Intentions to Marry, 1879

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840391, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, April 30 2025

Page 854

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1879 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

22 January 1879

Alexander McLennan
Elizabeth Smith

Alexander McLennan
Elizabeth Smith
💍 1879/18

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Dressmaker

22 years
19 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

11 years
6 years

In the house of Alfred Austin George Street

49/1640

John Smith father of minor

22 January 1879

Revd Dr. Stuart

No	32
Date of Notice	22 January 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander McLennan	Elizabeth Smith
	💍 1879/18
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Dressmaker
Age	22 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	11 years	6 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Alfred Austin George Street
Folio	49/1640
Consent	John Smith father of minor
Date of Certificate	22 January 1879
Officiating Minister	Revd Dr. Stuart

23 January 1879

William Guest
Margaret Maker

William Guest
Margaret Maker
💍 1879/763

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawyer

22 years
22 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages

49/638

23 January 1879

A. R. Ure Registrar of Marriages

No	33
Date of Notice	23 January 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Guest	Margaret Maker
	💍 1879/763
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawyer
Age	22 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	49/638
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1879
Officiating Minister	A. R. Ure Registrar of Marriages

23 January 1879

William Frederick Blackett
Jessie Peeble

William Frederick Blackert
Jessie Peebles
💍 1879/2943

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

28 years
26 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

11 months
12 months

In the house of Revd Lindsay Mackie

49/3358

23 January 1879

Revd Lindsay Mackie

No	34
Date of Notice	23 January 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Frederick Blackett	Jessie Peeble
BDM Match (95%)	William Frederick Blackert	Jessie Peebles
	💍 1879/2943
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	28 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	11 months	12 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Revd Lindsay Mackie
Folio	49/3358
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1879
Officiating Minister	Revd Lindsay Mackie

23 January 1879

William Vallance
Margaret McCormack

William Vallance
Margaret McCormack
💍 1879/19

Bachelor
Spinster

Joiner
Domestic Servant

33 years
22 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In Knox Church

49/1641

23 January 1879

Revd Dr. Stuart

No	35
Date of Notice	23 January 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Vallance	Margaret McCormack
	💍 1879/19
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Joiner	Domestic Servant
Age	33 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In Knox Church
Folio	49/1641
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1879
Officiating Minister	Revd Dr. Stuart

23 January 1879

James Perry
Mary Pullar

James Perry
Mary Pullar
💍 1879/20

Bachelor
Spinster

Plate Layer
Housemaid

25 years
17 years

Maori Hill
Maori Hill

5 days
17 years

In Knox Church

49/1642

Jane Mitchell mother of minor

23 January 1879

Revd Dr. Stuart

No	36
Date of Notice	23 January 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Perry	Mary Pullar
	💍 1879/20
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plate Layer	Housemaid
Age	25 years	17 years
Dwelling Place	Maori Hill	Maori Hill
Length of Residence	5 days	17 years
Marriage Place	In Knox Church
Folio	49/1642
Consent	Jane Mitchell mother of minor
Date of Certificate	23 January 1879
Officiating Minister	Revd Dr. Stuart

25 January 1879

Andrew Watson Cumnock
Elizabeth Harrington

Andrew Watson Cummock
Elizabeth Harrington
💍 1879/764

Bachelor
Spinster

Librarian
Domestic Servant

21 years
21 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

15 years
4 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin

49/1639

25 January 1879

A. R. Ure Registrar of Marriages

No	37
Date of Notice	25 January 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Watson Cumnock	Elizabeth Harrington
BDM Match (98%)	Andrew Watson Cummock	Elizabeth Harrington
	💍 1879/764
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Librarian	Domestic Servant
Age	21 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	15 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin
Folio	49/1639
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1879
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).