Intentions to Marry, 1872

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840384, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Page 609

District of Dunedin Quarter ending Apr - Jun

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

22 May 1872

Frederick Every
Henrietta Jeffreys

Frederick Every
Henrietta Jeffreys
💍 1872/7223

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

36
28

Andersons Bay
Mornington

3 days
5 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

741/1872

22 May 1872

William Parker Street, Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

No	91
Date of Notice	22 May 1872
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Every	Henrietta Jeffreys
	💍 1872/7223
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	36	28
Dwelling Place	Andersons Bay	Mornington
Length of Residence	3 days	5 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	741/1872
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 May 1872
Officiating Minister	William Parker Street, Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

May 1872

Josiah Williams
Alice Susannah Meredith

Josiah Williams
Alice Susaanna Meredith
💍 1872/6947

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

22
24

Dunedin
Dunedin

4 years
10 years

In the House of Richard Meredith, Leith Street, Dunedin

740/1872

22 May 1872

Rev. John Williams

No	92
Date of Notice	May 1872
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Josiah Williams	Alice Susannah Meredith
BDM Match (96%)	Josiah Williams	Alice Susaanna Meredith
	💍 1872/6947
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 years	10 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Richard Meredith, Leith Street, Dunedin
Folio	740/1872
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 May 1872
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Williams

23 May 1872

Charles Field
Ismina Blyth

Charles Field
Jemima Blyth
💍 1872/7655

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
General Servant

37
30

Dunedin
Dunedin

9 years
9 years

In the House of Rev. John Gow, Dunedin

742/1872

23 May 1872

Rev. John Gow

No	93
Date of Notice	23 May 1872
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Field	Ismina Blyth
BDM Match (88%)	Charles Field	Jemima Blyth
	💍 1872/7655
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	General Servant
Age	37	30
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	9 years	9 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Rev. John Gow, Dunedin
Folio	742/1872
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 May 1872
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Gow

27 May 1872

Alexander Garside
Annie Crawford

Alexander Garside
Annie Crawford
💍 1872/7064

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Servant

34
17

Andersons Bay
Dunedin

7 years
2 months

In the House of Robert Hasting, Leith Street Dunedin

743/1872

Charles Crawford, father

27 May 1872

Rev. DM Stuart

No	94
Date of Notice	27 May 1872
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Garside	Annie Crawford
	💍 1872/7064
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Servant
Age	34	17
Dwelling Place	Andersons Bay	Dunedin
Length of Residence	7 years	2 months
Marriage Place	In the House of Robert Hasting, Leith Street Dunedin
Folio	743/1872
Consent	Charles Crawford, father
Date of Certificate	27 May 1872
Officiating Minister	Rev. DM Stuart

29 May 1872

Thomas Benfamin Slier
Eirzabeth Rowe

Thomas Benjamin Julier
Elizabeth Rowe
💍 1872/6950

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Dressmaker

22
22

Dunedin
Dunedin

12 months
9 months

In the House of Rev. John Williams, Dunedin

742/1872

29 May 1872

Rev. John Williams

No	95
Date of Notice	29 May 1872
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Benfamin Slier	Eirzabeth Rowe
BDM Match (86%)	Thomas Benjamin Julier	Elizabeth Rowe
	💍 1872/6950
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Dressmaker
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	12 months	9 months
Marriage Place	In the House of Rev. John Williams, Dunedin
Folio	742/1872
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1872
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Williams

30 May 1872

Ferdinand Himmel
Mary Galloway

Ferdinand Himmel
Mary Galloway
💍 1872/7226

Bachelor
Spinster

Music Tuner

36
33

Dunedin
Dunedin

10 years
9 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

745/1872

30 May 1872

William Parker Street, Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

No	96
Date of Notice	30 May 1872
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ferdinand Himmel	Mary Galloway
	💍 1872/7226
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Music Tuner
Age	36	33
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	10 years	9 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	745/1872
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1872
Officiating Minister	William Parker Street, Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

31 May 1872

John Miller
Mary Anderson

John Miller
Mary Henderson
💍 1872/7061

Bachelor
Spinster

Tinsmith

21
17

Dunedin
Dunedin

5 years
12 years

In the House of Coll. Turner, Castle Street, Dunedin

746/1872

Mary Henderson, mother

31 May 1872

Rev. DM Stuart

No	97
Date of Notice	31 May 1872
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Miller	Mary Anderson
BDM Match (93%)	John Miller	Mary Henderson
	💍 1872/7061
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tinsmith
Age	21	17
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	5 years	12 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Coll. Turner, Castle Street, Dunedin
Folio	746/1872
Consent	Mary Henderson, mother
Date of Certificate	31 May 1872
Officiating Minister	Rev. DM Stuart

5 June 1872

Joseph William Wain
Agnes Neil Galloway

Joseph William Wain
Agnes Hill Galloway
💍 1872/7070

Bachelor
Spinster

Bottler

23
21

Dunedin
Dunedin

15 years
12 years

In the House of William Galloway, Queen Street, Dunedin

747/1872

5 June 1872

Rev. DM Stuart

No	98
Date of Notice	5 June 1872
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph William Wain	Agnes Neil Galloway
BDM Match (92%)	Joseph William Wain	Agnes Hill Galloway
	💍 1872/7070
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bottler
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	15 years	12 years
Marriage Place	In the House of William Galloway, Queen Street, Dunedin
Folio	747/1872
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 June 1872
Officiating Minister	Rev. DM Stuart

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 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).