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 714

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 June 1890 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

207

23 June 1890

Ebenezer Smith
Marylowhead

Ebenezer Smith
Mary Coxhead
💍 1890/1989

Bachelor
Widow

Merchant

45 years
31 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In the house of Frederick Mansfield, Boxhead, Duncan Street

90/1710

23 June 1890

Revd. A. Cameron, Presbyterian Minister

No	207
Date of Notice	23 June 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ebenezer Smith	Marylowhead
BDM Match (88%)	Ebenezer Smith	Mary Coxhead
	💍 1890/1989
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Merchant
Age	45 years	31 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the house of Frederick Mansfield, Boxhead, Duncan Street
Folio	90/1710
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 June 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd. A. Cameron, Presbyterian Minister

208

24 June 1890

John Garratt Junr.
Louisa Julia Hill

John Garratt
Louisa Julia Hill
💍 1890/1336

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier Painter

34 years
34 years

Roslyn
Roslyn

9 years
6 months

In St. Matthews Church

90/1746

24 June 1890

Revd. A. C. Yorke, Church of England Minister

No	208
Date of Notice	24 June 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Garratt Junr.	Louisa Julia Hill
BDM Match (83%)	John Garratt	Louisa Julia Hill
	💍 1890/1336
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier Painter
Age	34 years	34 years
Dwelling Place	Roslyn	Roslyn
Length of Residence	9 years	6 months
Marriage Place	In St. Matthews Church
Folio	90/1746
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 June 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd. A. C. Yorke, Church of England Minister

209

24 June 1890

Edward Griffin
Emily Slade

Edward Griffin
Emily Slade
💍 1890/1354

Bachelor
Spinster

Horse Trainer

22 years
21 years

St. Clair
South Dunedin

2 years
4 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages

90/1792

24 June 1890

A. R. Ure, Registrar of Marriages

No	209
Date of Notice	24 June 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Griffin	Emily Slade
	💍 1890/1354
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Horse Trainer
Age	22 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	St. Clair	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	90/1792
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 June 1890
Officiating Minister	A. R. Ure, Registrar of Marriages

210

24 June 1890

Halvor Halvorsen
Mary Ann Griffiths

Hahor Halvorsen
Mary Ann Griffiths
💍 1890/1355

Bachelor
Widow

Laborer

36 years
39 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

4 weeks
3 days

In the Office of Registrar of Marriages

90/1793

24 June 1890

A. R. Ure, Registrar of Marriages

No	210
Date of Notice	24 June 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Halvor Halvorsen	Mary Ann Griffiths
BDM Match (94%)	Hahor Halvorsen	Mary Ann Griffiths
	💍 1890/1355
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Laborer
Age	36 years	39 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 weeks	3 days
Marriage Place	In the Office of Registrar of Marriages
Folio	90/1793
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 June 1890
Officiating Minister	A. R. Ure, Registrar of Marriages

211

25 June 1890

Norman Beaumont
Orpheus Maud Newman

Norman Beaumont
Orpheus Maud Newman
💍 1890/3723

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

30 years
26 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

9 years
14 years

In St. Matthews Church

90/1745

25 June 1890

Revd. A. C. Yorke, Church of England Minister

No	211
Date of Notice	25 June 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Beaumont	Orpheus Maud Newman
	💍 1890/3723
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	30 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	9 years	14 years
Marriage Place	In St. Matthews Church
Folio	90/1745
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 June 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd. A. C. Yorke, Church of England Minister

212

30 June 1890

Edward Milton Huldey
Martha Ann Oliver

Edward Milton Wildey
Martha Ann Oliver
💍 1890/2588

Bachelor
Spinster

Bookbinder

23 years
20 years

Caversham
South Dunedin

14 years
4 years

In the Wesleyan Church

90/2618

Henry Oliver, father of Minor

30 June 1890

Revd. G. W. J. Spence, Wesleyan Minister

No	212
Date of Notice	30 June 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Milton Huldey	Martha Ann Oliver
BDM Match (95%)	Edward Milton Wildey	Martha Ann Oliver
	💍 1890/2588
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bookbinder
Age	23 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	14 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the Wesleyan Church
Folio	90/2618
Consent	Henry Oliver, father of Minor
Date of Certificate	30 June 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd. G. W. J. Spence, Wesleyan Minister

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).