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 315

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 March 1890

William Arthur Brettell
Flora Copping

William Arthur Bretell
Flora Copping
💍 1890/731

Bachelor
Spinster

Iron Moulder

24 years
20 years

Mornington
North East Valley

15 months
3 years

In the house of Revd Dr Stuart

90/725

Samuel Copping, father of minor

14 March 1890

Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

No	96
Date of Notice	14 March 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Arthur Brettell	Flora Copping
BDM Match (98%)	William Arthur Bretell	Flora Copping
	💍 1890/731
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Iron Moulder
Age	24 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Mornington	North East Valley
Length of Residence	15 months	3 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Revd Dr Stuart
Folio	90/725
Consent	Samuel Copping, father of minor
Date of Certificate	14 March 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

14 March 1890

Walter Green
Mary Stuart Wallace

Walter Green
Mary Stuart Wallace
💍 1890/574

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

28 years
21 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
9 years

In the house of Mrs Janet Wallace, Canongate

90/761

Revd J Gibb, Presbyterian Minister

No	97
Date of Notice	14 March 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Green	Mary Stuart Wallace
	💍 1890/574
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	28 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	9 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Janet Wallace, Canongate
Folio	90/761
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	Revd J Gibb, Presbyterian Minister

14 March 1890

Francis Joseph Sullivan
Margaret Gaw

Francis Joseph Sullivan
Margaret Gaw
💍 1890/638

Bachelor
Spinster

Agent

31 years
29 years

South Dunedin
South Dunedin

4 years
4 years

In Knox Church

90/723

14 March 1890

Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

No	98
Date of Notice	14 March 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Joseph Sullivan	Margaret Gaw
	💍 1890/638
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Agent
Age	31 years	29 years
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In Knox Church
Folio	90/723
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

15 March 1890

George Barker
Frances Jenkins

George Barker
Frances Jenkins
💍 1890/738

Bachelor
Widow

Miner

56 years
52 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages

90/742

15 March 1890

A R Ure, Registrar of Marriages

No	99
Date of Notice	15 March 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Barker	Frances Jenkins
	💍 1890/738
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Miner
Age	56 years	52 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	90/742
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1890
Officiating Minister	A R Ure, Registrar of Marriages

100

17 March 1890

John Edward Vernon
Margaret Davidson Somerville

John Edward Vernon
Margaret Davidson Somerville
💍 1890/1972

Bachelor
Spinster

Schoolmaster

27 years
26 years

Dunedin
Anderson's Bay

3 days
26 years

In the house of William Somerville

90/708

17 March 1890

Revd A Cameron, Presbyterian Minister

No	100
Date of Notice	17 March 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edward Vernon	Margaret Davidson Somerville
	💍 1890/1972
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Schoolmaster
Age	27 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Anderson's Bay
Length of Residence	3 days	26 years
Marriage Place	In the house of William Somerville
Folio	90/708
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 March 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd A Cameron, Presbyterian Minister

101

18 March 1890

Claude Herbert Watson
Isabel Eyre

Claude Herbert Oaten
Isabel Eyre
💍 1890/639

Bachelor
Spinster

French Polisher

22 years
21 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

13 years
21 years

In the house of John Charles Eyre, Duncan Street

90/724

18 March 1890

Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

No	101
Date of Notice	18 March 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Claude Herbert Watson	Isabel Eyre
BDM Match (93%)	Claude Herbert Oaten	Isabel Eyre
	💍 1890/639
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	French Polisher
Age	22 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	13 years	21 years
Marriage Place	In the house of John Charles Eyre, Duncan Street
Folio	90/724
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 March 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

102

18 March 1890

William Fletcher Henderson
Hannah Barrett

William Fletcher Henderson
Hannah Barrett
💍 1890/637

Bachelor
Widow

Gardener

35 years
37 years

Caversham
Caversham

2 years
2 years

In the house of Revd Dr Stuart

90/722

18 March 1890

Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

No	102
Date of Notice	18 March 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Fletcher Henderson	Hannah Barrett
	💍 1890/637
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Gardener
Age	35 years	37 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Caversham
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Revd Dr Stuart
Folio	90/722
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 March 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).