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 1149

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 September 1889 Registrar John Winstanley Wilkin

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

23 August 1889

Andrew Hamilton Short
Jane Rankin Short

Andrew Hamilton Stobo
Jane Rankin Mann
💍 1889/2603

Widower
Widow

Clergyman

57
30

Richmond Grove
East Invercargill

29 years
5 years

House of Rev. Thos Alexander

89/2602

23 August 1889

Rev. Thos Alexander

No	69
Date of Notice	23 August 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Hamilton Short	Jane Rankin Short
BDM Match (78%)	Andrew Hamilton Stobo	Jane Rankin Mann
	💍 1889/2603
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Clergyman
Age	57	30
Dwelling Place	Richmond Grove	East Invercargill
Length of Residence	29 years	5 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. Thos Alexander
Folio	89/2602
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 August 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos Alexander

24 August 1889

John Toomey
Mary Faulkner

John Toomey
Mary Faulkiner
💍 1889/2602

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

34
23

Emokoreta
Long Bush

10 years
1 year

Roman Catholic Church

89/2611

24 August 1889

Rev. Michael Walsh

No	70
Date of Notice	24 August 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Toomey	Mary Faulkner
BDM Match (96%)	John Toomey	Mary Faulkiner
	💍 1889/2602
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	34	23
Dwelling Place	Emokoreta	Long Bush
Length of Residence	10 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	89/2611
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 August 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. Michael Walsh

29 August 1889

Edgar Pope
Emma Louisa Ryce

Edgar Pope
Emma Louisa Sycamore
💍 1889/2605

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

25
24

Invercargill
Invercargill

4 years
5 years

House of Rev. Pope, Ruth St.

89/2614

29 August 1889

Rev. James Guy

No	71
Date of Notice	29 August 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edgar Pope	Emma Louisa Ryce
BDM Match (88%)	Edgar Pope	Emma Louisa Sycamore
	💍 1889/2605
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 years	5 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. Pope, Ruth St.
Folio	89/2614
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 August 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Guy

29 August 1889

Peter Gardner Campbell Patton
Lavinia Caroline Wilson

Peter Gardiner Campbell Patton
Lavina Caroline Wilson
💍 1889/2666

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

19
21

Long Bush
Long Bush

8 years
14 years

Office of the Registrar

89/2632

Euphemia Hail, Mother of Peter Gardner Campbell Patton

29 August 1889

J. W. Wilkin, Registrar

No	72
Date of Notice	29 August 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Gardner Campbell Patton	Lavinia Caroline Wilson
BDM Match (96%)	Peter Gardiner Campbell Patton	Lavina Caroline Wilson
	💍 1889/2666
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	19	21
Dwelling Place	Long Bush	Long Bush
Length of Residence	8 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar
Folio	89/2632
Consent	Euphemia Hail, Mother of Peter Gardner Campbell Patton
Date of Certificate	29 August 1889
Officiating Minister	J. W. Wilkin, Registrar

31 August 1889

Alexander Cochrane
Ann Elizabeth Grieve

Alexander Cochrane
Ann Elizabeth Grieve
💍 1889/2664

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

40
26

Spar Bush
Oporo

4 years
26 years

House of Rev. Grieve, Branch Rd.

89/2630

31 August 1889

Rev. J. H. Mackenzie

No	73
Date of Notice	31 August 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Cochrane	Ann Elizabeth Grieve
	💍 1889/2664
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	40	26
Dwelling Place	Spar Bush	Oporo
Length of Residence	4 years	26 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. Grieve, Branch Rd.
Folio	89/2630
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 August 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Mackenzie

5 September 1889

Frederick John Hamer
Margaret Hope

Fredrick John Hamer
Margaret Martin Wyse
💍 1889/2615

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

29
32

Invercargill
Invercargill

3 days
8 years

House of Rev. Geo. Lindsay

89/2623

5 September 1889

Rev. Geo. Lindsay

No	74
Date of Notice	5 September 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick John Hamer	Margaret Hope
BDM Match (73%)	Fredrick John Hamer	Margaret Martin Wyse
	💍 1889/2615
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	29	32
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	8 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. Geo. Lindsay
Folio	89/2623
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 September 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Lindsay

24 September 1889

David William Mackay
Jeanie Harriet Wilson

David William McKay
Naomi Harriett Wilson
💍 1889/3446

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

22
20

Invercargill
Invercargill

22 years
4 years

House of Rev. J. R. Mackay, Esk St.

89/3497

Home in Colony authorized by See Dec/89 return. Harriet Wilson

9 October 1889

Rev. J. F. Standing

No	75
Date of Notice	24 September 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David William Mackay	Jeanie Harriet Wilson
BDM Match (81%)	David William McKay	Naomi Harriett Wilson
	💍 1889/3446
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	22 years	4 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. J. R. Mackay, Esk St.
Folio	89/3497
Consent	Home in Colony authorized by See Dec/89 return. Harriet Wilson
Date of Certificate	9 October 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Standing

24 September 1889

John Findlay
Agnes Scott

John Findlay
Agnes Scott
💍 1889/3410

Bachelor
Spinster

Ploughman

26
24

Ryal Bush
Invercargill

3 years
24 years

House of Rev. Thos Scott, Seramika Road

89/3405

24 September 1889

Rev. John Ferguson

No	76
Date of Notice	24 September 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Findlay	Agnes Scott
	💍 1889/3410
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ploughman
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Ryal Bush	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	24 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. Thos Scott, Seramika Road
Folio	89/3405
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 September 1889
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Ferguson

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).