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 618

District of Dunedin Quarter ending Jul - Sep

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

154

16 September 1872

John Henry Smith
Annie Hunter Shiels

John Henry Smitt
Annie Hunter Shiels
💍 1872/7130

Bachelor
Spinster

Hospital Warder

35 years
32 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

7 years
14 months

In the House of Patrick W. Gunning Cumberland Street Dunedin

72/1731

16 September 1872

Rev. D. M. Stuart

No	154
Date of Notice	16 September 1872
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Smith	Annie Hunter Shiels
BDM Match (97%)	John Henry Smitt	Annie Hunter Shiels
	💍 1872/7130
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hospital Warder
Age	35 years	32 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	7 years	14 months
Marriage Place	In the House of Patrick W. Gunning Cumberland Street Dunedin
Folio	72/1731
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 September 1872
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. M. Stuart

158

19 September 1872

Benjamin Throp
Benjamin H. Cop

Bachelor
Spinster

Dentist

26 years
17 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

10 years
6 months

In the House Princes Street Dunedin

72/1779

John Wilkinson Father

19 September 1872

Rev. Alexander R

No	158
Date of Notice	19 September 1872
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Benjamin Throp	Benjamin H. Cop
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dentist
Age	26 years	17 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	10 years	6 months
Marriage Place	In the House Princes Street Dunedin
Folio	72/1779
Consent	John Wilkinson Father
Date of Certificate	19 September 1872
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alexander R

159

20 September 1872

John Brighton
Jane Cresswell Atkinson

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

35 years
26 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
12 days

In St. Paul's Church

72/1732

20 September 1872

Rev. E. G. Edwards

No	159
Date of Notice	20 September 1872
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Brighton	Jane Cresswell Atkinson
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	35 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	12 days
Marriage Place	In St. Paul's Church
Folio	72/1732
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 September 1872
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. G. Edwards

160

20 September 1872

Lewis Lawson
Isabella Watson

Lewis Lawson
Isabella Watson
💍 1872/6803

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Nurse

26 years
29 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 years
9 years

In St Paul's Church

72/1733

20 September 1872

Rev. E.G. Edwards

No	160
Date of Notice	20 September 1872
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lewis Lawson	Isabella Watson
	💍 1872/6803
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Nurse
Age	26 years	29 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 years	9 years
Marriage Place	In St Paul's Church
Folio	72/1733
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 September 1872
Officiating Minister	Rev. E.G. Edwards

161

21 September 1872

Robert Scott
Isabella Gibson

Robert Scott
Isabella Gibson
💍 1872/7133

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

32 years
28 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 years
2 years

In the House of William Lothian Sunnyside

72/1843

21 September 1872

Rev. Dm Stuart

No	161
Date of Notice	21 September 1872
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Scott	Isabella Gibson
	💍 1872/7133
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	32 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In the House of William Lothian Sunnyside
Folio	72/1843
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 September 1872
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dm Stuart

162

21 September 1872

Henry William Kerr
Emma Jane Stone

Henry William Kerr
Emma Jane Stone
💍 1872/7241

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

25 years
26 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 months
3 days

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin

72/1874

21 September 1872

William Parker Street Registrar

No	162
Date of Notice	21 September 1872
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry William Kerr	Emma Jane Stone
	💍 1872/7241
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	25 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 months	3 days
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin
Folio	72/1874
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 September 1872
Officiating Minister	William Parker Street Registrar

163

23 September 1872

Moses Hyman
Leah Levy

Moses Hyams
Leah Levy
💍 1872/6857

Bachelor
Spinster

Jeweller

33 years
20 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
5 years

In the Jewish Synagogue Moray Place Dunedin

72/1750

Jacob Levy Father

23 September 1872

Rev. Jacob Levy

No	163
Date of Notice	23 September 1872
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Moses Hyman	Leah Levy
BDM Match (86%)	Moses Hyams	Leah Levy
	💍 1872/6857
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jeweller
Age	33 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	5 years
Marriage Place	In the Jewish Synagogue Moray Place Dunedin
Folio	72/1750
Consent	Jacob Levy Father
Date of Certificate	23 September 1872
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jacob Levy

164

23 September 1872

John Pillar
Agnes Black

John Pullar
Agnes Black
💍 1872/7244

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

25 years
20 years

Blueskin
Dunedin

8 months
3 days

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin

72/1880

Ann Black Mother

23 September 1872

William Parker Street Registrar of Marriages Dun

No	164
Date of Notice	23 September 1872
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Pillar	Agnes Black
BDM Match (95%)	John Pullar	Agnes Black
	💍 1872/7244
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	25 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Blueskin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	8 months	3 days
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin
Folio	72/1880
Consent	Ann Black Mother
Date of Certificate	23 September 1872
Officiating Minister	William Parker Street Registrar of Marriages Dun

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).