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 769

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 September 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

291

5 July 1875

James Kehoe
Margaret Cudihy

James Kehoe
Margaret Cudiby
💍 1875/2016

Bachelor
Spinster

Coachman

25
23

Dunedin
Dunedin

6 years
5 years

In St. Joseph's Church

75/2122

5 July 1875

Rev: Wm Coleman R.C.

No	291
Date of Notice	5 July 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Kehoe	Margaret Cudihy
BDM Match (97%)	James Kehoe	Margaret Cudiby
	💍 1875/2016
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coachman
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	6 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In St. Joseph's Church
Folio	75/2122
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev: Wm Coleman R.C.

292

23 June 1875

Robert Kirk
Ulrina Minnie Sheats

Robt Kirk
Elvina M Keats
💍 1875/2045

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman

28
21

Dunedin
Dunedin

13 years
2 years

In the house of Miss C Kirk Seeth Street Dunedin

75/2200

23 June 1875

Rev I. H. Bates Ch. of Eng.

No	292
Date of Notice	23 June 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Kirk	Ulrina Minnie Sheats
BDM Match (68%)	Robt Kirk	Elvina M Keats
	💍 1875/2045
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	13 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Miss C Kirk Seeth Street Dunedin
Folio	75/2200
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 June 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev I. H. Bates Ch. of Eng.

293

1 May 1875

Adam Anderson
Catharine Robertson

Adam Anderson
Catherine Robertson
💍 1875/2048

James Henderson
Janet Robertson
💍 1876/547

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

36
25

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In the house of the Rev Lindsay Mackie

75/2203

1 May 1875

Rev: Lindsay Mackie C. of S.

No	293
Date of Notice	1 May 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Adam Anderson	Catharine Robertson
BDM Match (97%)	Adam Anderson	Catherine Robertson
	💍 1875/2048
BDM Match (62%)	James Henderson	Janet Robertson
	💍 1876/547
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	36	25
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the house of the Rev Lindsay Mackie
Folio	75/2203
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 May 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev: Lindsay Mackie C. of S.

294

6 May 1875

James Skinner
Margaret Robinson

James Skinner
Margaret Robinson
💍 1875/2068

James Minns
Ann Robinson
💍 1875/892

Bachelor
Widow

Laborer

55
57

Dunedin
Dunedin

13 years
12 years

In the house of the Rev Dr Stuart

75/2199

6 May 1875

Rev Dr Stuart C. of S.

No	294
Date of Notice	6 May 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Skinner	Margaret Robinson
	💍 1875/2068
BDM Match (61%)	James Minns	Ann Robinson
	💍 1875/892
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Laborer
Age	55	57
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	13 years	12 years
Marriage Place	In the house of the Rev Dr Stuart
Folio	75/2199
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 May 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev Dr Stuart C. of S.

295

10 August 1875

Robert Lorimer
Gracie Ward

Robert Lorimer
Gracie Ward
💍 1875/2351

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

24
22

Dunedin
Dunedin

20 years
2 years

In the house of Charles Lorimer

75/2166

10 August 1875

Rev: Dr Stuart C. of S.

No	295
Date of Notice	10 August 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Lorimer	Gracie Ward
	💍 1875/2351
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	20 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Charles Lorimer
Folio	75/2166
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 August 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev: Dr Stuart C. of S.

296

12 August 1875

Frederick Richard White
Eliza Yates

Frederick Richard White
Eliza Yates
💍 1875/1989

Bachelor
Spinster

Gentleman

29
25

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
4 months

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin

75/2095

12 August 1875

Wm Parker Street Regr

No	296
Date of Notice	12 August 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Richard White	Eliza Yates
	💍 1875/1989
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gentleman
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	4 months
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin
Folio	75/2095
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 August 1875
Officiating Minister	Wm Parker Street Regr

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).