Intentions to Marry, 1869

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840381, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Page 556

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1869 Registrar John Gillies

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

3 February 1869

John Griffen
Agnes Sarah Bedilia McSwiney

John Griffen
Agnes Sarah Bedelia McSwiney
💍 1869/8661

Widower
Spinster

Merchant

42
21

Dunedin
Dunedin

8 years
5 yrs

In St. Joseph's Church Dunedin

69/1503

3 February 1869

Rev. D. Moreau

No	150
Date of Notice	3 February 1869
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Griffen	Agnes Sarah Bedilia McSwiney
BDM Match (98%)	John Griffen	Agnes Sarah Bedelia McSwiney
	💍 1869/8661
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Merchant
Age	42	21
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	8 years	5 yrs
Marriage Place	In St. Joseph's Church Dunedin
Folio	69/1503
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1869
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Moreau

151

5 February 1869

Edward Carling
Ellen Springett

Edward Carling
Ellen Springett
💍 1869/8880

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

39
36

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
1 year

In St. Paul's Church Dunedin

69/1580

5 February 1869

Rev. E. G. Edwards

No	151
Date of Notice	5 February 1869
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Carling	Ellen Springett
	💍 1869/8880
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	39	36
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	In St. Paul's Church Dunedin
Folio	69/1580
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1869
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. G. Edwards

152

8 February 1869

Henry Parsons
Mary Cramond

Henry Parsons
Mary Cramond
💍 1869/9261

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

25
19

Dunedin
East Taieri

3 yrs
3 days

In the house of Robert Cramond Snr., East Taieri

69/1711

Robert Cramond, father

8 February 1869

Rev. Wm. Will

No	152
Date of Notice	8 February 1869
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Parsons	Mary Cramond
	💍 1869/9261
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	East Taieri
Length of Residence	3 yrs	3 days
Marriage Place	In the house of Robert Cramond Snr., East Taieri
Folio	69/1711
Consent	Robert Cramond, father
Date of Certificate	8 February 1869
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. Will

153

9 February 1869

John Hodge
Margaret Watson

[No matching marriage registration has been located]

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairyman

23
27

Dunedin
Dunedin

10 yrs
2 yrs

In the house of John Hodge, Russell Street, Dunedin

9 February 1869

Rev. D. M. Stuart

No	153
Date of Notice	9 February 1869
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hodge	Margaret Watson
	💍 [No matching marriage registration has been located]
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairyman
Age	23	27
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	10 yrs	2 yrs
Marriage Place	In the house of John Hodge, Russell Street, Dunedin
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1869
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. M. Stuart

154

12 February 1869

John Heffernan
Kate Hart

John Heffernan
Kate Hart
💍 1869/3912

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

28
25

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In St Joseph's Church Dunedin

69/1504

12 February 1869

Rev. D. Moreau

No	154
Date of Notice	12 February 1869
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Heffernan	Kate Hart
	💍 1869/3912
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In St Joseph's Church Dunedin
Folio	69/1504
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1869
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Moreau

155

13 February 1869

Thomas Cannon
Margaret Woods

Thomas Cannon
Margaret Woods
💍 1869/8883

Bachelor
Spinster

Groom

28
24

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In St. Paul's Church Dunedin

69/1581

13 February 1869

Rev. E. G. Edwards

No	155
Date of Notice	13 February 1869
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Cannon	Margaret Woods
	💍 1869/8883
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Groom
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In St. Paul's Church Dunedin
Folio	69/1581
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1869
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. G. Edwards

156

15 February 1869

William Espie
Margaret Reid

William Espie
Margaret Reid
💍 1869/8751

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

25
19

Dunedin
Dunedin

2 yrs
19 yrs

In the house of Charles Reid, Arthur Street, Dunedin

69/1535

Charles Reid, Father

15 February 1869

Rev. Thomas Burns D D

No	156
Date of Notice	15 February 1869
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Espie	Margaret Reid
	💍 1869/8751
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 yrs	19 yrs
Marriage Place	In the house of Charles Reid, Arthur Street, Dunedin
Folio	69/1535
Consent	Charles Reid, Father
Date of Certificate	15 February 1869
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Burns D D

157

16 February 1869

George Ross
Eliza Weipers

George Ross
Eliza Weipers
💍 1869/3964

Bachelor
Spinster

Settler

34
24

Dunedin
Peninsula

3 days
8 months

In the house of Peter Weiper Peninsula

69/1687

16 February 1869

Rev. A. Greig

No	157
Date of Notice	16 February 1869
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Ross	Eliza Weipers
	💍 1869/3964
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Settler
Age	34	24
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Peninsula
Length of Residence	3 days	8 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Peter Weiper Peninsula
Folio	69/1687
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1869
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Greig

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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Attribution: This image was digitised by Archives NZ Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga and is republished here under CC BY. It has been cropped and rotated for convenience.

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).