Intentions to Marry, 1877

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840389, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, April 16 2025

Page 773

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1877 Registrar Archibald Reid Ure

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

6 February 1877

Thomas Ritchie
Hannah Baxter

Thomas Ritchie
Hannah Baxter
💍 1877/629

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Domestic Servant

24 years
21 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

8 months
2 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin

77/542

6 February 1877

A. R. Ure, Registrar of Marriages

No	35
Date of Notice	6 February 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Ritchie	Hannah Baxter
	💍 1877/629
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Domestic Servant
Age	24 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	8 months	2 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin
Folio	77/542
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1877
Officiating Minister	A. R. Ure, Registrar of Marriages

7 February 1877

John Maloney
Catherine Vahey

John Maloney
Catherine Vahey
💍 1877/606

Bachelor
Spinster

Warder H.M.G.
Domestic Servant

38 years
26 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

14 years
7 years

In St Josephs Chapel Dunedin

77/579

7 February 1877

Right Rev. Dr Moran

No	36
Date of Notice	7 February 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Maloney	Catherine Vahey
	💍 1877/606
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warder H.M.G.	Domestic Servant
Age	38 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	14 years	7 years
Marriage Place	In St Josephs Chapel Dunedin
Folio	77/579
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1877
Officiating Minister	Right Rev. Dr Moran

7 February 1877

Duncan Fraser
Johanna Watt

Duncan Fraser
Johanna Watt
💍 1877/630

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd

21 years
24 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
2 months

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin

77/543

7 February 1877

A. R. Ure, Registrar of Marriages

No	37
Date of Notice	7 February 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Duncan Fraser	Johanna Watt
	💍 1877/630
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd
Age	21 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	2 months
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin
Folio	77/543
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1877
Officiating Minister	A. R. Ure, Registrar of Marriages

7 February 1877

Simon Johnson
Martha Ledgerwood

Simon Johnson
Martha Ledgerwood
💍 1877/584

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner
Domestic Servant

30 years
23 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

5 years
23 years

In Knox Church Dunedin

77/496

7 February 1877

Revd. Dr. Stuart

No	38
Date of Notice	7 February 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Simon Johnson	Martha Ledgerwood
	💍 1877/584
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner	Domestic Servant
Age	30 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	5 years	23 years
Marriage Place	In Knox Church Dunedin
Folio	77/496
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1877
Officiating Minister	Revd. Dr. Stuart

13 February 1877

Joshua Strange Williams
Amelia Durant Jago

Joshua Strange Williams
Amelia Durant Jago
💍 1877/1478

Widower
Spinster

Judge of Supreme Court

39 years
20 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

18 months
14 years

In All Saints Church, Dunedin

77/1428

John Wesley Jago, father of Minor

13 February 1877

Revd. R. L. Stanford

No	39
Date of Notice	13 February 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joshua Strange Williams	Amelia Durant Jago
	💍 1877/1478
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Judge of Supreme Court
Age	39 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	18 months	14 years
Marriage Place	In All Saints Church, Dunedin
Folio	77/1428
Consent	John Wesley Jago, father of Minor
Date of Certificate	13 February 1877
Officiating Minister	Revd. R. L. Stanford

13 February 1877

Hugh Kellas
Margaret Draper

Hugh Kellens
Margaret Draper
💍 1877/765

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

38 years
26 years

Portobello
Portobello

12 years
3 years

In the house of Robert Kellas Portobello

77/658

13 February 1877

Revd. A. Greig

No	40
Date of Notice	13 February 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Kellas	Margaret Draper
BDM Match (92%)	Hugh Kellens	Margaret Draper
	💍 1877/765
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	38 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Portobello	Portobello
Length of Residence	12 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Robert Kellas Portobello
Folio	77/658
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1877
Officiating Minister	Revd. A. Greig

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).