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 1387

District of Wellington 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
61	3 March 1891	Harry Shaw Susan Glover	Harry Shaw Susan Glover 💍 1891/52	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer	26 20	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	Wesley Church, Taranaki Street	91/346	John Glover Father	3 March 1891	Rev. W. H. Beck
62	3 March 1891	Frank Dunstone Henrietta Forster	Frank Dunstone Henrietta Forster 💍 1891/3050	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	27 24	Wellington Wellington	3 days 4 weeks	House of Mrs. Norris, Daniells Street	91/311		3 March 1891	Rev. W. Shirer
63	3 March 1891	John Alfred Bradley Ada Buth	John Alfred Bradley Ada Butt 💍 1891/3065	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	25 21	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 months	House of Rev. John Muir, Brougham Street	91/325		3 March 1891	Rev. John Muir
64	5 March 1891	Joseph William Trim Caroline Lawyer	Joseph William Trim Caroline Sawyer 💍 1891/59	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	31 26	Wellington Wellington	6 months 6 years	St. John's Church, Willis Street	91/330		5 March 1891	Rev. J. Paterson
65	5 March 1891	George William Fowles Eleanor Marie Eliza McLauchlin	George William Fowles Eleanor Marie Eliza McLauchlan 💍 1891/3469	Widower Widow	Watchmaker	46 40	Wellington Wellington	3 days 1 year	Registrar's office, Wellington	91/387		5 March 1891	W. H. Wyatt
66	6 March 1891	John Randall Morgan Ethel Jaumard Le Cren	John Randall Morgan Ethel Jauruard Le Cren 💍 1891/49	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	32 27	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	House of Miss Le Cren, Windsor Place	91/344		6 March 1891	Rev. W. H. Beck
67	7 March 1891	Edward Pierard Rachel Jane Port	Edward Pierard Rachel Jane Port 💍 1891/3470	Bachelor Spinster	Engine Fitter	23 20	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	Registrar's office, Wellington	91/388		7 March 1891	W. H. Wyatt
68	7 March 1891	Alfred John Smith Sarah Jane Ward	Alfred John Smith Sarah Jane Ward 💍 1891/3051	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	21 22	Wellington Wellington	3 days 4 years	House of Mr. Ward, Green Street	91/312		7 March 1891	Rev. Wm. Shirer
69	7 March 1891	Frederick Edward Brittain Edith Howard Sutcliffe	Frederick Edward Brittain Edith Howard Sutcliffe 💍 1891/3071	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	27 22	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	St. Mark's Church	91/308		7 March 1891	Rev. R. Coffey
70	10 March 1891	Arthur Preston Lindsay Minnie Withers	Arthur Peiston Lindsay Minnie Withers 💍 1891/3158	Bachelor Spinster	Bootmaker	23 23	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	House of Mr. Withers, Boston Terrace	91/369		10 March 1891	Rev. C. E. Ward
71	11 March 1891	Edward Helgeson Eliza Purcell	Edward Helgeson Eliza Purcell 💍 1891/3471	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	35 31	Wellington Wellington	4 years 2 weeks	Registrar's office, Wellington	91/389		11 March 1891	W. H. Wyatt
72	12 March 1891	Benjamin William Hamilton Mary Jane Bolton	Benjamin William Hamilton Mary Jane Bolton 💍 1891/3472	Bachelor Spinster	Commission Agent	24 23	Hamilton Wellington	14 days 3 days	Registrar's office, Wellington	91/390		12 March 1891	W. H. Wyatt
73	13 March 1891	James Powell Elizabeth May	James Powell Elizabeth May 💍 1891/3473	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener	34 24	Wellington Wellington	14 days 4 years	Registrar's office, Wellington	91/391		13 March 1891	W. H. Wyatt
74	16 March 1891	George John Stratton Catherine Sarah Ridler	George John Stratten Catherine Sarah Ridler 💍 1891/3064	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	22 23	Lower Hutt Belmont	4 years 4 years	House of Mr. Stratton, Belmont	91/324		16 March 1891	Rev. A. Thomson
75	16 March 1891	Louis McDonald Emma Cross	Louis McDonald Emma Cross 💍 1891/50	Bachelor Spinster	Tinsmith	23 17	Wellington Wellington	4 years 4 years	Wesley Parsonage, Taranaki Street	91/345	Mary Jane Cross Mother	16 March 1891	Rev. W. H. Beck

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).