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 949

District of Port Chalmers Quarter ending 31 December 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

29 October 1878

William Stewart
Janet Ramsay Bennet Johnston

William Stewart
Janet R B Thomson
💍 1878/3253

Bachelor
Spinster

Stonemason

27 years
28 years

Sawyers Bay near Port Chalmers
Sawyers Bay near Port Chalmers

18 months
27 years

House of Wm Johnston, Galbreath

78/1311

1878 October 29

Rev. Wm Johnston, Pres

No	12
Date of Notice	29 October 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Stewart	Janet Ramsay Bennet Johnston
BDM Match (73%)	William Stewart	Janet R B Thomson
	💍 1878/3253
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stonemason
Age	27 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Sawyers Bay near Port Chalmers	Sawyers Bay near Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	18 months	27 years
Marriage Place	House of Wm Johnston, Galbreath
Folio	78/1311
Consent
Date of Certificate	1878 October 29
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm Johnston, Pres

31 October 1878

Robert Millar
Margaret Robertson

Robert Miller
Margaret Robertson
💍 1878/3254

Robert Brown
Margeret Robertson
💍 1878/3300

William Robert McDonell
Margaret Robertson
💍 1878/3133

James Muirhead
Margaret Robertson
💍 1878/744

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairyman

35 years
23 years

Mount Pleasant near Port Chalmers
Sawyers Bay near Port Chalmers

18 years
18 years

House of Wm Robertson

78/1312

1878 October 31

Rev. Wm Johnston, Pres

No	13
Date of Notice	31 October 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Millar	Margaret Robertson
BDM Match (96%)	Robert Miller	Margaret Robertson
	💍 1878/3254
BDM Match (74%)	Robert Brown	Margeret Robertson
	💍 1878/3300
BDM Match (67%)	William Robert McDonell	Margaret Robertson
	💍 1878/3133
BDM Match (64%)	James Muirhead	Margaret Robertson
	💍 1878/744
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairyman
Age	35 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Mount Pleasant near Port Chalmers	Sawyers Bay near Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	18 years	18 years
Marriage Place	House of Wm Robertson
Folio	78/1312
Consent
Date of Certificate	1878 October 31
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm Johnston, Pres

6 December 1878

Robert Clarke
Myria Annonia Hellenor Forder

Robert Yorke
Myrria Ammenia Hellenor Forder
💍 1878/3083

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

24 years
23 years

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

3 days
3 days

Mr. Neille's House

78/129

1878 Dec 8

Rev. James Maxwell, Congre

No	14
Date of Notice	6 December 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Clarke	Myria Annonia Hellenor Forder
BDM Match (82%)	Robert Yorke	Myrria Ammenia Hellenor Forder
	💍 1878/3083
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	24 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Mr. Neille's House
Folio	78/129
Consent
Date of Certificate	1878 Dec 8
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Maxwell, Congre

9 December 1878

George Morris
Mary Ann Wilson

George Morris
Mary Ann Wilson
💍 1878/3117

Widower
Spinster

Gardener

50 years
32 years

Dunedin
Port Chalmers

3 Weeks
3 Weeks

Registrars Office, Dunedin

78/3140

1878 Dec 9

Registrar, Port Chalmers, J. Downes

No	15
Date of Notice	9 December 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Morris	Mary Ann Wilson
	💍 1878/3117
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	50 years	32 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	3 Weeks	3 Weeks
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Dunedin
Folio	78/3140
Consent
Date of Certificate	1878 Dec 9
Officiating Minister	Registrar, Port Chalmers, J. Downes

13 December 1878

Alexander Young
Gwendolyne [illegible] Hills

Alexander Young
Susan Elizabeth Wells
💍 1878/3084

Bachelor
Widow

Foreman

30 years
36 years

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

9 years
9 years

Dr. Bills House

78/3130

1878 Dec 13

Rev. James Maxwell, Congre

No	16
Date of Notice	13 December 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Young	Gwendolyne [illegible] Hills
BDM Match (64%)	Alexander Young	Susan Elizabeth Wells
	💍 1878/3084
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Foreman
Age	30 years	36 years
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	9 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Dr. Bills House
Folio	78/3130
Consent
Date of Certificate	1878 Dec 13
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Maxwell, Congre

23 December 1878

Francis Sean
Elizabeth Muir

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic Servant

25 years
19 years

George Street, Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

8 years
9 years

House of Mr. Muir

78/3133

William Muir, Father

1878 Dec 23

Rev. Wm Johnston, Pres

No	17
Date of Notice	23 December 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Sean	Elizabeth Muir
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic Servant
Age	25 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	George Street, Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	8 years	9 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Muir
Folio	78/3133
Consent	William Muir, Father
Date of Certificate	1878 Dec 23
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm Johnston, Pres

28 December 1878

John Muir
Annie Robertson

John Clunie
Annie Isboster Robertson
💍 1878/3085

Bachelor
Spinster

Master Mariner
Teacher

31 years
23 years

Port Chalmers
Flagstaff Hill, Port Chalmers

3 months
1 year

House of Capt Robertson

78/3131

1878 Dec 28

Rev. James Maxwell, Congre

No	18
Date of Notice	28 December 1878
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Muir	Annie Robertson
BDM Match (63%)	John Clunie	Annie Isboster Robertson
	💍 1878/3085
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Master Mariner	Teacher
Age	31 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Flagstaff Hill, Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	3 months	1 year
Marriage Place	House of Capt Robertson
Folio	78/3131
Consent
Date of Certificate	1878 Dec 28
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Maxwell, Congre

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 1903. 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).