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 1095

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 September 1890 Registrar William Joseph Hall

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

214

7 July 1890

Charles Manderson Brown
Martha Paton Newton

Charles Manderson Brown
Martha Paton Newton
💍 1890/3852

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

31 years
23 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

30 years
23 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages

90/2670

7 July 1890

A. R. Ure, Registrar of Marriages

No	214
Date of Notice	7 July 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Manderson Brown	Martha Paton Newton
	💍 1890/3852
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	31 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	30 years	23 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	90/2670
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 July 1890
Officiating Minister	A. R. Ure, Registrar of Marriages

215

8 July 1890

David Robertson Leighton
Isabella Jane Anderson

David Robertson Leighton
Isabella Jane Anderson
💍 1890/2610

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

23 years
21 years

Dunedin
Woodhaugh

23 years
21 years

In the house of Mrs Isabella Anderson

90/2641

8 July 1890

Revd J. Ryley, Presbyterian Minister

No	215
Date of Notice	8 July 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Robertson Leighton	Isabella Jane Anderson
	💍 1890/2610
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	23 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Woodhaugh
Length of Residence	23 years	21 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Isabella Anderson
Folio	90/2641
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 July 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd J. Ryley, Presbyterian Minister

216

9 July 1890

Charles Puechegud
Margaret Saunders

Charles Puechegud
Margaret Saunders
💍 1890/2580

Bachelor
Spinster

Fishmonger

49 years
19 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

14 years
19 years

In St. Josephs Cathedral

90/2609

John Saunders, father of minor

9 July 1890

Revd P. Lynch, Roman Catholic Priest

No	216
Date of Notice	9 July 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Puechegud	Margaret Saunders
	💍 1890/2580
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fishmonger
Age	49 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	14 years	19 years
Marriage Place	In St. Josephs Cathedral
Folio	90/2609
Consent	John Saunders, father of minor
Date of Certificate	9 July 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd P. Lynch, Roman Catholic Priest

217

11 July 1890

Walter Hislop
Ada Champion

Walter Hislop
Ada Champion
💍 1890/3290

Bachelor
Spinster

Surgeon

32 years
20 years

Palmerston
Dunedin

6 months
18 years

In the house of Mrs Arabella Champion, Albany Street

90/2646

Arabella Champion, mother of minor

11 July 1890

Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

No	217
Date of Notice	11 July 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Hislop	Ada Champion
	💍 1890/3290
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surgeon
Age	32 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Palmerston	Dunedin
Length of Residence	6 months	18 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Arabella Champion, Albany Street
Folio	90/2646
Consent	Arabella Champion, mother of minor
Date of Certificate	11 July 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

218

11 July 1890

William John Manley
Agnes Bower

William John Manley
Agnes Bower
💍 1890/2589

Bachelor
Spinster

Upholsterer

28 years
25 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

11 years
3 weeks

In the house of William Barron Manley, Castle Street

90/2619

11 July 1890

Revd W. Baumber, Wesleyan Minister

No	218
Date of Notice	11 July 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Manley	Agnes Bower
	💍 1890/2589
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Upholsterer
Age	28 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	11 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	In the house of William Barron Manley, Castle Street
Folio	90/2619
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd W. Baumber, Wesleyan Minister

219

14 July 1890

James Slynes
Margaret Storey

James Slignes
Margaret Storey
💍 1890/2583

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

22 years
21 years

South Dunedin
Dunedin

6 months
5 years

In St. Patricks Church

90/2612

14 July 1890

Revd G. Hunt, Roman Catholic Priest

No	219
Date of Notice	14 July 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Slynes	Margaret Storey
BDM Match (92%)	James Slignes	Margaret Storey
	💍 1890/2583
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	22 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	6 months	5 years
Marriage Place	In St. Patricks Church
Folio	90/2612
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd G. Hunt, Roman Catholic Priest

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).