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 793

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 June 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

139

9 May 1877

James Gawn
Margaret Palser

James Gawn
Margaret Palser
💍 1877/1181

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Domestic Servant

33
25

Dunedin
Dunedin

12 years
3 days

In Knox Church Dunedin

77/1128

9 May 1877

Revd Dr Stuart

No	139
Date of Notice	9 May 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Gawn	Margaret Palser
	💍 1877/1181
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Domestic Servant
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	12 years	3 days
Marriage Place	In Knox Church Dunedin
Folio	77/1128
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 May 1877
Officiating Minister	Revd Dr Stuart

140

9 May 1877

William Murray Renwick
Martha Potter

William Murray Renwick
Martha Potter
💍 1877/1417

Bachelor
Spinster

Station Manager
Domestic Servant

27
21

Green Island
Dunedin

6 days
15 months

In the house of George Renwick, Green Island

77/1366

9 May 1877

Revd M Watt

No	140
Date of Notice	9 May 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Murray Renwick	Martha Potter
	💍 1877/1417
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Station Manager	Domestic Servant
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Green Island	Dunedin
Length of Residence	6 days	15 months
Marriage Place	In the house of George Renwick, Green Island
Folio	77/1366
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 May 1877
Officiating Minister	Revd M Watt

141

9 May 1877

James Hancock
Harriet Edwards

James Hancock
Harriet Edwards
💍 1877/1184

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Servant

37
20

Dunedin
Dunedin

8 days
5 weeks

In the house of John Isbister Castle Street, Dunedin

77/1131

No person in the Colony to give consent to minor

9 May 1877

Revd Dr Stuart

No	141
Date of Notice	9 May 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Hancock	Harriet Edwards
	💍 1877/1184
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Servant
Age	37	20
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	8 days	5 weeks
Marriage Place	In the house of John Isbister Castle Street, Dunedin
Folio	77/1131
Consent	No person in the Colony to give consent to minor
Date of Certificate	9 May 1877
Officiating Minister	Revd Dr Stuart

142

9 May 1877

Edward George Harris
Dora Elizabeth Purser

Edward George Harris
Dora Elizabeth Purser
💍 1877/63

Bachelor
Spinster

Currier

29
26

Dunedin
Dunedin

12 months
12 months

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin

77/1108

9 May 1877

A R Ure Registrar of Marriages

No	142
Date of Notice	9 May 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward George Harris	Dora Elizabeth Purser
	💍 1877/63
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Currier
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	12 months	12 months
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin
Folio	77/1108
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 May 1877
Officiating Minister	A R Ure Registrar of Marriages

143

9 May 1877

Peter Grant
Sarah Clark Tweedie

Peter Grant
Sarah Clark Tweedie
💍 1877/1382

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic Servant

33
25

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
2 years

In the house of James Tweedie Leith Street, Dunedin

77/1332

9 May 1877

Revd Dr Roseby

No	143
Date of Notice	9 May 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Grant	Sarah Clark Tweedie
	💍 1877/1382
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Servant
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	In the house of James Tweedie Leith Street, Dunedin
Folio	77/1332
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 May 1877
Officiating Minister	Revd Dr Roseby

144

10 May 1877

Gavin Campbell McKnight
Margaret McDougall Campbell

Gavin Campbell McNight
Margaret McDougall Campbell
💍 1877/1185

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Teacher

26
30

Dunedin
Dunedin

16 months
13 years

In the house of Gavin Campbell McKnight, Mornington

77/1132

10 May 1877

Revd Dr Stuart

No	144
Date of Notice	10 May 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gavin Campbell McKnight	Margaret McDougall Campbell
BDM Match (96%)	Gavin Campbell McNight	Margaret McDougall Campbell
	💍 1877/1185
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Teacher
Age	26	30
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	16 months	13 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Gavin Campbell McKnight, Mornington
Folio	77/1132
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 May 1877
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).