Intentions to Marry, 1875

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840387, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, May 16 2025.

This register is quite fragile and some of the pages are damaged or even missing.

Page 766

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 September 1875 Registrar W Parker Street

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

272

3 August 1875

William Pittaway
Catharine Berry Robertson

William Pittaway
Catherine Berry Robertson
💍 1875/2352

Bachelor
Spinster

Foreman of Railway works

30
19

Blueskin
Caversham

7 weeks
1 month

In the private house of Margaret Robertson Caversham

75/2175

Margaret Robertson Mother

3 August 1875

Rev. J N. Russell

No	272
Date of Notice	3 August 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Pittaway	Catharine Berry Robertson
BDM Match (98%)	William Pittaway	Catherine Berry Robertson
	💍 1875/2352
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Foreman of Railway works
Age	30	19
Dwelling Place	Blueskin	Caversham
Length of Residence	7 weeks	1 month
Marriage Place	In the private house of Margaret Robertson Caversham
Folio	75/2175
Consent	Margaret Robertson Mother
Date of Certificate	3 August 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. J N. Russell

273

3 August 1875

John McFadden
Jane Hughes

John McFadden
Jane Hughes
💍 1875/1999

Bachelor
Widow

Bootmaker

41
36

Dunedin
Dunedin

9 months
6 months

In St. Joseph's Chapel Dunedin

75/2129

3 August 1875

Rev. Wm Coleman R.C.

No	273
Date of Notice	3 August 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McFadden	Jane Hughes
	💍 1875/1999
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	41	36
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	9 months	6 months
Marriage Place	In St. Joseph's Chapel Dunedin
Folio	75/2129
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 August 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm Coleman R.C.

274

4 August 1875

Charles Matthews
Elizabeth Thompson

Charles Matthews
Elizabeth Thompson
💍 1875/2697

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23
21

Dunedin
Dunedin

1 year
10 months

In All Saints Church Dunedin

75/2799

4 August 1875

Rev. R. L. Stanford C. of E.

No	274
Date of Notice	4 August 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Matthews	Elizabeth Thompson
	💍 1875/2697
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	1 year	10 months
Marriage Place	In All Saints Church Dunedin
Folio	75/2799
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 August 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. L. Stanford C. of E.

275

5 August 1875

William Hedley Rodman
Mary Jane Fenwick

William Hedley Rodman
Mary Jane Fenwick
💍 1875/2371

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

22
20

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 years
3 years

In the house of the Revd Dr. T. Roseby Dunedin

75/2170

No person to give consent

5 August 1875

Revd Dr. Roseby Indep.

No	275
Date of Notice	5 August 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hedley Rodman	Mary Jane Fenwick
	💍 1875/2371
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the house of the Revd Dr. T. Roseby Dunedin
Folio	75/2170
Consent	No person to give consent
Date of Certificate	5 August 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd Dr. Roseby Indep.

276

5 August 1875

John Mead
Mary Dignam

John Mead
Mary Dignan
💍 1875/1998

Bachelor
Spinster

Hotel Keeper
House maid

25
23

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In St. Joseph's Chapel Dunedin

75/2128

5 August 1875

Rev. Wm Coleman R.C.

No	276
Date of Notice	5 August 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Mead	Mary Dignam
BDM Match (95%)	John Mead	Mary Dignan
	💍 1875/1998
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hotel Keeper	House maid
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In St. Joseph's Chapel Dunedin
Folio	75/2128
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 August 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm Coleman R.C.

277

5 August 1875

Richard William Young
Ellen McNamara

Richard William Young
Ellen McNeward
💍 1875/2067

Bachelor
Widow

Shoemaker
Servant

75
53

Mornington
Mornington

6 years
6 months

In St. Matthews Church Dunedin

75/2198

5 August 1875

Rev. E. G. Penny C. of E.

No	277
Date of Notice	5 August 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard William Young	Ellen McNamara
BDM Match (89%)	Richard William Young	Ellen McNeward
	💍 1875/2067
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Shoemaker	Servant
Age	75	53
Dwelling Place	Mornington	Mornington
Length of Residence	6 years	6 months
Marriage Place	In St. Matthews Church Dunedin
Folio	75/2198
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 August 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. G. Penny C. of E.

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 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).