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 1097

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 September 1880 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

227

21 July 1890

James McPherson Miller
Isabella Campbell

James McPherson Miller
Isabella Campbell
💍 1890/2632

Widower
Spinster

Station manager

50 years
37 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
37 years

In the house of Revd Dr Stuart

90/2649

21 July 1890

Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

No	227
Date of Notice	21 July 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James McPherson Miller	Isabella Campbell
	💍 1890/2632
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Station manager
Age	50 years	37 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	37 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Revd Dr Stuart
Folio	90/2649
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 July 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

228

22 July 1890

Robert Williamson
Agnes Mathieson

Robert Williamson
Agnes Mathieson
💍 1890/2620

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

22 years
23 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

1 year
15 years

In the house of John Jamieson, Dowling Street

90/2628

22 July 1890

Revd J Sharp, Methodist Minister

No	228
Date of Notice	22 July 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Williamson	Agnes Mathieson
	💍 1890/2620
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	22 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	1 year	15 years
Marriage Place	In the house of John Jamieson, Dowling Street
Folio	90/2628
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 July 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd J Sharp, Methodist Minister

229

23 July 1890

John Macdonald
Jessie Gallie

John Macdonald
Jessie Gallie
💍 1890/2633

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd

31 years
31 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
7 years

In the house of John Muir, Clyde Street

90/2650

23 July 1890

Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

No	229
Date of Notice	23 July 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Macdonald	Jessie Gallie
	💍 1890/2633
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd
Age	31 years	31 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	7 years
Marriage Place	In the house of John Muir, Clyde Street
Folio	90/2650
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 July 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

230

24 July 1890

John Henry Rainton
Ann Eliza Cuthbertson

John Henry Rainton
Eliza Cuthbertson
💍 1890/2635

Bachelor
Spinster

Expressman

24 years
17 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

22 years
15 years

In the house of James Kerr, George Street

90/2652

Malah Kerr, mother of minor

24 July 1890

Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

No	230
Date of Notice	24 July 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Rainton	Ann Eliza Cuthbertson
BDM Match (91%)	John Henry Rainton	Eliza Cuthbertson
	💍 1890/2635
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Expressman
Age	24 years	17 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	22 years	15 years
Marriage Place	In the house of James Kerr, George Street
Folio	90/2652
Consent	Malah Kerr, mother of minor
Date of Certificate	24 July 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

231

25 July 1890

Robert Gibson
Ellen White

Robert Gibson
Ellen White
💍 1890/2634

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

28 years
23 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In Knox Church Dunedin

90/2651

25 July 1890

Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

No	231
Date of Notice	25 July 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Gibson	Ellen White
	💍 1890/2634
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	28 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In Knox Church Dunedin
Folio	90/2651
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 July 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

232

28 July 1890

Charles John Francis Hannagan
Mary Ann McGrath

Charles John Francis Hannagan
Mary Ann McGrath
💍 1890/2584

Charles Frederick Smith
Mary Jane McGrath
💍 1891/3048

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee

24 years
25 years

South Dunedin
South Dunedin

6 years
12 years

In St Patrick's Church

90/2613

28 July 1890

Revd G Hunt, Roman Catholic Priest

No	232
Date of Notice	28 July 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles John Francis Hannagan	Mary Ann McGrath
	💍 1890/2584
BDM Match (60%)	Charles Frederick Smith	Mary Jane McGrath
	💍 1891/3048
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee
Age	24 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	6 years	12 years
Marriage Place	In St Patrick's Church
Folio	90/2613
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd G Hunt, Roman Catholic Priest

233

28 July 1890

Henry Davies
Elizabeth Bellett

Henry Davies
Elizabeth Bellett
💍 1890/2587

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

21 years
21 years

South Dunedin
South Dunedin

14 years
6 years

In the house of Nathan Greaves

90/2617

28 July 1890

Revd W Campbell, Presbyterian Minister

No	233
Date of Notice	28 July 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Davies	Elizabeth Bellett
	💍 1890/2587
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	21 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	14 years	6 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Nathan Greaves
Folio	90/2617
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd W Campbell, 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).