Intentions to Marry, 1873

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840385, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke Howison at Archives NZ Wellington, December 4 2024

Page 755

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 December 1873 Registrar William Parker Street

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

224

4 October 1873

Frank Reynolds Hall
Hannah Julia Harris

Frank Reynolds Hall
Hannah Julia Harris
💍 1873/10480

Bachelor
Spinster

Woolscourer

25
22

Dunedin
Dunedin

5 months
4 days

In St. Paul's Church, Dunedin

73/1930

4 October 1873

Rev. E. G. Edwards

No	224
Date of Notice	4 October 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Reynolds Hall	Hannah Julia Harris
	💍 1873/10480
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Woolscourer
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	5 months	4 days
Marriage Place	In St. Paul's Church, Dunedin
Folio	73/1930
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 October 1873
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. G. Edwards

225

6 October 1873

James Bain
Cherry Sizemore

James Bain
Charity Sizemore
💍 1873/8740

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

25
21

Dunedin
Dunedin

1 year
4 months

In Knox Church, Dunedin

73/1335

6 October 1873

Rev. D. M. Stuart

No	225
Date of Notice	6 October 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Bain	Cherry Sizemore
BDM Match (91%)	James Bain	Charity Sizemore
	💍 1873/8740
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	1 year	4 months
Marriage Place	In Knox Church, Dunedin
Folio	73/1335
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 October 1873
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. M. Stuart

226

6 October 1873

Robert Turlington Noble Beasley
Catherine Hayes

Robert Turlington Noble Beasley
Catherine Hayes
💍 1873/7372

Bachelor
Spinster

Constable
Servant

29
23

Dunedin
Dunedin

10 months
9 months

In St Joseph's Church, Dunedin

73/871

6 October 1873

Rev. W. Coleman

No	226
Date of Notice	6 October 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Turlington Noble Beasley	Catherine Hayes
	💍 1873/7372
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Constable	Servant
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	10 months	9 months
Marriage Place	In St Joseph's Church, Dunedin
Folio	73/871
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 October 1873
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Coleman

227

11 October 1873

Peter Kearn
Margaret Mitchell Fisher

Peter Kearn
Margaret Mitchell Fisher
💍 1873/8671

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

33
21

Dunedin
Dunedin

10 years

In the house of William Fisher, High Street, Dunedin

73/1312

11 October 1873

Rev. John Gow

No	227
Date of Notice	11 October 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Kearn	Margaret Mitchell Fisher
	💍 1873/8671
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	33	21
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	10 years
Marriage Place	In the house of William Fisher, High Street, Dunedin
Folio	73/1312
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 October 1873
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Gow

229

13 October 1873

Thomas William Quelch Honeywill
Eliza Clark

Thomas William Ronald Honeywill
Eliza Clark
💍 1873/8635

Widower
Spinster

Surgeon

36
22

Dunedin
North East Valley

4 days
2 months

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

73/1298

13 October 1873

William Parker Street, Registrar

No	229
Date of Notice	13 October 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas William Quelch Honeywill	Eliza Clark
BDM Match (90%)	Thomas William Ronald Honeywill	Eliza Clark
	💍 1873/8635
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Surgeon
Age	36	22
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	North East Valley
Length of Residence	4 days	2 months
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	73/1298
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1873
Officiating Minister	William Parker Street, Registrar

230

15 October 1873

Dougald Shaw
Isabella William Moir

Dugald Shaw
Isabella William Moir
💍 1873/8674

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

28
27

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 weeks

In the house of Mr Archd. Moir, McLaggan Street, Dunedin

73/1313

15 October 1873

Rev. J. Gow

No	230
Date of Notice	15 October 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Dougald Shaw	Isabella William Moir
BDM Match (96%)	Dugald Shaw	Isabella William Moir
	💍 1873/8674
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr Archd. Moir, McLaggan Street, Dunedin
Folio	73/1313
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 October 1873
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Gow

231

16 October 1873

George Leslie
Margaret Brown Ritchie

George Leslie
Margaret Brown Ritchie
💍 1873/8746

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

34
30

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In the house of R. K. Murray, Rattray Street, Dunedin

73/1337

16 October 1873

Rev. D. M. Stuart

No	231
Date of Notice	16 October 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Leslie	Margaret Brown Ritchie
	💍 1873/8746
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	34	30
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the house of R. K. Murray, Rattray Street, Dunedin
Folio	73/1337
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 October 1873
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. M. Stuart

233

24 October 1873

Otto Hermann Arndt
Fanny Child

Otto Hermann Arnott
Fanny Child
💍 1873/8614

Bachelor
Spinster

Master Mariner
Servant

25
25

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
12 months

In Mr Sutherland's Boarding House, Cumberland Street, Dunedin

73/1291

24 October 1873

Rev. Dr. Stuart

No	233
Date of Notice	24 October 1873
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Otto Hermann Arndt	Fanny Child
BDM Match (95%)	Otto Hermann Arnott	Fanny Child
	💍 1873/8614
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Master Mariner	Servant
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	12 months
Marriage Place	In Mr Sutherland's Boarding House, Cumberland Street, Dunedin
Folio	73/1291
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 October 1873
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dr. Stuart

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 1908. 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).