Intentions to Marry, 1892

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840404, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, May 28 2025

Page 1291

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1892 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

19 February 1892

Peter McKinnon
Mary Graham

Peter McKinnon
Mary Graham
💍 1892/745

Bachelor
Widow

Mariner

37 years
42 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 months
4 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages

92/788

19 February 1892

W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

No	54
Date of Notice	19 February 1892
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter McKinnon	Mary Graham
	💍 1892/745
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Mariner
Age	37 years	42 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 months	4 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	92/788
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1892
Officiating Minister	W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

22 February 1892

George Wakelin
Catherine McConnell

George Wakelin
Catherine McConnell
💍 1892/1236

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmoulder

25 years
24 years

Roslyn
Roslyn

12 years
14 years

In St. Joseph's Cathedral

92/725

22 February 1892

Revd. P. Lynch, Roman Catholic Priest

No	55
Date of Notice	22 February 1892
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Wakelin	Catherine McConnell
	💍 1892/1236
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmoulder
Age	25 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Roslyn	Roslyn
Length of Residence	12 years	14 years
Marriage Place	In St. Joseph's Cathedral
Folio	92/725
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1892
Officiating Minister	Revd. P. Lynch, Roman Catholic Priest

22 February 1892

William Murray
Catherine Birrell Stewart

William Murray
Catherine Birrell Stewart
💍 1892/44

Widower
Spinster

Shipwright

64 years
33 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 years

In the house of William Stewart, Maitland Street

92/799

22 February 1892

Revd. John Ryley, Presbyterian Minister

No	56
Date of Notice	22 February 1892
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Murray	Catherine Birrell Stewart
	💍 1892/44
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Shipwright
Age	64 years	33 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	In the house of William Stewart, Maitland Street
Folio	92/799
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1892
Officiating Minister	Revd. John Ryley, Presbyterian Minister

23 February 1892

Charles Nicholson
Isabella Martin Shore

Charles Nicholson
Isabella Martin Shore
💍 1892/746

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

26 years
23 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

6 days
10 days

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages

92/789

23 February 1892

W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

No	57
Date of Notice	23 February 1892
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Nicholson	Isabella Martin Shore
	💍 1892/746
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	26 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	6 days	10 days
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	92/789
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1892
Officiating Minister	W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

23 February 1892

John Moore
Jessie Littlejohn

John Moore
Jessie Littlejohn
💍 1892/739

Bachelor
Spinster

Boilermaker

27 years
22 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

7 years
15 years

In Knox Church

92/773

23 February 1892

Revd. Dr. Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

No	58
Date of Notice	23 February 1892
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Moore	Jessie Littlejohn
	💍 1892/739
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boilermaker
Age	27 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	7 years	15 years
Marriage Place	In Knox Church
Folio	92/773
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1892
Officiating Minister	Revd. Dr. Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

23 February 1892

Alexander Park Shaw
Mary Harvey

Alexander Park Shaw
Mary Harvey
💍 1892/2706

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

42 years
32 years

Halfway Bush
Halfway Bush

30 years
3 months

In the house of Alexander Park Shaw

92/2864

23 February 1892

Revd. R. R. M. Sutherland, Presbyterian Minister

No	59
Date of Notice	23 February 1892
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Park Shaw	Mary Harvey
	💍 1892/2706
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	42 years	32 years
Dwelling Place	Halfway Bush	Halfway Bush
Length of Residence	30 years	3 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Alexander Park Shaw
Folio	92/2864
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1892
Officiating Minister	Revd. R. R. M. Sutherland, Presbyterian Minister

23 February 1892

John Westlake
Catherine Isabella Beveridge

John Westlake
Catherine Isabella Beveridge
💍 1892/682

Bachelor
Spinster

Tanner

22 years
18 years

Caversham
Caversham

22 years
16 years

In the house of Mrs. Eliza Beveridge

92/719

Mrs. Eliza Beveridge, mother of minor

23 February 1892

Revd. R. J. Porter, Presbyterian Minister

No	60
Date of Notice	23 February 1892
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Westlake	Catherine Isabella Beveridge
	💍 1892/682
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tanner
Age	22 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Caversham
Length of Residence	22 years	16 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs. Eliza Beveridge
Folio	92/719
Consent	Mrs. Eliza Beveridge, mother of minor
Date of Certificate	23 February 1892
Officiating Minister	Revd. R. J. Porter, 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 1908. 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).