Intentions to Marry, 1888

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840400, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Alexandra at Archives NZ Wellington, May 14 2025

Page 1099

District of East Taieri Quarter ending 30 September 1888 Registrar Donald Macleod

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

3 July 1888

James Stephen
Ann Gould Robertson

James Stephen
Ann Gould Robertson
💍 1888/2588

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

20 years
23 years

North Taieri
North Taieri

13 years
23 years

Presbyterian Church

88/2596

John Stephen, Father

3 July 1888

Rev. J. M. Sutherland, Presbyterian

No	14
Date of Notice	3 July 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Stephen	Ann Gould Robertson
	💍 1888/2588
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	20 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	North Taieri	North Taieri
Length of Residence	13 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	88/2596
Consent	John Stephen, Father
Date of Certificate	3 July 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Sutherland, Presbyterian

28 July 1888

William Walter Turnbull
Elizabeth Haggen

William Walter Turnbull
Elizabeth Haggen
💍 1888/2589

Bachelor
Spinster

Spinner

24 years
20 years

Mosgiel
North Taieri

9 years
20 years

House of James Haggen

88/2599

James Haggen, Father

28 July 1888

Rev. J. M. Sutherland, Presbyterian

No	15
Date of Notice	28 July 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Walter Turnbull	Elizabeth Haggen
	💍 1888/2589
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Spinner
Age	24 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Mosgiel	North Taieri
Length of Residence	9 years	20 years
Marriage Place	House of James Haggen
Folio	88/2599
Consent	James Haggen, Father
Date of Certificate	28 July 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Sutherland, Presbyterian

4 August 1888

John Sharp
Mary Dunbar Taylor

John Sharp
Mary Dunbar Taylor
💍 1888/2592

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

32 years
20 years

Mosgiel
Mosgiel

3 days
20 years

House of William Taylor of Mosgiel

88/2602

William Taylor, Father

4 August 1888

Rev. W. M. Will, Presbyterian

No	16
Date of Notice	4 August 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Sharp	Mary Dunbar Taylor
	💍 1888/2592
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	32 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Mosgiel	Mosgiel
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	House of William Taylor of Mosgiel
Folio	88/2602
Consent	William Taylor, Father
Date of Certificate	4 August 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. M. Will, Presbyterian

15 August 1888

William John Palmer
Grace Smeaton

William John Palmer
Grace Smeaton
💍 1888/2591

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

29 years
20 years

Wingatui
Mosgiel

12 months
20 years

House of James Smeaton of Mosgiel

88/2601

James Smeaton, Father

15 August 1888

Rev. J. M. McKerrow, Presbyterian

No	17
Date of Notice	15 August 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Palmer	Grace Smeaton
	💍 1888/2591
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	29 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Wingatui	Mosgiel
Length of Residence	12 months	20 years
Marriage Place	House of James Smeaton of Mosgiel
Folio	88/2601
Consent	James Smeaton, Father
Date of Certificate	15 August 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. McKerrow, Presbyterian

16 August 1888

Robert Finnie
Lucy Riley Brown

Robert Finnie
Lucy Riley Brown
💍 1888/2593

Widower
Spinster

Butcher

40 years
21 years

Riccarton, East Taieri
Otakia

28 years
21 years

House of Henry Brown of Otakia

88/2603

16 August 1888

Rev. Wm. Will, Presbyterian

No	18
Date of Notice	16 August 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Finnie	Lucy Riley Brown
	💍 1888/2593
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	40 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Riccarton, East Taieri	Otakia
Length of Residence	28 years	21 years
Marriage Place	House of Henry Brown of Otakia
Folio	88/2603
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 August 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. Will, Presbyterian

18 September 1888

Charles Grey Douglas
Amy Morgan

Charles Grey Douglas
Amy Morgan
💍 1888/2590

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

22 years
20 years

North Taieri
North Taieri

6 months
12 months

House of George Henry Morgan of North Taieri

88/2600

George Henry Morgan, Father

18 September 1888

Rev. J. M. Sutherland, Presbyterian

No	19
Date of Notice	18 September 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Grey Douglas	Amy Morgan
	💍 1888/2590
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	22 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	North Taieri	North Taieri
Length of Residence	6 months	12 months
Marriage Place	House of George Henry Morgan of North Taieri
Folio	88/2600
Consent	George Henry Morgan, Father
Date of Certificate	18 September 1888
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Sutherland, Presbyterian

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).