Intentions to Marry, 1863

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840375, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke Howison at Archives NZ Wellington, December 4 2024

Page 317

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1863

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

150

12 January 1863

Andrew Melville
Ellen Ramsay

Andrew Melville
Ellen Ramsay
💍 1863/4986

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawyer

25 years
26 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

8 days
3 days

In Knox Church Dunedin

1150

19 January 1863

Rev. D. M. Stuart

No	150
Date of Notice	12 January 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Melville	Ellen Ramsay
	💍 1863/4986
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawyer
Age	25 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	8 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In Knox Church Dunedin
Folio	1150
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1863
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. M. Stuart

151

22 January 1863

William Johnston
Eubertine Susannah Charlotte Ryder Richardson

William Johnstone
Eubertine S C R Richardson
💍 1863/4980

Widower
Spinster

Solicitor

majority
22 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 years
2 weeks

In the house of A. Melville Merchant, Fortrose Dunedin

1154

22 January 1863

Rev. D. M. Stuart

No	151
Date of Notice	22 January 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Johnston	Eubertine Susannah Charlotte Ryder Richardson
BDM Match (76%)	William Johnstone	Eubertine S C R Richardson
	💍 1863/4980
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Solicitor
Age	majority	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 years	2 weeks
Marriage Place	In the house of A. Melville Merchant, Fortrose Dunedin
Folio	1154
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1863
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. M. Stuart

152

23 January 1863

George Grove
Janet McGregor

George Grove
Janet McGregor
💍 1863/4983

Widower
Widow

Gardener

32 years
31 years

Halfway Bush
Halfway Bush

8 months
5 months

In the house of John Roy, Settler Halfway Bush

1155

23 January 1863

Rev. D. M. Stuart

No	152
Date of Notice	23 January 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Grove	Janet McGregor
	💍 1863/4983
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Gardener
Age	32 years	31 years
Dwelling Place	Halfway Bush	Halfway Bush
Length of Residence	8 months	5 months
Marriage Place	In the house of John Roy, Settler Halfway Bush
Folio	1155
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1863
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. M. Stuart

153

26 January 1863

John Storie
Jane Knox

John Storie
Jane Knox
💍 1863/5479

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26 years
28 years

Dunedin
Green Island

6 days
2 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin

944

26 January 1863

Registrar of Marriages Dunedin

No	153
Date of Notice	26 January 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Storie	Jane Knox
	💍 1863/5479
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Green Island
Length of Residence	6 days	2 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin
Folio	944
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1863
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages Dunedin

154

26 January 1863

William Rawson
Elizabeth Brice Haines

William Rawson
Elizabeth Brice Haines
💍 1863/3528

Bachelor
Spinster

Stonemason

29 years
25 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 months
3 months

In the Episcopal Church Dunedin

940

26 January 1863

Rev. Edward G. Edwards

No	154
Date of Notice	26 January 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Rawson	Elizabeth Brice Haines
	💍 1863/3528
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stonemason
Age	29 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 months	3 months
Marriage Place	In the Episcopal Church Dunedin
Folio	940
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1863
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edward G. Edwards

155

27 January 1863

Daniel O'Sullivan
Sarah Patten

Daniel O'Sulivan
Sarah Paton
💍 1863/4239

Bachelor
Spinster

Run Manager

37 years
18 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 months

In the house of Rev. Thomas Burns D.D. Dunedin

1428

No person in the Colony entitled to give consent

27 January 1863

Rev. Thomas Burns D.D.

No	155
Date of Notice	27 January 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel O'Sullivan	Sarah Patten
BDM Match (89%)	Daniel O'Sulivan	Sarah Paton
	💍 1863/4239
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Run Manager
Age	37 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Rev. Thomas Burns D.D. Dunedin
Folio	1428
Consent	No person in the Colony entitled to give consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1863
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Burns D.D.

156

29 January 1863

Frederick Bayly
Elizabeth McKenzie

Frederick Bayly
Elizabeth McKenzie
💍 1863/4977

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer

27 years
25 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

12 days
12 days

In the house of Widow Sutherland Cumberland Street Dunedin

1153

29 January 1863

Rev. D. M. Stuart

No	156
Date of Notice	29 January 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Bayly	Elizabeth McKenzie
	💍 1863/4977
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer
Age	27 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	12 days	12 days
Marriage Place	In the house of Widow Sutherland Cumberland Street Dunedin
Folio	1153
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1863
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. M. Stuart

157

29 January 1863

John Butement
Mary Catherine Jones

John Butement
Mary Catherine Jones
💍 1863/5196

Bachelor
Spinster

Soda Water Manufacturer

27 years
25 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

18 months
4 months

In the Episcopal Church Dunedin

1027

29 January 1863

Rev. Edward G. Edwards

No	157
Date of Notice	29 January 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Butement	Mary Catherine Jones
	💍 1863/5196
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soda Water Manufacturer
Age	27 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	18 months	4 months
Marriage Place	In the Episcopal Church Dunedin
Folio	1027
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1863
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edward G. Edwards

158

30 January 1863

Joseph Wording
Jessie Nelson Reid

Joseph Wooding
Jessie Nelson Reid
💍 1863/5473

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd

25 years
21 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In the Episcopal Church Dunedin

941

30 January 1863

Rev. Edward G. Edwards

No	158
Date of Notice	30 January 1863
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Wording	Jessie Nelson Reid
BDM Match (96%)	Joseph Wooding	Jessie Nelson Reid
	💍 1863/5473
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd
Age	25 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the Episcopal Church Dunedin
Folio	941
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1863
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edward G. Edwards

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).