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 807

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 September 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

211

9 July 1877

William Smaill
Magdalen Stewart

William Smaill
Magdalene Stewart
💍 1877/1930

Bachelor
Spinster

Civil Engineer

38
28

Tomahawk
Dunedin

17 years
1 month

In the house of Magdalen Stewart, Maitland Street, Dunedin

77/1886

9 July 1877

Revd C S Ross

No	211
Date of Notice	9 July 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Smaill	Magdalen Stewart
BDM Match (97%)	William Smaill	Magdalene Stewart
	💍 1877/1930
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Civil Engineer
Age	38	28
Dwelling Place	Tomahawk	Dunedin
Length of Residence	17 years	1 month
Marriage Place	In the house of Magdalen Stewart, Maitland Street, Dunedin
Folio	77/1886
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 July 1877
Officiating Minister	Revd C S Ross

212

10 July 1877

John Dennison
Fanny Eliza Levers

John Dennison
Fanny Eliza Levers
💍 1877/1933

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Servant

37
27

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 years
2 years

In the house of Revd Dr Stuart Dunedin

77/1889

10 July 1877

Revd Dr Stuart

No	212
Date of Notice	10 July 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Dennison	Fanny Eliza Levers
	💍 1877/1933
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Servant
Age	37	27
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Revd Dr Stuart Dunedin
Folio	77/1889
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1877
Officiating Minister	Revd Dr Stuart

213

10 July 1877

Henry Tattersfield
Harriet Tall

Henry Tattersfield
Harriet Tall
💍 1877/1988

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder

25
20

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 years
10 years

In St Pauls Church Dunedin

77/1922

Stephen Tall, father of minor

10 July 1877

Revd E.G. Edwards

No	213
Date of Notice	10 July 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Tattersfield	Harriet Tall
	💍 1877/1988
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 years	10 years
Marriage Place	In St Pauls Church Dunedin
Folio	77/1922
Consent	Stephen Tall, father of minor
Date of Certificate	10 July 1877
Officiating Minister	Revd E.G. Edwards

214

10 July 1877

George John Norton
Jane Brown

George John Norton
Jane Brown
💍 1877/1941

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

22
17

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 years
17 years

In the house of Janet Brown, Hanover Street, Dunedin

77/1890

Janet Brown, mother of Minor

10 July 1877

Revd Dr Stuart

No	214
Date of Notice	10 July 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George John Norton	Jane Brown
	💍 1877/1941
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	22	17
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 years	17 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Janet Brown, Hanover Street, Dunedin
Folio	77/1890
Consent	Janet Brown, mother of Minor
Date of Certificate	10 July 1877
Officiating Minister	Revd Dr Stuart

215

11 July 1877

Henry Manders
Eliza Parrishe

Henry Manders
Eliza Parrishe
💍 1877/1978

Widower
Spinster

Land Agent

47
21

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
9 months

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin

77/1935

11 July 1877

A R Ure, Registrar of Marriages

No	215
Date of Notice	11 July 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Manders	Eliza Parrishe
	💍 1877/1978
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Land Agent
Age	47	21
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	9 months
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin
Folio	77/1935
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1877
Officiating Minister	A R Ure, Registrar of Marriages

216

11 July 1877

Eugene Cornwell Murphy
Elizabeth Ann Marshall

Eugene Conwell Murphy
Elizabeth Ann Marshall
💍 1877/1979

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer's Assistant

28
22

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 years
3 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin

77/1936

11 July 1877

A R Ure, Registrar of Marriages

No	216
Date of Notice	11 July 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eugene Cornwell Murphy	Elizabeth Ann Marshall
BDM Match (98%)	Eugene Conwell Murphy	Elizabeth Ann Marshall
	💍 1877/1979
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer's Assistant
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin
Folio	77/1936
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1877
Officiating Minister	A R Ure, Registrar of Marriages

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).