Intentions to Marry, 1902 South Island

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840422, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke and Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, October 3 and October 8, 2025.

1902 is bound in two volumes, North Island districts and South Island districts.

Page 658

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 December 1890

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

401

18 October 1890

Joseph McCarthy
Esam Mander

Joseph McCarthy
Esam Mander
💍 1902/6103

Bachelor
Spinster

Cutter

27 years
21 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 months
3 days

St. Paul's Pro Cathedral, Dunedin

09/5938

18 October 1890

C. G. Robinson

No	401
Date of Notice	18 October 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph McCarthy	Esam Mander
	💍 1902/6103
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cutter
Age	27 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 months	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Pro Cathedral, Dunedin
Folio	09/5938
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 October 1890
Officiating Minister	C. G. Robinson

402

20 October 1890

Benjamin Fotheringham White
Isabella Alexander Michie

Benjamin Fotheringham White
Isabella Alexander Michie
💍 1902/6205

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

24 years
28 years

Dunedin
Mornington

3 days
28 years

In the house of James Michie, Mornington

09/5971

20 October 1890

Wm. Scorgie

No	402
Date of Notice	20 October 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Benjamin Fotheringham White	Isabella Alexander Michie
	💍 1902/6205
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	24 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Mornington
Length of Residence	3 days	28 years
Marriage Place	In the house of James Michie, Mornington
Folio	09/5971
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 October 1890
Officiating Minister	Wm. Scorgie

403

20 October 1890

William Barclay
Margaret Georgina Stevenson Reid

William Barclay
Margaret Georgina Stevenson Reid
💍 1902/5983

Widower
Widow

Butcher

62 years
60 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

35 years
4 months

In the house of George Duncan, Albany Street, Dunedin

09/6047

20 October 1890

H. S. Fernie

No	403
Date of Notice	20 October 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Barclay	Margaret Georgina Stevenson Reid
	💍 1902/5983
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Butcher
Age	62 years	60 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	35 years	4 months
Marriage Place	In the house of George Duncan, Albany Street, Dunedin
Folio	09/6047
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 October 1890
Officiating Minister	H. S. Fernie

404

21 October 1890

Herbert Charles Jones
Fanny Corson

Herbert Charles Jones
Fanny Corson
💍 1902/6168

Bachelor
Spinster

School Teacher

32 years
24 years

Dunedin
Mornington

3 days
5 weeks

In the house of Mrs. D. Corson, Mornington

09/5981

21 October 1890

R. Haddell

No	404
Date of Notice	21 October 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Charles Jones	Fanny Corson
	💍 1902/6168
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	School Teacher
Age	32 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Mornington
Length of Residence	3 days	5 weeks
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs. D. Corson, Mornington
Folio	09/5981
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 October 1890
Officiating Minister	R. Haddell

405

21 October 1890

James Dickson
Mary Elvina Jarvis

James Dickison
Mary Elvina Jarvis
💍 1902/6115

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

27 years
21 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

2 years
4 years

In St. Martin's Church, North East Valley

09/5949

21 October 1890

A. Neild

No	405
Date of Notice	21 October 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Dickson	Mary Elvina Jarvis
BDM Match (96%)	James Dickison	Mary Elvina Jarvis
	💍 1902/6115
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	27 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In St. Martin's Church, North East Valley
Folio	09/5949
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 October 1890
Officiating Minister	A. Neild

406

21 October 1890

William Kieran Dooley
Barbara Milne Martin

William Kieran Dooley
Barbara Milne Martin
💍 1902/293

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28 years
28 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

09/5909

21 October 1890

H. Maxwell

No	406
Date of Notice	21 October 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Kieran Dooley	Barbara Milne Martin
	💍 1902/293
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	09/5909
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 October 1890
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

407

22 October 1890

John Mitchell Alexander
Margaret Hutchison Stewart

John Mitchell Alexander
Margaret Hutchison Stewart
💍 1902/6071

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman
School Teacher

30 years
27 years

Roslyn
Dunedin

23 years
2 years

In the house of Alexander Stewart, Fort Place, Dunedin

09/6267

22 October 1890

Jas. Chisholm

No	407
Date of Notice	22 October 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Mitchell Alexander	Margaret Hutchison Stewart
	💍 1902/6071
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman	School Teacher
Age	30 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Roslyn	Dunedin
Length of Residence	23 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Alexander Stewart, Fort Place, Dunedin
Folio	09/6267
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 October 1890
Officiating Minister	Jas. Chisholm

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).