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 303

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 March 1886

Matthew Dundas
Agnes Bresnahan

Matthew Dundas
Agnes Bresnahan
💍 1886/889

Bachelor
Spinster

Warder

24 years
23 years

South Dunedin
North East Valley

5 years
4 years

In St. Josephs Cathedral

86/455

2 March 1886

Revd In Walsh, Roman Catholic Priest

No	69
Date of Notice	2 March 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Matthew Dundas	Agnes Bresnahan
	💍 1886/889
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warder
Age	24 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	North East Valley
Length of Residence	5 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In St. Josephs Cathedral
Folio	86/455
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1886
Officiating Minister	Revd In Walsh, Roman Catholic Priest

2 March 1886

Thomas Wren
Mary Bowie Morrison

Thomas Wren
Mary Bowie Morrison
💍 1886/919

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

24 years
20 years

Mornington
Mornington

12 years
5 years

In the Presbyterian Church

86/801

William Morrison, father of minor

2 March 1886

Revd J. C. Michie, Presbyterian Minister

No	70
Date of Notice	2 March 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Wren	Mary Bowie Morrison
	💍 1886/919
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	24 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Mornington	Mornington
Length of Residence	12 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church
Folio	86/801
Consent	William Morrison, father of minor
Date of Certificate	2 March 1886
Officiating Minister	Revd J. C. Michie, Presbyterian Minister

2 March 1886

John Philip Mason
Jennie Mercer

John Philip Mason
Jannie Mercer
💍 1886/861

Widower
Spinster

Commission Agent

44 years
27 years

Caversham
Mornington

6 weeks
20 years

In the house of Mrs Eliza Mercer

86/727

2 March 1886

Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

No	71
Date of Notice	2 March 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Philip Mason	Jennie Mercer
BDM Match (96%)	John Philip Mason	Jannie Mercer
	💍 1886/861
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Commission Agent
Age	44 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Mornington
Length of Residence	6 weeks	20 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Eliza Mercer
Folio	86/727
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1886
Officiating Minister	Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

3 March 1886

Charles Joseph Bennett
Eliza Ferguson

Charles Joseph Bennett
Eliza Ferguson
💍 1886/898

Bachelor
Spinster

Tinsmith

30 years
21 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

20 years
2 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages

86/188

3 May 1886

A. R. Ure, Registrar of Marriages

No	72
Date of Notice	3 March 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Joseph Bennett	Eliza Ferguson
	💍 1886/898
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tinsmith
Age	30 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	20 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	86/188
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 May 1886
Officiating Minister	A. R. Ure, Registrar of Marriages

3 March 1886

George Swan
Helen Manson Bain

George Swan
Helen Manson Bain
💍 1886/870

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinetmaker

24 years
22 years

South Dunedin
South Dunedin

15 months
2 1/2 years

In the house of Mrs Jacobina Bain

86/160

3 May 1886

Revd H. Campbell, Presbyterian Minister

No	73
Date of Notice	3 March 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Swan	Helen Manson Bain
	💍 1886/870
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinetmaker
Age	24 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	15 months	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Jacobina Bain
Folio	86/160
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 May 1886
Officiating Minister	Revd H. Campbell, Presbyterian Minister

4 March 1886

Charles Wise
Elizabeth Ings

Charles Wix
Elizabeth Ings
💍 1886/875

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

33 years
19 years

South Dunedin
Forbury

10 years
19 years

In the house of William Ings

86/165

William Ings, father of minor

4 May 1886

Revd A. North, Baptist Minister

No	74
Date of Notice	4 March 1886
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Wise	Elizabeth Ings
BDM Match (92%)	Charles Wix	Elizabeth Ings
	💍 1886/875
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	33 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	Forbury
Length of Residence	10 years	19 years
Marriage Place	In the house of William Ings
Folio	86/165
Consent	William Ings, father of minor
Date of Certificate	4 May 1886
Officiating Minister	Revd A. North, Baptist 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).