Intentions to Marry, 1878

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840390, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, March 5 2025

Page 819

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 30 September 1878

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

678

10 July 1878

John Edward Cox
Ellen Murray

John Edward Cox
Ellen Murray
💍 1878/1351

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook
Domestic Servant

29
22

Oamaru
Oamaru

6 months
12 months

The Manse, Oamaru

78/2178

10 July 1878

Rev. A. B. Todd

No	678
Date of Notice	10 July 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edward Cox	Ellen Murray
	💍 1878/1351
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook	Domestic Servant
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	6 months	12 months
Marriage Place	The Manse, Oamaru
Folio	78/2178
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. B. Todd

679

16 July 1878

Hugh Stewart
Esther Robinson

Hugh Stewart
Esther Robinson
💍 1878/1353

Bachelor
Spinster

Ploughman
Domestic Servant

27
26

Oamaru
Oamaru

6 weeks
3 years

The Manse, Oamaru

78/2178

16 July 1878

Rev. A. B. Todd

No	679
Date of Notice	16 July 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Stewart	Esther Robinson
	💍 1878/1353
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ploughman	Domestic Servant
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	6 weeks	3 years
Marriage Place	The Manse, Oamaru
Folio	78/2178
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 July 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. B. Todd

680

1 August 1878

James Hay
Grace Howarth Dickson

James Hay
Grace Euart Dickson
💍 1878/1354

Bachelor
Spinster

Mason

22
21

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
3 days

The Manse, Oamaru

78/2179

1 August 1878

Rev. A. B. Todd

No	680
Date of Notice	1 August 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Hay	Grace Howarth Dickson
BDM Match (91%)	James Hay	Grace Euart Dickson
	💍 1878/1354
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mason
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	The Manse, Oamaru
Folio	78/2179
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 August 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. B. Todd

681

5 August 1878

Richard Andrews
Margaret Jane McDonald

Richard Andrews
Margaret Jane McDonald
💍 1878/2950

Widower
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

30
19

Oamaru
Oamaru

8 years
5 months

The Residence of the Rev. William Coleman, Oamaru

78/2995

No one resident in Colony to give consent

5 August 1878

Rev. William Coleman

No	681
Date of Notice	5 August 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Andrews	Margaret Jane McDonald
	💍 1878/2950
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	30	19
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	8 years	5 months
Marriage Place	The Residence of the Rev. William Coleman, Oamaru
Folio	78/2995
Consent	No one resident in Colony to give consent
Date of Certificate	5 August 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Coleman

682

8 August 1878

George McDonald
Jane Ann Ross

George McDonald
Jane Ann Ross
💍 1878/1355

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Servant

33
19

Otekaike
Oamaru

18 months
2 years

The Residence of Mr Alexander Ross, Oamaru

78/2180

Alexander Ross, Father

8 August 1878

Rev. A. B. Todd

No	682
Date of Notice	8 August 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George McDonald	Jane Ann Ross
	💍 1878/1355
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Servant
Age	33	19
Dwelling Place	Otekaike	Oamaru
Length of Residence	18 months	2 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of Mr Alexander Ross, Oamaru
Folio	78/2180
Consent	Alexander Ross, Father
Date of Certificate	8 August 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. B. Todd

683

8 August 1878

Robert John Keys
Anna Deare

Robert John Keys
Anna Deane
💍 1878/2216

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer

Oamaru
Dunedin

3 years

The Residence of Rev. Mitchell, Albany Street, Dunedin

78/2220

8 August 1878

Rev. D. Stuart D.D.

No	683
Date of Notice	8 August 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert John Keys	Anna Deare
BDM Match (95%)	Robert John Keys	Anna Deane
	💍 1878/2216
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	21
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of Rev. Mitchell, Albany Street, Dunedin
Folio	78/2220
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 August 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Stuart D.D.

684

13 August 1878

Henry Isaac Woodward
Kate Ann Laidlaw

Henry Isaac Woodward
Kate Ann Laidlaw
💍 1878/1356

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor

23
21

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
14 days

The Manse, Oamaru

78/2181

13 August 1878

Rev. A. B. Todd

No	684
Date of Notice	13 August 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Isaac Woodward	Kate Ann Laidlaw
	💍 1878/1356
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	14 days
Marriage Place	The Manse, Oamaru
Folio	78/2181
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 August 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. B. Todd

685

20 August 1878

George Meldrum
Margaret Meldrum

George Meldrum
Margaret Meldrum
💍 1878/1357

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

22
19

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 years
5 months

The Residence of Mr Andrew Meldrum, Itchen Street, Oamaru

78/2182

Norman Meldrum, Father

20 August 1878

Rev. A. B. Todd

No	685
Date of Notice	20 August 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Meldrum	Margaret Meldrum
	💍 1878/1357
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 years	5 months
Marriage Place	The Residence of Mr Andrew Meldrum, Itchen Street, Oamaru
Folio	78/2182
Consent	Norman Meldrum, Father
Date of Certificate	20 August 1878
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. B. Todd

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).