Intentions to Marry, 1887

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840399, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, May 14 2025

Page 679

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 June 1887 Registrar A.R. 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

162

16 May 1887

Hugh McKay
Elizabeth McLaughlin

Hugh McKay
Elizabeth McLaughlin
💍 1887/3606

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

37 years
28 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

87/1587

16 May 1887

A.R. Ure Registrar of Marriages

No	162
Date of Notice	16 May 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh McKay	Elizabeth McLaughlin
	💍 1887/3606
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	37 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	87/1587
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 May 1887
Officiating Minister	A.R. Ure Registrar of Marriages

163

18 May 1887

Ludwig Reiss
Madeline Louise Smith

Ludwig Reiss
Madeline Louise Smith
💍 1887/3641

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant

31 years
22 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

2 1/2 years
3 years

In All Saints Church

87/1625

18 May 1887

Rev. A.R. Fitchett Church of England Minister

No	163
Date of Notice	18 May 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ludwig Reiss	Madeline Louise Smith
	💍 1887/3641
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant
Age	31 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In All Saints Church
Folio	87/1625
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 May 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. A.R. Fitchett Church of England Minister

164

20 May 1887

George Smith
Jane McBeth

George Smith
Jane McBeth
💍 1887/3624

Bachelor
Widow

Laborer

46 years
48 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

16 years
24 years

In the house of George Smith Clark Street

87/1630

20 May 1887

Rev. R. Waddell Presbyterian Minister

No	164
Date of Notice	20 May 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Smith	Jane McBeth
	💍 1887/3624
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Laborer
Age	46 years	48 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	16 years	24 years
Marriage Place	In the house of George Smith Clark Street
Folio	87/1630
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 May 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Waddell Presbyterian Minister

165

20 May 1887

James Stevens McIbrorie
Frances Ellen Brown

James Stevens Macrorie
Frances Ellen Brown
💍 1887/3626

Bachelor
Spinster

Expressman

26 years
18 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

11 years
18 years

In the house of Alexander McIbrorie Maclaggan Street

87/1632

John Brown father of minor

20 May 1887

Rev. J. Hinon Methodist Minister

No	165
Date of Notice	20 May 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Stevens McIbrorie	Frances Ellen Brown
BDM Match (94%)	James Stevens Macrorie	Frances Ellen Brown
	💍 1887/3626
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Expressman
Age	26 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	11 years	18 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Alexander McIbrorie Maclaggan Street
Folio	87/1632
Consent	John Brown father of minor
Date of Certificate	20 May 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Hinon Methodist Minister

166

23 May 1887

Richard Hoops
Mary Elizabeth Kirk

Richard Hoops
Mary Elizabeth Kirk
💍 1887/3419

Widower
Spinster

Clerk

28 years
26 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

9 days
4 years

In the house of Mrs Christian Kirk George Street Dunedin

87/1611

23 May 1887

Rev. J. Frazer Hurst Presbyterian Minister

No	166
Date of Notice	23 May 1887
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Hoops	Mary Elizabeth Kirk
	💍 1887/3419
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	28 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	9 days	4 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Christian Kirk George Street Dunedin
Folio	87/1611
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 May 1887
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Frazer Hurst 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 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).