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 751

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 June 1875 Registrar William 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

191

2 June 1875

William Boyle Boyd
Annie Doveton

William Boyle Boyd
Annie Doveton
💍 1875/1523

Bachelor
Spinster

Master Mariner

32 years
27 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

4 days
7 days

St Pauls Church Dunedin

75/1497

2 June 1875

Revd. Bishop Nevill

No	191
Date of Notice	2 June 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Boyle Boyd	Annie Doveton
	💍 1875/1523
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Master Mariner
Age	32 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 days	7 days
Marriage Place	St Pauls Church Dunedin
Folio	75/1497
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1875
Officiating Minister	Revd. Bishop Nevill

192

4 June 1875

David Kennedy
Jane Pickett

David Kennedy
Jane Pickett
💍 1875/1346

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30 years
20 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In the British Hotel, George Street Dunedin

75/1467

James Pickett, Father

4 June 1875

Rev. Dr. Stuart

No	192
Date of Notice	4 June 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Kennedy	Jane Pickett
	💍 1875/1346
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the British Hotel, George Street Dunedin
Folio	75/1467
Consent	James Pickett, Father
Date of Certificate	4 June 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dr. Stuart

193

4 June 1875

Alexander Wallace
Catherine McLean

Alexander Wallace
Catharine McLean
💍 1875/1347

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Laundress

23 years
22 years

Peninsula
Dunedin

3 months
2 months

In the Manse of the Revd Dr Stuart, Dunedin

75/1468

4 June 1875

Rev. Dr. Stuart

No	193
Date of Notice	4 June 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Wallace	Catherine McLean
BDM Match (97%)	Alexander Wallace	Catharine McLean
	💍 1875/1347
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Laundress
Age	23 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Peninsula	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 months	2 months
Marriage Place	In the Manse of the Revd Dr Stuart, Dunedin
Folio	75/1468
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dr. Stuart

194

4 June 1875

Isaac Bootten
James see RG 757
Annie Heskett

James Bootten
Annie Heskett
💍 1875/1527

Bachelor
Spinster

Sailmaker
Dressmaker

20 years
20 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 years
15 months

Congregational Church Dunedin

75/1500

James Bootten, Father. No person to give consent

4 June 1875

Rev. T. Roseby

No	194
Date of Notice	4 June 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Isaac Bootten James see RG 757	Annie Heskett
BDM Match (81%)	James Bootten	Annie Heskett
	💍 1875/1527
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sailmaker	Dressmaker
Age	20 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 years	15 months
Marriage Place	Congregational Church Dunedin
Folio	75/1500
Consent	James Bootten, Father. No person to give consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Roseby

195

7 June 1875

Thomas Fitzroy Girvan
Elizabeth Sturgeon

Thomas Fitzroy Girvan
Elizabeth Sturgeon
💍 1875/2064

Bachelor
Spinster

Joiner

23 years
21 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

11 months
5 months

St Matthews Church Dunedin

75/2195

7 June 1875

Rev. E G. Penny

No	195
Date of Notice	7 June 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Fitzroy Girvan	Elizabeth Sturgeon
	💍 1875/2064
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Joiner
Age	23 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	11 months	5 months
Marriage Place	St Matthews Church Dunedin
Folio	75/2195
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 June 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. E G. Penny

196

7 June 1875

William Brettell
Charlotte Sloan

[No matching marriage registration has been located]

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

45 years
24 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

Church of England

7 June 1875

Rev. E G. Penny

No	196
Date of Notice	7 June 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Brettell	Charlotte Sloan
	💍 [No matching marriage registration has been located]
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	45 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Church of England
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 June 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. E G. Penny

197

7 June 1875

Archibald Lawson
Margaret Blackwood

Archibald Lawson
Margaret Blackwood
💍 1875/1434

Bachelor
Spinster

Flax Dresser

33 years
21 years

Lower Kaikorai
Caversham

7 years
8 years

In the house of William Blackwood Caversham

75/1509

7 June 1875

Rev. J. W. Davis

No	197
Date of Notice	7 June 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Lawson	Margaret Blackwood
	💍 1875/1434
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Flax Dresser
Age	33 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Lower Kaikorai	Caversham
Length of Residence	7 years	8 years
Marriage Place	In the house of William Blackwood Caversham
Folio	75/1509
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 June 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Davis

198

7 June 1875

William Collins
Agnes Surman
"Streetman" written under in pencil

[No matching marriage registration has been located]

Bachelor
Spinster

Shoemaker
House Maid

30 years
21 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

7 years
4 months

In the house of Mrs Selina Collins, Hanover Street

75/1471

7 June 1875

Rev. Dr. Stuart

No	198
Date of Notice	7 June 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Collins	Agnes Surman "Streetman" written under in pencil
	💍 [No matching marriage registration has been located]
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shoemaker	House Maid
Age	30 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	7 years	4 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Selina Collins, Hanover Street
Folio	75/1471
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 June 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dr. Stuart

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 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).