Intentions to Marry, 1898 January-June

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840413, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, June 27 2025

1898 is bound in two volumes, January-June and July-December.

Page 387

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1898 Registrar W. J. 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

5 February 1898

Robert Hume Neilson
Mary Kenny

Robert Hume Neilson
Mary Kenny
💍 1898/874

Bachelor
Spinster

Picture Framer

24 years
32 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

14 years
14 years

In the house of Thomas Maxwell, Princes Street

98/1025

5 February 1898

Revd R Waddell, Presbyterian Minister

No	22
Date of Notice	5 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Hume Neilson	Mary Kenny
	💍 1898/874
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Picture Framer
Age	24 years	32 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	14 years	14 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Thomas Maxwell, Princes Street
Folio	98/1025
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Revd R Waddell, Presbyterian Minister

5 February 1898

James Robert Parker
Margaret Josephine McDevitt

James Robert Parker
Margaret Josephine McDevitt
💍 1898/845

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

33 years
23 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

1 week
3 days

In St. Joseph's Cathedral

98/986

5 February 1898

Revd P Murphy, Roman Catholic Priest

No	23
Date of Notice	5 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Robert Parker	Margaret Josephine McDevitt
	💍 1898/845
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	33 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	1 week	3 days
Marriage Place	In St. Joseph's Cathedral
Folio	98/986
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Revd P Murphy, Roman Catholic Priest

7 February 1898

Alexander Burns
Fanny Smith

Alexander Burns
Fanny Smith
💍 1898/891

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman

34 years
37 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

5 years
3 years

In the First Church

98/1028

7 February 1898

Revd D Ditton, Presbyterian Minister

No	24
Date of Notice	7 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Burns	Fanny Smith
	💍 1898/891
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman
Age	34 years	37 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	5 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the First Church
Folio	98/1028
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Revd D Ditton, Presbyterian Minister

7 February 1898

William Henry Middleton
Annie Eliza Larner

William Henry Middleton
Annie Eliza Larner
💍 1898/849

Bachelor
Widow

Mining Agent

36 years
41 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

18 months
30 years

In the house of Mrs Annie Eliza Larner, Princes Street, Dunedin

98/999

7 February 1898

Revd J R Buttle, Wesleyan Minister

No	25
Date of Notice	7 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Middleton	Annie Eliza Larner
	💍 1898/849
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Mining Agent
Age	36 years	41 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	18 months	30 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Annie Eliza Larner, Princes Street, Dunedin
Folio	98/999
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Revd J R Buttle, Wesleyan Minister

8 February 1898

William John Armour Michie
Margaret Duckworth

William John Armour Michie
Margaret Duckworth
💍 1898/830

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

21 years
23 years

Peninsula
Dunedin

21 years
23 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages

98/962

8 February 1898

W J Hall, Registrar of Marriages

No	26
Date of Notice	8 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Armour Michie	Margaret Duckworth
	💍 1898/830
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	21 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Peninsula	Dunedin
Length of Residence	21 years	23 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	98/962
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1898
Officiating Minister	W J Hall, Registrar of Marriages

9 February 1898

William Taylor
Margaret Charters Mullholland Shaw

William Taylor
Margaret Charters Mullholland Shaw
💍 1898/2687

Widower
Spinster

Watchmaker

47 years
26 years

Caversham
Mornington

9 months
2 years

In the house of James Swanerton, Mornington

98/1031

9 February 1898

Revd T Newbold, Wesleyan Minister

No	27
Date of Notice	9 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Taylor	Margaret Charters Mullholland Shaw
	💍 1898/2687
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Watchmaker
Age	47 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Mornington
Length of Residence	9 months	2 years
Marriage Place	In the house of James Swanerton, Mornington
Folio	98/1031
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Revd T Newbold, Wesleyan Minister

10 February 1898

William Thomas Hazlett
Kate Stephenson

William Thomas Hazlett
Kate Stephenson
💍 1898/894

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman

30 years
26 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

22 years
26 years

In St. Matthew's Church

98/1032

10 February 1898

Revd W Burzon Leggers, Church of England Minister

No	28
Date of Notice	10 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Thomas Hazlett	Kate Stephenson
	💍 1898/894
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman
Age	30 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	22 years	26 years
Marriage Place	In St. Matthew's Church
Folio	98/1032
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Revd W Burzon Leggers, Church of England 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).