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 843

District of Port Chalmers Quarter ending 30 June 1877 Registrar John Robert Monson

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

03 April 1877

Norman Prentice
Rosa Frances Nixson

Norman Prentice
Rosa Frances Nixson
💍 1877/3109

Bachelor
Spinster

Surveyor

41
28

Mansfords Bay near Port Chalmers
George Street Dunedin

5 days
6 years

At the Holy Trinity Church Port Chalmers

77/1169

03 April 1877

Rev. L. Moore M.A.

No	9
Date of Notice	03 April 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Prentice	Rosa Frances Nixson
	💍 1877/3109
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surveyor
Age	41	28
Dwelling Place	Mansfords Bay near Port Chalmers	George Street Dunedin
Length of Residence	5 days	6 years
Marriage Place	At the Holy Trinity Church Port Chalmers
Folio	77/1169
Consent
Date of Certificate	03 April 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Moore M.A.

05 April 1877

Alfred Lovegrove
Mary Henry

Alfred Lovegrove
Mary Henry
💍 1877/1230

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Servant

25
24

Deborah Bay near Port Chalmers
Deborah Bay near Port Chalmers

7 months
6 months

At the Wesleyan Parsonage, Port Chalmers

77/1171

05 April 1877

Rev. Wm Keall

No	10
Date of Notice	05 April 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Lovegrove	Mary Henry
	💍 1877/1230
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Servant
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Deborah Bay near Port Chalmers	Deborah Bay near Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	7 months	6 months
Marriage Place	At the Wesleyan Parsonage, Port Chalmers
Folio	77/1171
Consent
Date of Certificate	05 April 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm Keall

11 April 1877

William Collingwood
Amelia Jessie Mason

William Collingwood
Amelia Jessie Mason
💍 1877/3110

Bachelor
Spinster

Fisherman
Domestic Servant

25
21

Island Terrace Port Chalmers
Island Terrace Port Chalmers

2 years
9 mos

At the Holy Trinity Church Port Chalmers

77/1170

11 April 1877

Rev. L. Moore M.A.

No	11
Date of Notice	11 April 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Collingwood	Amelia Jessie Mason
	💍 1877/3110
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fisherman	Domestic Servant
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Island Terrace Port Chalmers	Island Terrace Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	2 years	9 mos
Marriage Place	At the Holy Trinity Church Port Chalmers
Folio	77/1170
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Moore M.A.

13 April 1877

John Miller
Emma Stevens

John Miller
Emma Stevens
💍 1877/1319

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

34
16

Purakanui
Hamilton Bay

20 years
16 years

At the House of Mr Peter Mouat, Hamilton Bay

77/1245

Maria Mouat formey Stevens her mother

13 April 1877

Rev. James Maxwell

No	12
Date of Notice	13 April 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Miller	Emma Stevens
	💍 1877/1319
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	34	16
Dwelling Place	Purakanui	Hamilton Bay
Length of Residence	20 years	16 years
Marriage Place	At the House of Mr Peter Mouat, Hamilton Bay
Folio	77/1245
Consent	Maria Mouat formey Stevens her mother
Date of Certificate	13 April 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Maxwell

17 April 1877

James Menelaus
Annie Forsyth

James Menelaus
Annie Forsyth
💍 1877/3022

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

24
20

George Street Port Chalmers
Rio Lane Port Chalmers

4 years
5 years

At the House of Mr J Forsyth, Rio Lane, Port Chalmers

77/3060

James Forsyth Father

17 April 1877

Rev. Wm Johnstone

No	13
Date of Notice	17 April 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Menelaus	Annie Forsyth
	💍 1877/3022
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	George Street Port Chalmers	Rio Lane Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	4 years	5 years
Marriage Place	At the House of Mr J Forsyth, Rio Lane, Port Chalmers
Folio	77/3060
Consent	James Forsyth Father
Date of Certificate	17 April 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm Johnstone

26 April 1877

Alexander Leck
Jane McMurtrie

Alexander Leck
Jane McMurtrie
💍 1877/3023

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Domestic Servant

35
22

Currie Street Port Chalmers
Constitution Street Port Chalmers

14 years
4 years

In the House of Mr A Thomson, Constitution Street, Port Chalmers

77/3061

20 April 1877

Rev. Wm Johnstone M.A.

No	14
Date of Notice	26 April 1877
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Leck	Jane McMurtrie
	💍 1877/3023
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Domestic Servant
Age	35	22
Dwelling Place	Currie Street Port Chalmers	Constitution Street Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	14 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Mr A Thomson, Constitution Street, Port Chalmers
Folio	77/3061
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 April 1877
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm Johnstone M.A.

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).