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 736

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1875 Registrar W. H. Mansford

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

2 March 1875

Daniel Rop
Mary Hannah Barry

Daniel Ross
Mary Hannah Barrie
💍 1875/628

Bachelor
Spinster

Shipmaster

39 years
25 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

10 days
10 days

In the house of Mr Thomas Moodie, Stuart Row, Dunedin

75/1024

2 March 1875

Revd Jno Gow

No	81
Date of Notice	2 March 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Rop	Mary Hannah Barry
BDM Match (85%)	Daniel Ross	Mary Hannah Barrie
	💍 1875/628
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shipmaster
Age	39 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	10 days	10 days
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr Thomas Moodie, Stuart Row, Dunedin
Folio	75/1024
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd Jno Gow

3 March 1875

William Acreston
Grace Mason

William H Mason
Grace McFarlane
💍 1875/291

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer

29 years
22 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

5 months
5 months

At Knox Manse, Dunedin

75/1324

3 March 1875

Revd Jm Davidson

No	82
Date of Notice	3 March 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Acreston	Grace Mason
BDM Match (64%)	William H Mason	Grace McFarlane
	💍 1875/291
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	29 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	5 months	5 months
Marriage Place	At Knox Manse, Dunedin
Folio	75/1324
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 March 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd Jm Davidson

3 March 1875

Frederick West
Ellen Mitchell

Frederick West
Ellen Mitchell
💍 1875/290

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic Servant

30 years
19 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

5 years
8 months

In the house of Mr Thomas Ayers, Cumberland Street, Dunedin

75/323

Person to give No consent

3 March 1875

Revd Jm Davidson

No	83
Date of Notice	3 March 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick West	Ellen Mitchell
	💍 1875/290
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic Servant
Age	30 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	5 years	8 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr Thomas Ayers, Cumberland Street, Dunedin
Folio	75/323
Consent	Person to give No consent
Date of Certificate	3 March 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd Jm Davidson

4 March 1875

James Lamb
Ann O'Donnell

James Lamb
Ann O'Donnell
💍 1875/2998

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Servant

25 years
25 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

1 year
1 year

In Knox Church Manse, George Street, Dunedin

75/325

4 March 1875

Revd Jm Davidson

No	84
Date of Notice	4 March 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Lamb	Ann O'Donnell
	💍 1875/2998
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Servant
Age	25 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	In Knox Church Manse, George Street, Dunedin
Folio	75/325
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd Jm Davidson

4 March 1875

William Murray
Alice Warren

William Murray
Alice Waren
💍 1875/289

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Servant

22 years
18 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

7 days
3 months

In Knox Church Manse, George Street, Dunedin

75/327

Person to give No consent

4 March 1875

Revd Jm Davidson

No	85
Date of Notice	4 March 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Murray	Alice Warren
BDM Match (96%)	William Murray	Alice Waren
	💍 1875/289
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Servant
Age	22 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	7 days	3 months
Marriage Place	In Knox Church Manse, George Street, Dunedin
Folio	75/327
Consent	Person to give No consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd Jm Davidson

5 March 1875

Duncan McGregor
Margaret Cairns

Duncan McGregor
Margaret Cairns
💍 1875/431

Bachelor
Spinster

Hotelman
Housemaid

24 years
20 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
4 months

In St Joseph's Church, Bowling Street, Dunedin

75/144

5 March 1875

Revd Father Coleman

No	86
Date of Notice	5 March 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Duncan McGregor	Margaret Cairns
	💍 1875/431
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hotelman	Housemaid
Age	24 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	4 months
Marriage Place	In St Joseph's Church, Bowling Street, Dunedin
Folio	75/144
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd Father Coleman

5 March 1875

John Groves
Ellen Campbell

John Groves
Ellen Campbell
💍 1875/139

Bachelor
Spinster

Coach Builder

30 years
23 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 years
3 years

In the house of the said John Groves, Canongate Street, Dunedin

75/126

5 March 1875

Revd Mr Rigg

No	87
Date of Notice	5 March 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Groves	Ellen Campbell
	💍 1875/139
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coach Builder
Age	30 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the house of the said John Groves, Canongate Street, Dunedin
Folio	75/126
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd Mr Rigg

9 March 1875

John Stewart
Mary Sinclair

John Stewart
Mary Sinclair
💍 1875/299

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

28 years
27 years

Dunedin
Mornington

7 years
15 months

In the house of Mrs Agnes Sinclair, Widow, Mornington

75/326

9 March 1875

Revd Dr Stuart

No	88
Date of Notice	9 March 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Stewart	Mary Sinclair
	💍 1875/299
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	28 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Mornington
Length of Residence	7 years	15 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Agnes Sinclair, Widow, Mornington
Folio	75/326
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 March 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd Dr Stuart

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).