Intentions to Marry, 1889

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840401, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, May 23 2025

Page 1075

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 September 1889 Registrar Archibald Reid Gre

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

218

12 July 1889

Erictof Archow
Agnes Eliza Scholten

Erick Garchow
Ann Eliza Agnes Scholten
💍 1889/3586

Bachelor
Spinster

Fisherman

24 years
18 years

Portobello
Portobello

18 months
18 years

In the house of John Ferdinand Scholten

89/2493

John Ferdinand Scholten, father of minor

13 July 1889

Rev. A. Greig, Presbyterian Minister

No	218
Date of Notice	12 July 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Erictof Archow	Agnes Eliza Scholten
BDM Match (63%)	Erick Garchow	Ann Eliza Agnes Scholten
	💍 1889/3586
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fisherman
Age	24 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Portobello	Portobello
Length of Residence	18 months	18 years
Marriage Place	In the house of John Ferdinand Scholten
Folio	89/2493
Consent	John Ferdinand Scholten, father of minor
Date of Certificate	13 July 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Greig, Presbyterian Minister

219

15 July 1889

George Martin Marshall
Jeannie Allan Wilkie

George Martin Marshall
Jeannie Allan Wilkie
💍 1889/2472

Bachelor
Spinster

Chemist

30 years
21 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

13 years
6 years

In the house of John Lamb, Wilkie, Lees Street

89/2487

15 July 1889

Rev. R. Waddell, Presbyterian Minister

No	219
Date of Notice	15 July 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Martin Marshall	Jeannie Allan Wilkie
	💍 1889/2472
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chemist
Age	30 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	13 years	6 years
Marriage Place	In the house of John Lamb, Wilkie, Lees Street
Folio	89/2487
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Waddell, Presbyterian Minister

220

15 July 1889

Edward Harkness
Mary Anna Grilly

Edward Harkness
Mary Ann Crilly
💍 1889/2458

Widower
Widow

Coal Dealer

41 years
39 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

2 years
1 year

In the house of Mrs Mary Anna Grilly, Hanover Street

89/2472

15 July 1889

Rev. W. Baumber, Wesleyan Minister

No	220
Date of Notice	15 July 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Harkness	Mary Anna Grilly
BDM Match (94%)	Edward Harkness	Mary Ann Crilly
	💍 1889/2458
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Coal Dealer
Age	41 years	39 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years	1 year
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Mary Anna Grilly, Hanover Street
Folio	89/2472
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Baumber, Wesleyan Minister

221

16 July 1889

James Lancelot Archer-Burton
Julianna Constance Reamy

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Accountant

28 years
18 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

2 years
18 years

In the house of Right Rev. Dr Moran

89/2550

Joseph Reamy, father of minor

16 July 1889

Rev. P. Lynch, Roman Catholic Priest

No	221
Date of Notice	16 July 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Lancelot Archer-Burton	Julianna Constance Reamy
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Accountant
Age	28 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years	18 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Right Rev. Dr Moran
Folio	89/2550
Consent	Joseph Reamy, father of minor
Date of Certificate	16 July 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Lynch, Roman Catholic Priest

222

16 July 1889

Henry Robert Mind
Isabella Wise

Henry Robert Nind
Isabella Wise
💍 1889/2480

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor

24 years
23 years

South Dunedin
Caversham

12 years
15 years

In St Peters Church, Caversham

89/2477

16 July 1889

Rev. F. E. Watson, Church of England Minister

No	222
Date of Notice	16 July 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Robert Mind	Isabella Wise
BDM Match (97%)	Henry Robert Nind	Isabella Wise
	💍 1889/2480
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor
Age	24 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	Caversham
Length of Residence	12 years	15 years
Marriage Place	In St Peters Church, Caversham
Folio	89/2477
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 July 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. E. Watson, Church of England Minister

223

17 July 1889

Thomas Goodall
Jane Dunshea

Thomas Goodall
Jane Dunshea
💍 1889/2513

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

27 years
21 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

1 year
1 year

In St Matthews Church, Dunedin

89/2505

17 July 1889

Rev. H. G. Yorke, Church of England Minister

No	223
Date of Notice	17 July 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Goodall	Jane Dunshea
	💍 1889/2513
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	27 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	In St Matthews Church, Dunedin
Folio	89/2505
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 July 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Yorke, Church of England Minister

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).