Intentions to Marry, 1890

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840402, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, May 23 2025

Page 308

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1890 Registrar Archibald Reid 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

14 February 1890

James Bruce
Margaret Young Marshall

James Bruce
Margaret Young Marshall
💍 1890/646

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

26 years
25 years

Opoho
Pine Hill

11 weeks
25 years

In Knox Church

90/707

14 February 1890

Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

No	55
Date of Notice	14 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Bruce	Margaret Young Marshall
	💍 1890/646
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	26 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Opoho	Pine Hill
Length of Residence	11 weeks	25 years
Marriage Place	In Knox Church
Folio	90/707
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

15 February 1890

Martin John Shepherd
Minnie Josephine Curran

Martin John Shepherd
Minnie Curran
💍 1890/2094

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer

25 years
25 years

South Dunedin
South Dunedin

5 weeks
10 years

In St Patricks Church South

90/1924

15 February 1890

Revd G. Hunt, Roman Catholic Priest

No	56
Date of Notice	15 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Martin John Shepherd	Minnie Josephine Curran
BDM Match (78%)	Martin John Shepherd	Minnie Curran
	💍 1890/2094
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	25 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	5 weeks	10 years
Marriage Place	In St Patricks Church South
Folio	90/1924
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd G. Hunt, Roman Catholic Priest

17 February 1890

Matthew Anderson
Joanna Anderson

Matthew Anderson
Joanna Anderson
💍 1890/2867

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

35 years
21 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin

90/739

17 February 1890

A. R. Ure, Registrar of Marriages

No	57
Date of Notice	17 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Matthew Anderson	Joanna Anderson
	💍 1890/2867
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	35 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin
Folio	90/739
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1890
Officiating Minister	A. R. Ure, Registrar of Marriages

17 February 1890

William Alfred Pargiter
Ellen Ramsay

William Alfred Pargiter
Ellen Ramsay
💍 1890/601

Bachelor
Spinster

Waiter

28 years
28 years

Dunedin
South Dunedin

2 years
2 months

In the house of Revd James Gibb

90/776

17 February 1890

Revd J. Gibb, Presbyterian Minister

No	58
Date of Notice	17 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Alfred Pargiter	Ellen Ramsay
	💍 1890/601
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Waiter
Age	28 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years	2 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Revd James Gibb
Folio	90/776
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd J. Gibb, Presbyterian Minister

17 February 1890

Stephen Spain
Marion Alice Colgan

Stephen Spain
Marion Alice Colgan
💍 1890/841

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

26 years
25 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In St. Josephs Cathedral

90/921

17 February 1890

Revd P. Lynch, Roman Catholic Priest

No	59
Date of Notice	17 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stephen Spain	Marion Alice Colgan
	💍 1890/841
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	26 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In St. Josephs Cathedral
Folio	90/921
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd P. Lynch, Roman Catholic Priest

20 February 1890

John Stevens
Isabella Calder

John Stevens
Isabella Calder
💍 1890/644

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

23 years
22 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

23 years
22 years

In the house of Julius Johnson George Street

90/705

20 February 1890

Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

No	60
Date of Notice	20 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Stevens	Isabella Calder
	💍 1890/644
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	23 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	23 years	22 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Julius Johnson George Street
Folio	90/705
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

21 February 1890

Henry Sharp
Annie Isabella Hughes

Henry Sharp
Annie Isabella Hughes
💍 1890/645

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

23 years
24 years

Caversham
Dunedin

5 years
9 years

In the house of Revd Dr Stuart

90/706

21 February 1890

Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

No	61
Date of Notice	21 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Sharp	Annie Isabella Hughes
	💍 1890/645
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	23 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Dunedin
Length of Residence	5 years	9 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Revd Dr Stuart
Folio	90/706
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

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).