1862 Intentions to Marry

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840374, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke Howison at Archives NZ Wellington, December 11 2024

Page 329

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 December 1862

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

6 October 1862

George Blackie Somner
Emily Ballinger

George Blackie Somner
Emily Ballinger
💍 1862/2895

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder

26 years
25 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

9 months
2 months

In the house of George Blackie, Somner, Filleul Street, Dunedin

6 October 1862

Rev Thomas Burns, D.D.

No	1
Date of Notice	6 October 1862
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Blackie Somner	Emily Ballinger
	💍 1862/2895
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	26 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	9 months	2 months
Marriage Place	In the house of George Blackie, Somner, Filleul Street, Dunedin
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 October 1862
Officiating Minister	Rev Thomas Burns, D.D.

8 October 1862

William Ings
Elizabeth Russell

William Ings
Elizabeth Russell
💍 1862/2904

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

26 years
24 years

Caversham
Dunedin

4 months
3 months

In the house of the Rev. Thomas Burns of Dunedin

8 October 1862

Rev. Thomas Burns

No	2
Date of Notice	8 October 1862
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Ings	Elizabeth Russell
	💍 1862/2904
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	26 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 months	3 months
Marriage Place	In the house of the Rev. Thomas Burns of Dunedin
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 October 1862
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Burns

8 October 1862

John Wood Reed
Eliza Maud Stephenson

No corresponding marriage located

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

24 years
19 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
4 months

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin

No	3
Date of Notice	8 October 1862
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Wood Reed	Eliza Maud Stephenson
	💍 No corresponding marriage located
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	24 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	4 months
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister

9 October 1862

James Watt
Catharine McDonald

James Watt
Catherine McDonald
💍 1862/2997

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

25 years
25 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

5 days
1 year

In the house of James Graham, Great King Street, Dunedin

9 October 1862

Rev. D. M. Stuart

No	4
Date of Notice	9 October 1862
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Watt	Catharine McDonald
BDM Match (97%)	James Watt	Catherine McDonald
	💍 1862/2997
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	25 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	5 days	1 year
Marriage Place	In the house of James Graham, Great King Street, Dunedin
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 October 1862
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. M. Stuart

10 October 1862

Robert Landreth
Helen Luke

Robert Landreth
Helen Luke
💍 1862/2901

Bachelor
Spinster

Mason

26 years
25 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

2 years
3 days

In the house of William Smith, Carpenter, Canongate Dunedin

8 October 1862

Rev. Thomas Burns, D.D.

No	5
Date of Notice	10 October 1862
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Landreth	Helen Luke
	💍 1862/2901
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mason
Age	26 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years	3 days
Marriage Place	In the house of William Smith, Carpenter, Canongate Dunedin
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 October 1862
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Burns, D.D.

10 October 1862

John Campbell
Mary Ann Thomson

John Campbell
Mary Ann Thomson
💍 1862/2898

Bachelor
Widow

Farm Servant

31 years
37 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In the house of Thomas Gow, Carpenter, Walker Street, Dunedin

8 October 1862

Rev. Thomas Burns, D.D.

No	6
Date of Notice	10 October 1862
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Campbell	Mary Ann Thomson
	💍 1862/2898
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farm Servant
Age	31 years	37 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the house of Thomas Gow, Carpenter, Walker Street, Dunedin
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 October 1862
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Burns, D.D.

10 October 1862

Henry Livingston
Frances Burns

Henry Livingston
Frances Burns
💍 1862/2907

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

29 years
20 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

4 years
14 years

In the house of the Revd. Thomas Burns, D. D, Dunedin

Thomas Burns, father

10 October 1862

Rev. Thomas Burns, D.D.

No	7
Date of Notice	10 October 1862
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Livingston	Frances Burns
	💍 1862/2907
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	29 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 years	14 years
Marriage Place	In the house of the Revd. Thomas Burns, D. D, Dunedin
Folio
Consent	Thomas Burns, father
Date of Certificate	10 October 1862
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Burns, D.D.

11 October 1862

James Crawford
Mary McNeill

James Crawford
Mary McNeill
💍 1862/2074

Bachelor
Spinster

Mason

25 years
24 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

2 years
3 days

In the house of James Crawford, Moray Place, Dunedin

11 October 1862

Rev. Thomas Burns, D.D.

No	8
Date of Notice	11 October 1862
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Crawford	Mary McNeill
	💍 1862/2074
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mason
Age	25 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years	3 days
Marriage Place	In the house of James Crawford, Moray Place, Dunedin
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 October 1862
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Burns, D.D.

13 October 1862

James Berry
Emma Blissett

James Berry
Emma Blissett
💍 1862/2834

Bachelor
Spinster

Confectioner

30 years
30 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 weeks
3 weeks

In the house of the Revd. Isaac Harding, Elm Row, Dunedin

13 October 1862

Rev. Isaac Harding

No	9
Date of Notice	13 October 1862
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Berry	Emma Blissett
	💍 1862/2834
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Confectioner
Age	30 years	30 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 weeks	3 weeks
Marriage Place	In the house of the Revd. Isaac Harding, Elm Row, Dunedin
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1862
Officiating Minister	Rev. Isaac Harding

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).