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 372

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 September 1898 Registrar W. J. Call

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

236

26 July 1898

Duncan McMillan
Mary Susannah Brinsdon

Duncan McMillan
Mary Susanna Brinsdon
💍 1898/3548

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
30

Whare Flat
Halfway Bush

29 years
23 years

In the house of Edward Rutty Brinsdon, Halfway Bush

98/4765

26 July 1898

Revd. Thomas Paulin, Presbyterian Minister

No	236
Date of Notice	26 July 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Duncan McMillan	Mary Susannah Brinsdon
BDM Match (98%)	Duncan McMillan	Mary Susanna Brinsdon
	💍 1898/3548
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	30
Dwelling Place	Whare Flat	Halfway Bush
Length of Residence	29 years	23 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Edward Rutty Brinsdon, Halfway Bush
Folio	98/4765
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 July 1898
Officiating Minister	Revd. Thomas Paulin, Presbyterian Minister

237

27 July 1898

Charles Lees
Pamela Ann Smith

Charles Lees
Pamela Ann Smith
💍 1898/3953

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

23
20

South Dunedin
Dunedin

6 years
12 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages

98/3343

Pamela Cavanagh, mother of minor

27 July 1898

W. J. Call, Registrar of Marriages

No	237
Date of Notice	27 July 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Lees	Pamela Ann Smith
	💍 1898/3953
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	6 years	12 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	98/3343
Consent	Pamela Cavanagh, mother of minor
Date of Certificate	27 July 1898
Officiating Minister	W. J. Call, Registrar of Marriages

238

29 July 1898

Walter Rae
Jessie Craig

Walter Rae
Jessie Craig
💍 1898/3059

Widower
Widow

Flour Mill Worker

71
64

Roslyn
Caversham

19 years
28 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages

98/3344

29 July 1898

W. J. Call, Registrar of Marriages

No	238
Date of Notice	29 July 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Rae	Jessie Craig
	💍 1898/3059
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Flour Mill Worker
Age	71	64
Dwelling Place	Roslyn	Caversham
Length of Residence	19 years	28 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	98/3344
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 July 1898
Officiating Minister	W. J. Call, Registrar of Marriages

239

30 July 1898

Alexander Macdonald
Sarah Jane Shimester

Alexander Macdonald
Sarah Jane Phimester
💍 1898/3070

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

24
22

Caversham
Caversham

6 years
4 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages

98/3345

30 July 1898

W. J. Call, Registrar of Marriages

No	239
Date of Notice	30 July 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Macdonald	Sarah Jane Shimester
BDM Match (98%)	Alexander Macdonald	Sarah Jane Phimester
	💍 1898/3070
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Caversham
Length of Residence	6 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	98/3345
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 July 1898
Officiating Minister	W. J. Call, Registrar of Marriages

240

3 August 1898

Wilhelm Eckhold
Clara Schulze

Wilhelm Eckhold
Clara Schulz
💍 1898/3077

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

62
39

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages

98/3346

3 August 1898

W. J. Call, Registrar of Marriages

No	240
Date of Notice	3 August 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wilhelm Eckhold	Clara Schulze
BDM Match (96%)	Wilhelm Eckhold	Clara Schulz
	💍 1898/3077
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	62	39
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	98/3346
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 August 1898
Officiating Minister	W. J. Call, Registrar of Marriages

241

3 August 1898

Albert Francis Cross
Catherine Hughes

Albert Francis Cross
Catherine Hughes
💍 1898/2520

Bachelor
Spinster

Fish Curer

30
25

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
10 years

In St. Joseph's Cathedral

98/3734

3 August 1898

Revd. John Ryan, Roman Catholic Priest

No	241
Date of Notice	3 August 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Francis Cross	Catherine Hughes
	💍 1898/2520
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fish Curer
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	In St. Joseph's Cathedral
Folio	98/3734
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 August 1898
Officiating Minister	Revd. John Ryan, Roman Catholic Priest

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).