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 305

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1889 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

4 February 1889

John Bain
Mary McDougall

John Bain
Mary McDongall
💍 1889/811

Widower
Widow

Farmer

45 years
45 years

Wakari
Dunedin

30 years
15 years

In the house of William Nicol

89/665

5 February 1889

Revd R. J. Porter, Presbyterian Minister

No	44
Date of Notice	4 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Bain	Mary McDougall
BDM Match (96%)	John Bain	Mary McDongall
	💍 1889/811
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	45 years	45 years
Dwelling Place	Wakari	Dunedin
Length of Residence	30 years	15 years
Marriage Place	In the house of William Nicol
Folio	89/665
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Revd R. J. Porter, Presbyterian Minister

4 February 1889

William Stacey Glass
Louisa Kathleen Storer

William Stacey Glass
Louisa Kathleen Storer
💍 1889/717

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

28 years
23 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

5 years
22 years

In St. John the Evangelist Church

89/607

5 February 1889

Revd R. H. Kirkham, Church of England Minister

No	45
Date of Notice	4 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Stacey Glass	Louisa Kathleen Storer
	💍 1889/717
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	28 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	5 years	22 years
Marriage Place	In St. John the Evangelist Church
Folio	89/607
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Revd R. H. Kirkham, Church of England Minister

6 February 1889

Edward Scott
Christina Wilson Anderson

Edward Scott
Christina Wilson Anderson
💍 1889/852

Bachelor
Widow

Tram Conductor

31 years
40 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 years
9 years

In the house of Mrs Christina Wilson Anderson, York Place

89/711

6 February 1889

Revd Dr. Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

No	46
Date of Notice	6 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Scott	Christina Wilson Anderson
	💍 1889/852
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Tram Conductor
Age	31 years	40 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 years	9 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Christina Wilson Anderson, York Place
Folio	89/711
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Revd Dr. Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

6 February 1889

Joseph Cook
Esther Magee

Joseph Cook
Esther Magee
💍 1889/735

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

20 years
17 years

Kaikorai Valley
Mornington

3 days
9 months

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages

89/732

Alexander Cook and Peter Magee, fathers of minor

6 February 1889

A. R. Ure, Registrar of Marriages

No	47
Date of Notice	6 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Cook	Esther Magee
	💍 1889/735
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	20 years	17 years
Dwelling Place	Kaikorai Valley	Mornington
Length of Residence	3 days	9 months
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	89/732
Consent	Alexander Cook and Peter Magee, fathers of minor
Date of Certificate	6 February 1889
Officiating Minister	A. R. Ure, Registrar of Marriages

7 February 1889

William Lyons
Margaret Hannagan

William Lyons
Maragret Flanagan
💍 1889/803

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

35 years
29 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

13 years
13 years

In St. Josephs Cathedral

89/658

7 February 1889

Revd P. Lynch, Roman Catholic Priest

No	48
Date of Notice	7 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Lyons	Margaret Hannagan
BDM Match (85%)	William Lyons	Maragret Flanagan
	💍 1889/803
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	35 years	29 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	13 years	13 years
Marriage Place	In St. Josephs Cathedral
Folio	89/658
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1889
Officiating Minister	Revd P. Lynch, Roman Catholic Priest

7 February 1889

Emanuel Levy
Hannah Tubman

Emanuel Levy
Hannah Tubman
💍 1889/736

Widower
Spinster

Clothier

48 years
22 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

13 years
1 year

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages

89/733

7 February 1889

A. R. Ure, Registrar of Marriages

No	49
Date of Notice	7 February 1889
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Emanuel Levy	Hannah Tubman
	💍 1889/736
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Clothier
Age	48 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	13 years	1 year
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	89/733
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1889
Officiating Minister	A. R. Ure, Registrar of Marriages

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).