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 1339

District of Wairau Quarter ending 30 June 1891

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

6 January 1891

Thomas Lindsay Buick
Mary Fitzgerald

Thomas Lindsay Buick
Mary Fitzgerrald
💍 1891/1201

Bachelor
Spinster

Member of the House of Representatives

24 years
22 years

Redwood Street, near Blenheim
Redwood Street, near Blenheim

6 years
22 years

The House of W. T. L. Buick M.H.R. Redwood Street near Blenheim

91/1934

6 January 1891

Rev. W. J. Lewis

No	1
Date of Notice	6 January 1891
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Lindsay Buick	Mary Fitzgerald
BDM Match (97%)	Thomas Lindsay Buick	Mary Fitzgerrald
	💍 1891/1201
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Member of the House of Representatives
Age	24 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Redwood Street, near Blenheim	Redwood Street, near Blenheim
Length of Residence	6 years	22 years
Marriage Place	The House of W. T. L. Buick M.H.R. Redwood Street near Blenheim
Folio	91/1934
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1891
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Lewis

2 February 1891

William Newcombe Fairhall
Fanny Mary Neame

William Newcombe Fairhall
Fanny Mary Neame
💍 1891/1202

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23 years
19 years

Woodbourne Wairau
Renwicktown

23 years
19 years

The Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim

91/1935

John Edward Neame, Father

2 February 1891

Rev. W. J. Lewis

No	2
Date of Notice	2 February 1891
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Newcombe Fairhall	Fanny Mary Neame
	💍 1891/1202
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Woodbourne Wairau	Renwicktown
Length of Residence	23 years	19 years
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church, Blenheim
Folio	91/1935
Consent	John Edward Neame, Father
Date of Certificate	2 February 1891
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Lewis

9 February 1891

Herbert Spence Jones
Emily Maria Webley

Herbert Spence Jones
Emily Maria Webley
💍 1891/3112

Bachelor
Spinster

Enginedriver

26 years
26 years

Springlands
Blenheim

about 6 years
about 16 years

The Church of the Nativity, Blenheim

91/473

9 February 1891

Rev. J. S. Grace

No	3
Date of Notice	9 February 1891
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Spence Jones	Emily Maria Webley
	💍 1891/3112
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Enginedriver
Age	26 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Springlands	Blenheim
Length of Residence	about 6 years	about 16 years
Marriage Place	The Church of the Nativity, Blenheim
Folio	91/473
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1891
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. S. Grace

14 February 1891

Joseph Henry Reid
Joan Piper McIsaac

Joseph Henry Reid
Joan Pipor McIsaac
💍 1891/3111

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

25 years
21 years

Starborough, Awatere
Renwick Town

25 years
21 years

The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Blenheim

91/472

14 February 1891

The Registrar of Marriages, Blenheim

No	4
Date of Notice	14 February 1891
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Henry Reid	Joan Piper McIsaac
BDM Match (97%)	Joseph Henry Reid	Joan Pipor McIsaac
	💍 1891/3111
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	25 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Starborough, Awatere	Renwick Town
Length of Residence	25 years	21 years
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Blenheim
Folio	91/472
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1891
Officiating Minister	The Registrar of Marriages, Blenheim

24 February 1891

William Henry Rogers
Jane Hopgood

Henry William Rogers
Jane Hopgood
💍 1891/3113

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

29 years
22 years

Renwick Town
Renwick Old Road

12 years
22 years

The Church of England, Renwick Town

91/474

24 February 1891

Rev. J. S. Grace

No	5
Date of Notice	24 February 1891
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Rogers	Jane Hopgood
BDM Match (70%)	Henry William Rogers	Jane Hopgood
	💍 1891/3113
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	29 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Renwick Town	Renwick Old Road
Length of Residence	12 years	22 years
Marriage Place	The Church of England, Renwick Town
Folio	91/474
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1891
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. S. Grace

4 March 1891

Edward Mead
Sarah Flora Williams

Edward Mead
Sarah Flora Williams
💍 1891/3114

Widower
Spinster

Accountant

40 years
25 years

Blenheim
Blenheim

about 4 years
about 2 years

The Presbyterian Manse, Blenheim

91/475

4 March 1891

Rev. W. O. Robb

No	6
Date of Notice	4 March 1891
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Mead	Sarah Flora Williams
	💍 1891/3114
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	40 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	about 4 years	about 2 years
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Manse, Blenheim
Folio	91/475
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1891
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. O. Robb

12 March 1891

George Newitt Bell
Margaret Ann Timms

George Newth Bell
Margaret Ann Timms
💍 1891/3109

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24 years
20 years

Wairau Valley
Wairau Valley

24 years
20 years

The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Blenheim

91/471

Richard Timms, Father

12 March 1891

The Registrar of Marriages, Blenheim

No	7
Date of Notice	12 March 1891
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Newitt Bell	Margaret Ann Timms
BDM Match (94%)	George Newth Bell	Margaret Ann Timms
	💍 1891/3109
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Wairau Valley	Wairau Valley
Length of Residence	24 years	20 years
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Blenheim
Folio	91/471
Consent	Richard Timms, Father
Date of Certificate	12 March 1891
Officiating Minister	The Registrar of Marriages, Blenheim

2 April 1891

Benjamin Oliver Hodgson
Susannah Braufield

Benjamin Oliver Hodgson
Susannah Bracefield
💍 1891/680

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist
Dressmaker

24 years
26 years

Blenheim
Blenheim

24 years
5 years

The house of Mr. Luston, South Street, Blenheim

91/1425

2 April 1891

Rev. Henry Bull

No	8
Date of Notice	2 April 1891
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Benjamin Oliver Hodgson	Susannah Braufield
BDM Match (95%)	Benjamin Oliver Hodgson	Susannah Bracefield
	💍 1891/680
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist	Dressmaker
Age	24 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	24 years	5 years
Marriage Place	The house of Mr. Luston, South Street, Blenheim
Folio	91/1425
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1891
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Bull

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 1903. More registers are being added almost every week.

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).