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 305

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1888 Registrar A.R. Muir

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

30 January 1888

Edward John McGinty
Helen Sinclair Churly

Edward John McGinty
Helen Sinclair Churley
💍 1888/861

Bachelor
Spinster

Insurance Agent

24 years
19 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

2 years
10 years

In the house of James Hussey Churly, Dundas Street

88/704

James Hussey Churly, father of minor

30 January 1888

Revd. Dr. Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

No	35
Date of Notice	30 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward John McGinty	Helen Sinclair Churly
BDM Match (98%)	Edward John McGinty	Helen Sinclair Churley
	💍 1888/861
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Insurance Agent
Age	24 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years	10 years
Marriage Place	In the house of James Hussey Churly, Dundas Street
Folio	88/704
Consent	James Hussey Churly, father of minor
Date of Certificate	30 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Revd. Dr. Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

31 January 1888

Charles Frederick Money
Mary Anne Owens

Charles Frederick Money
Mary Anne Owens
💍 1888/906

Widower
Widow

Hotel Keeper

57 years
38 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

6 days
6 days

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages

88/752

31 January 1888

A.R. Wee, Registrar of Marriages

No	36
Date of Notice	31 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Frederick Money	Mary Anne Owens
	💍 1888/906
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Hotel Keeper
Age	57 years	38 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	6 days	6 days
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	88/752
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1888
Officiating Minister	A.R. Wee, Registrar of Marriages

31 January 1888

Francis Edward Watson
Fanny Martha Gilles

Francis Edward Watson
Fanny Martha Gilles
💍 1888/865

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk in Holy orders

27 years
22 years

Roslyn
Dunedin

1 1/2 years
3 days

In St. Martins Church, North East

88/686

31 January 1888

Revd. B.M. King, Church of England Minister

No	37
Date of Notice	31 January 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Edward Watson	Fanny Martha Gilles
	💍 1888/865
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk in Holy orders
Age	27 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Roslyn	Dunedin
Length of Residence	1 1/2 years	3 days
Marriage Place	In St. Martins Church, North East
Folio	88/686
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1888
Officiating Minister	Revd. B.M. King, Church of England Minister

2 February 1888

John McKinna
Edith Annie Cross

John McKinna
Edith Annie Cross
💍 1888/3514

Bachelor
Spinster

Lighthouse Keeper

25 years
19 years

Otago Heads
Dunedin

6 weeks
3 days

In Knox Church

88/705

David Cross, father of minor

2 February 1888

Revd. Dr. Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

No	38
Date of Notice	2 February 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McKinna	Edith Annie Cross
	💍 1888/3514
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Lighthouse Keeper
Age	25 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Otago Heads	Dunedin
Length of Residence	6 weeks	3 days
Marriage Place	In Knox Church
Folio	88/705
Consent	David Cross, father of minor
Date of Certificate	2 February 1888
Officiating Minister	Revd. Dr. Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

2 February 1888

Michael Caine
Norah Donnollan

Michael Caine
Norah Donnollan
💍 1888/843

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

32 years
23 years

South Dunedin
Dunedin

10 years
4 years

In St. Patrick's Church

88/664

2 February 1888

Revd. W. Purton, Roman Catholic Priest

No	39
Date of Notice	2 February 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Caine	Norah Donnollan
	💍 1888/843
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	32 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	10 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In St. Patrick's Church
Folio	88/664
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1888
Officiating Minister	Revd. W. Purton, Roman Catholic Priest

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).