Intentions to Marry, 1898 July-December

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840414, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, June 27 2025

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

Page 869

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 December 1898 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

359

21 November 1898

Arthur John Grand
Mary Fullerton Thomson

Arthur John Evans
Mary Fullerton Thomson
💍 1898/5045

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman

25 years
26 years

Kensington
South Dunedin

9 years in the house
20 years South Dunedin

Christina Thomson

98/5027

21 November 1898

Rev. W. Jolly, Presbyterian Minister

No	359
Date of Notice	21 November 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur John Grand	Mary Fullerton Thomson
BDM Match (91%)	Arthur John Evans	Mary Fullerton Thomson
	💍 1898/5045
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman
Age	25 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Kensington	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	9 years in the house	20 years South Dunedin
Marriage Place	Christina Thomson
Folio	98/5027
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 November 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Jolly, Presbyterian Minister

360

21 November 1898

Michael Moloney
Jane Meenan

Michael Moloney
Jane Meenan
💍 1898/3538

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

38 years
32 years

Kensington
Dunedin

18 months
32 years Dunedin

St. Joseph's Cathedral

98/4756

21 November 1898

Rev. P. Murphy, Roman Catholic Priest

No	360
Date of Notice	21 November 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Moloney	Jane Meenan
	💍 1898/3538
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	38 years	32 years
Dwelling Place	Kensington	Dunedin
Length of Residence	18 months	32 years Dunedin
Marriage Place	St. Joseph's Cathedral
Folio	98/4756
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 November 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Murphy, Roman Catholic Priest

361

22 November 1898

Francis John O'Meara
Martha Rose Graham

Francis John O'Meara
Martha Rose Graham
💍 1898/3537

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

30 years
25 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

4 days
1 year Dunedin

St. Joseph's Cathedral

98/4755

22 November 1898

Rev. P. Murphy, Roman Catholic Priest

No	361
Date of Notice	22 November 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis John O'Meara	Martha Rose Graham
	💍 1898/3537
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	30 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 days	1 year Dunedin
Marriage Place	St. Joseph's Cathedral
Folio	98/4755
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 November 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Murphy, Roman Catholic Priest

362

22 November 1898

Alexander Blackwood
Mary Gordon McArthur

Alexander Blackwood
Mary Jordan McArthur
💍 1898/3542

Bachelor
Spinster

Slaughterman

28 years
26 years

Brockville
Dunedin

28 years in the house
26 years Dunedin

Mrs. McArthur, Russell Street

98/4760

22 November 1898

Rev. R. R. M'Lachlan, Presbyterian Minister

No	362
Date of Notice	22 November 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Blackwood	Mary Gordon McArthur
BDM Match (95%)	Alexander Blackwood	Mary Jordan McArthur
	💍 1898/3542
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Slaughterman
Age	28 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Brockville	Dunedin
Length of Residence	28 years in the house	26 years Dunedin
Marriage Place	Mrs. McArthur, Russell Street
Folio	98/4760
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 November 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. R. M'Lachlan, Presbyterian Minister

363

23 November 1898

John Burrie
Annie Grace Summerell

John Currie
Annie Grace Summerell
💍 1898/4953

Bachelor
Spinster

Store Keeper

29 years
34 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days in the house
34 years Dunedin

George Summerell, Eden Street

98/4730

23 November 1898

Rev. A. North, Baptist Minister

No	363
Date of Notice	23 November 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Burrie	Annie Grace Summerell
BDM Match (95%)	John Currie	Annie Grace Summerell
	💍 1898/4953
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Store Keeper
Age	29 years	34 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days in the house	34 years Dunedin
Marriage Place	George Summerell, Eden Street
Folio	98/4730
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 November 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. North, Baptist Minister

364

23 November 1898

Henry Broadhead
Jane Orr Buchanan

Henry Broadhead
Jane Orr Buchanan
💍 1898/4954

Widower
Spinster

Clerk

41 years
27 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

2 years in the house
27 years Dunedin

William Hay, Harbour Terrace

98/4731

23 November 1898

Rev. A. North, Baptist Minister

No	364
Date of Notice	23 November 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Broadhead	Jane Orr Buchanan
	💍 1898/4954
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	41 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years in the house	27 years Dunedin
Marriage Place	William Hay, Harbour Terrace
Folio	98/4731
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 November 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. North, Baptist 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).