelaide Ellis 💍 1891/1927	Widower Spinster	Medical Practitioner	42 23	Wellington Wellington	10 months 2	St. Mark's Church	91/2753		11 May 1891	Rev. R. Coffey
145	12 May 1891	Samuel Short Mary Jane Williams	Samuel Short Mary Jane Williams 💍 1891/538 Samuel Kerr Maud Williams 💍 1892/656	Bachelor Spinster	Engine Driver	24 27	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	House of Mr. Sundgren, Petone	91/1302		12 May 1891	Rev. G. J. Allan
146	13 May 1891	Frank Meadowcroft Bessie Toms	Frank Meadowcroft Bessie Toms 💍 1891/399	Bachelor Spinster	Agent	23 26	Wellington Wellington	1 year years	House of Mr. G. Brickett, Hawker Street	91/1261		13 May 1891	Rev. G. J. Allan
147	14 May 1891	Robert William Nicholson Martha Annie Boucham	Robert William Nicholson Martha Annie Couchman 💍 1891/435	Bachelor Spinster	Sign Writer	27 22	Wellington Wellington	years years	Wesleyan Church, Taranaki Street	91/1274		14 May 1891	Rev. J. J. Lewis
148	19 May 1891	Walter John William Johnson Margaret Martha Brown	Walter John William Johnson Margaret Martha Brown 💍 1891/479	Bachelor Spinster	Shoulder	19 18	Wellington Wellington	years years	Registrar's Office, Wellington	91/1319	William Johnson, father, William Brown, father	19 May 1891	Mr. J. Wyatt
149	20 May 1891	William George Header Maud Elizabeth Way	William George Hunter Maud Elizabeth Mary Woof 💍 1891/424	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep Farmer	28 25	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	St. Peter's Church	91/1286		20 May 1891	Rev. W. E. Waters
150	20 May 1891	Andrew James Whyte Ada Harriet Farmer	Andrew James Whyte Ada Harriet Startup 💍 1891/423	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	23 22	Wellington Wellington	3 days years	St. Peter's Church	91/1285		20 May 1891	Rev. W. E. Waters
151	20 May 1891	William Ernest Grant Mary Ann Rae	William Ernest Erantham Mary Ann Raven 💍 1891/391 William James Hutt Mary Ann Brett 💍 1891/3319	Bachelor Spinster	Baker	25 27	Wellington Wellington	years years	House of Mr. Barr, Lawrence Street	91/2574		20 May 1891	Rev. Wm. Shirer
152	22 May 1891	Alban Vincent Knapp Jane Catherine Gaffney	Allan Vincent Knapp Jane Catherine Gaffney 💍 1891/2782	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	26 23	Wellington Wellington	years years	The Manse, Wellington Terrace	91/3712		22 May 1891	Rev. C. S. Ogg
153	23 May 1891	Arthur Charles Black Eliza Maria Ferrand	Arthur Charles Clark Eliza Maria Jerrard 💍 1891/480	Widower Spinster	Baker	39 43	Wellington Wellington	3 days	Registrar's Office, Wellington	91/1320		23 May 1891	Mr. J. Wyatt
154	23 May 1891	Cecil Harry Grundy Sarah Annie Hutchinson	Cecil Harry Grundy Croll Sarah Annie Jack Mitchinson 💍 1891/537	Widower Spinster	Engineer	28 22	Wellington Wellington	years 3 months	House of Mr. S. Jones, Holmes Street	91/1301		23 May 1891	Rev. J. K. Elliott

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 1898. More registers will be added when the Archives NZ Wellington reading room re-opens in September 2025.

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).