Intentions to Marry, 1886

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840398, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, May 14 2025

Page 297

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1886 Registrar Archibald Reid Ure

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

2 February 1886

John Holleyman
Mary Ann Kellagher

John Holleyman
Mary Ann Kellagher
💍 1886/915

Bachelor
Spinster

book
Housemaid

32 years
22 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

2 years
2 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages

86/781

2 February 1886

A. R. Ure, Registrar of Marriages

No	35
Date of Notice	2 February 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Holleyman	Mary Ann Kellagher
	💍 1886/915
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	book	Housemaid
Age	32 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	86/781
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1886
Officiating Minister	A. R. Ure, Registrar of Marriages

3 February 1886

Denis Daly
Margaret Frawley

Denis Daly
Margaret Frawley
💍 1886/908

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Housemaid

40 years
26 years

South Dunedin
St. Kilda

14 days
14 days

In St. Patrick's Church

86/794

3 February 1886

Revd. W. Purton, Roman Catholic Priest

No	36
Date of Notice	3 February 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Denis Daly	Margaret Frawley
	💍 1886/908
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Housemaid
Age	40 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	St. Kilda
Length of Residence	14 days	14 days
Marriage Place	In St. Patrick's Church
Folio	86/794
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1886
Officiating Minister	Revd. W. Purton, Roman Catholic Priest

3 February 1886

Alexander Edmonston
Hettie Webster

Alexander Edmonston
Hettie Webster
💍 1886/916

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

29 years
21 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

10 days
10 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages

86/782

3 February 1886

A. R. Ure, Registrar of Marriages

No	37
Date of Notice	3 February 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Edmonston	Hettie Webster
	💍 1886/916
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	29 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	10 days	10 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	86/782
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1886
Officiating Minister	A. R. Ure, Registrar of Marriages

3 February 1886

Thomas Kettle
Margaret Ellen Jennings

Thomas Cuttle
Margaret Ellen Jennings
💍 1886/909

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

27 years
17 years

South Dunedin
South Dunedin

2 weeks
9 years

In St. Patrick's Church

86/798

James Jennings, father of minor

3 February 1886

Revd. W. Purton, Roman Catholic Priest

No	38
Date of Notice	3 February 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Kettle	Margaret Ellen Jennings
BDM Match (92%)	Thomas Cuttle	Margaret Ellen Jennings
	💍 1886/909
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	27 years	17 years
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 weeks	9 years
Marriage Place	In St. Patrick's Church
Folio	86/798
Consent	James Jennings, father of minor
Date of Certificate	3 February 1886
Officiating Minister	Revd. W. Purton, Roman Catholic Priest

3 February 1886

William McBrone
Jessie Wilson Chalmers

William McCrone
Janet Wilson Chalmers
💍 1886/893

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Housemaid

28 years
19 years

Musselburgh
St. Clair

11 days
11 days

In the house of Thomas Chalmers

86/759

Thomas Chalmers, father of minor

3 February 1886

Revd. W. Campbell, Presbyterian Minister

No	39
Date of Notice	3 February 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McBrone	Jessie Wilson Chalmers
BDM Match (85%)	William McCrone	Janet Wilson Chalmers
	💍 1886/893
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Housemaid
Age	28 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Musselburgh	St. Clair
Length of Residence	11 days	11 days
Marriage Place	In the house of Thomas Chalmers
Folio	86/759
Consent	Thomas Chalmers, father of minor
Date of Certificate	3 February 1886
Officiating Minister	Revd. W. Campbell, Presbyterian Minister

4 February 1886

James Watson Cunningham
Susan McLachlan

James Watson Cunningham
Susan McLachlan
💍 1886/930

Bachelor
Spinster

Light House Keeper

32 years
31 years

Peninsula
Kensington

3 days
20 years

In the house of Archibald McLachlan

86/802

4 February 1886

Revd. James Gibb, Presbyterian Minister

No	40
Date of Notice	4 February 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Watson Cunningham	Susan McLachlan
	💍 1886/930
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Light House Keeper
Age	32 years	31 years
Dwelling Place	Peninsula	Kensington
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Archibald McLachlan
Folio	86/802
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1886
Officiating Minister	Revd. James Gibb, Presbyterian Minister

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).