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 726

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1875 Registrar W. Harker

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

9 January 1875

Charles Foster
Isabella Elyabeth Mollyn

Charles Foster
Isabella Elizabeth McGlynn
💍 1875/631

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist
Dressmaker

23 years
19 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

14 months
3 months

St. Matthew Church Dunedin

75/404

Mother of bride

9 January 1875

Revd. Edward Penny

No	9
Date of Notice	9 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Foster	Isabella Elyabeth Mollyn
BDM Match (90%)	Charles Foster	Isabella Elizabeth McGlynn
	💍 1875/631
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist	Dressmaker
Age	23 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	14 months	3 months
Marriage Place	St. Matthew Church Dunedin
Folio	75/404
Consent	Mother of bride
Date of Certificate	9 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd. Edward Penny

10 January 1875

James Wallace
Elyabeth Black

James Wallace
Elizabeth Black
💍 1875/118

Widower
Spinster

Labourer
Grant

40 years
28 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

14 years
10 days

In the house of Mr. Moni Castle

75/197

10 January 1875

Revd. E. Stuart

No	10
Date of Notice	10 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Wallace	Elyabeth Black
BDM Match (93%)	James Wallace	Elizabeth Black
	💍 1875/118
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Grant
Age	40 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	14 years	10 days
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Moni Castle
Folio	75/197
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd. E. Stuart

11 January 1875

Frederick Cassidy
Margaret Hodday

Frederick Cassidy
Margaret Girvan Stoddart
💍 1875/604

Bachelor
Spinster

Fellmonger

23 years
19 years

Green Island
Green Island

4 years
19 years

In the house of John Hodday

75/128

John Hodday, father

11 January 1875

Revd. Michael Watt

No	11
Date of Notice	11 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Cassidy	Margaret Hodday
BDM Match (77%)	Frederick Cassidy	Margaret Girvan Stoddart
	💍 1875/604
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fellmonger
Age	23 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Green Island	Green Island
Length of Residence	4 years	19 years
Marriage Place	In the house of John Hodday
Folio	75/128
Consent	John Hodday, father
Date of Certificate	11 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd. Michael Watt

12 January 1875

John Gibson
Eliza Doughan

John Gibson
Eliza Doughan
💍 1875/3170

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Cook

28 years
28 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

4 days
4 days

In St. Joseph Church Dunedin

75/197

12 January 1875

Right Revd. Bishop Moran

No	12
Date of Notice	12 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Gibson	Eliza Doughan
	💍 1875/3170
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Cook
Age	28 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	In St. Joseph Church Dunedin
Folio	75/197
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Right Revd. Bishop Moran

13 January 1875

Alexander Gibson
Marion Carson

Alexander Gibson
Marion Carson
💍 1875/624

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Servant

24 years
25 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

8 days
8 days

In the house of the Revd. John Cox Dunedin

75/401

13 January 1875

Revd. John Cox

No	13
Date of Notice	13 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Gibson	Marion Carson
	💍 1875/624
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Servant
Age	24 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	8 days	8 days
Marriage Place	In the house of the Revd. John Cox Dunedin
Folio	75/401
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd. John Cox

14 January 1875

Thomas Hare Molyneux
Jane Wagstaff

Thomas Yate Molyneaux
Frances Wagstaff
💍 1875/119

Bachelor
Spinster

Fellmonger
Governess

41 years
32 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 months

In the house of Thomas Hare Molyneux

75/198

14 January 1875

Revd. E. Stuart

No	14
Date of Notice	14 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Hare Molyneux	Jane Wagstaff
BDM Match (80%)	Thomas Yate Molyneaux	Frances Wagstaff
	💍 1875/119
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fellmonger	Governess
Age	41 years	32 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Thomas Hare Molyneux
Folio	75/198
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd. E. Stuart

15 January 1875

James Warnock
Mary McLachlan

Gavin Warnock
Mary McLachlin
💍 1875/2433

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Housekeeper

35 years
30 years

Caversham
Caversham

14 years
2 months

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin

75/259

15 January 1875

Registrar of Marriages

No	15
Date of Notice	15 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Warnock	Mary McLachlan
BDM Match (81%)	Gavin Warnock	Mary McLachlin
	💍 1875/2433
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Housekeeper
Age	35 years	30 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Caversham
Length of Residence	14 years	2 months
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin
Folio	75/259
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

16 January 1875

Duncan Palmer
Ellen Dowling

William Charles Palmer
Ellen Dowling
💍 1875/3172

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

20 years
21 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

4 days
10 days

In St. Joseph Church Dunedin

75/197

16 January 1875

Right Revd. Bishop Moran

No	16
Date of Notice	16 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Duncan Palmer	Ellen Dowling
BDM Match (68%)	William Charles Palmer	Ellen Dowling
	💍 1875/3172
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	20 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 days	10 days
Marriage Place	In St. Joseph Church Dunedin
Folio	75/197
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Right Revd. Bishop Moran

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

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).