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 727

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1875 Registrar William Park 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

12 January 1875

Charles Canty
Jane McSweeny

Charles Canty
Jane McSwiney
💍 1875/3171

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawyer
Domestic Servant

24 years
22 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

2 weeks
3 weeks

In St. Joseph's Church, Dunedin

75/18

12 January 1875

Right Revd. Bishop Moran

No	17
Date of Notice	12 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Canty	Jane McSweeny
BDM Match (88%)	Charles Canty	Jane McSwiney
	💍 1875/3171
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawyer	Domestic Servant
Age	24 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 weeks	3 weeks
Marriage Place	In St. Joseph's Church, Dunedin
Folio	75/18
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Right Revd. Bishop Moran

12 January 1875

Hugh Macdonald
Emily McCambridge

Hugh McDonald
Emily McCambridge
💍 1875/237

Bachelor
Widow

Clerk

29 years
28 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

2 years
6 years

In St. Paul's Church, Dunedin

75/268

12 January 1875

Revd. E G. Edwards

No	18
Date of Notice	12 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Macdonald	Emily McCambridge
BDM Match (93%)	Hugh McDonald	Emily McCambridge
	💍 1875/237
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Clerk
Age	29 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years	6 years
Marriage Place	In St. Paul's Church, Dunedin
Folio	75/268
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd. E G. Edwards

12January 1875

Thomas Hamilton MacMillan
Charlotte Margaret Ashelford

Thomas Hamilton MacMillan
Charlotte Margaret Ashelford
💍 1875/2432

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

21 years
21 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

4 years
12 months

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

75/2518

12 January 1875

Registrar of Marriages

No	19
Date of Notice	12January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Hamilton MacMillan	Charlotte Margaret Ashelford
	💍 1875/2432
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	21 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 years	12 months
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	75/2518
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

14 January 1875

Robert Mercer
Sarah Jane Speed

Robert Mercer
Sarah Jane Speed
💍 1875/120

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

29 years
17 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

4 days
6 months

In the house of Charles Mercer, the Glen Caversham

75/199

No Person to give consent

14 January 1875

Revd. Dr Stuart

No	20
Date of Notice	14 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Mercer	Sarah Jane Speed
	💍 1875/120
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	29 years	17 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 days	6 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Charles Mercer, the Glen Caversham
Folio	75/199
Consent	No Person to give consent
Date of Certificate	14 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd. Dr Stuart

15 January 1875

John Hegarty
Elly Kinsella

John Hegarty
Elly Kinsella
💍 1876/3222

Bachelor
Widow

Miner
Domestic Servant

35 years
25 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

6 months
6 months

In St. Joseph's Church, Dunedin

75/21

15 January 1875

Right Revd. Bishop Moran

No	21
Date of Notice	15 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hegarty	Elly Kinsella
	💍 1876/3222
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Miner	Domestic Servant
Age	35 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	6 months	6 months
Marriage Place	In St. Joseph's Church, Dunedin
Folio	75/21
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Right Revd. Bishop Moran

16 January 1875

Alfred Downie Corfield
Elizabeth Ann McGee

Alfred Downie Corfield
Elizabeth Ann McGee
💍 1875/153

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

36 years
29 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 years
3 years

In the house of Alfred Downie Corfield, Castle St, Dunedin

75/200

16 January 1875

Revd. Dr Stuart

No	22
Date of Notice	16 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Downie Corfield	Elizabeth Ann McGee
	💍 1875/153
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	36 years	29 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Alfred Downie Corfield, Castle St, Dunedin
Folio	75/200
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd. Dr Stuart

18 January 1875

David Sheddan
Ann McPhail

David Sheddan
Anne McPhail
💍 1875/3174

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Cook

29 years
22 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

4 days
5 days

In St. Joseph's Church, Dunedin

75/20

18 January 1875

Revd. William Coleman

No	23
Date of Notice	18 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Sheddan	Ann McPhail
BDM Match (96%)	David Sheddan	Anne McPhail
	💍 1875/3174
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Cook
Age	29 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 days	5 days
Marriage Place	In St. Joseph's Church, Dunedin
Folio	75/20
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 January 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd. William Coleman

18 January 1875

Richard Miles
Ellen Cotter

Richard Mills
Ellen Cotter
💍 1875/164

Widower
Widow

Porter
Domestic Servant

48 years
48 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

14 years
12 months

In Knox Church, Dunedin

75/201

18 January 1875

Revd. Dr Stuart

No	24
Date of Notice	18 January 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Miles	Ellen Cotter
BDM Match (96%)	Richard Mills	Ellen Cotter
	💍 1875/164
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Porter	Domestic Servant
Age	48 years	48 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	14 years	12 months
Marriage Place	In Knox Church, Dunedin
Folio	75/201
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 January 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 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).