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 773

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

315

20 August 1875

Robert Albert Widdowson
Jane M. Henger

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

31 years
22 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
7 months

In the house of Mr. Jas. Stuart, The Glen

75/2169

20 August 1875

Rev. Dr. Stuart

No	315
Date of Notice	20 August 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Albert Widdowson	Jane M. Henger
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	31 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	7 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Jas. Stuart, The Glen
Folio	75/2169
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 August 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dr. Stuart

316

21 August 1875

William M. Lean
Sarah Maria Millar

William McLean
Sarah Maria Miller
💍 1875/1975

William Dunn
Sarah Jane Wills
💍 1875/1308

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman

31 years
28 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

2 weeks
1 year

In the house of Robert Nichol, Filleul Street, Dunedin

75/2105

21 August 1875

The Dr. Stuart

No	316
Date of Notice	21 August 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William M. Lean	Sarah Maria Millar
BDM Match (91%)	William McLean	Sarah Maria Miller
	💍 1875/1975
BDM Match (61%)	William Dunn	Sarah Jane Wills
	💍 1875/1308
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman
Age	31 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 weeks	1 year
Marriage Place	In the house of Robert Nichol, Filleul Street, Dunedin
Folio	75/2105
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 August 1875
Officiating Minister	The Dr. Stuart

317

23 August 1875

George Wilson Bridges
Sinclair Margaret Twatt

George Wilson Bridges
Sinclara Margaret Twatt
💍 1875/2308

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

24 years
21 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

1 week
2 years

In the house of the Rev. John Gow, Dunedin

75/2491

23 August 1875

Rev. John Gow

No	317
Date of Notice	23 August 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Wilson Bridges	Sinclair Margaret Twatt
BDM Match (96%)	George Wilson Bridges	Sinclara Margaret Twatt
	💍 1875/2308
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	24 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	1 week	2 years
Marriage Place	In the house of the Rev. John Gow, Dunedin
Folio	75/2491
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 August 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Gow

318

24 August 1875

James Topp
Ellen Andrew

James Topp
Ellen Andrew
💍 1875/1993

Bachelor
Spinster

Currier

32 years
34 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

4 days
4 days

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

75/2099

24 August 1875

Wm. Parker Street, Regr.

No	318
Date of Notice	24 August 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Topp	Ellen Andrew
	💍 1875/1993
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Currier
Age	32 years	34 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	75/2099
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 August 1875
Officiating Minister	Wm. Parker Street, Regr.

319

27 August 1875

Thomas Alfred Turley
Elizabeth Laurie

Thomas Alfred Turley
Elizabeth Laurie
💍 1875/2354

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
General Servant

24 years
19 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

5 years
4 years

In the house of Mr. Mark Walkham, Manor Place

75/2194

see letter attached

27 August 1875

Rev. I. N. Russell

No	319
Date of Notice	27 August 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Alfred Turley	Elizabeth Laurie
	💍 1875/2354
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	General Servant
Age	24 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	5 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Mark Walkham, Manor Place
Folio	75/2194
Consent	see letter attached
Date of Certificate	27 August 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. N. Russell

320

28 August 1875

John Edward Orton
Mary Elizabeth M.Guire

John Edward Orton
Mary Elizabeth McGuire
💍 1875/2366

Bachelor
Widow

Warehouseman

41 years
40 years

Dunedin
Caversham

7 months
3 years

In St. Paul's Church

75/2188

28 August 1875

Rev. Geo. Edwards

No	320
Date of Notice	28 August 1875
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edward Orton	Mary Elizabeth M.Guire
BDM Match (98%)	John Edward Orton	Mary Elizabeth McGuire
	💍 1875/2366
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Warehouseman
Age	41 years	40 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Caversham
Length of Residence	7 months	3 years
Marriage Place	In St. Paul's Church
Folio	75/2188
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 August 1875
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Edwards

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).