1857 Intentions to Marry

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840369, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke Howison at Archives NZ Wellington, December 13 2024

Page 098

District of nelson Quarter ending 30 September 1857

No	Date of Notice	Names and Surnames of Parties	BDM Match	Condition	Calling or Profession	Age	Dwelling Place	Length of Residence	Marriage Place	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
31	June 1857	Charles Edward George Wootton Heria Arm Streeter	Charles Edward George Wootton Kesia Ann Streeter 💍 1857/2314	Bachelor Spinster	Carter	26 19	Waimea thest Namea West	Five years Tour years	at the school House in Wainea West	6 July 1857	Thomas D nicholson
35	18 June 1857	Robert Shallerass Annabella Milliamson Jeffry	Robert Shallcross Annabella Williamson Jeffrey 💍 1857/2311	Bachelor Spinster	Printer Domestic Servt	37 26	Town of nelson Town of nelson	Two years Six months	at the residence of William Long Esquire, Hardy Street, Nelson	3 July 1857	Thomas D Nicholson
39	13 July 1857	William Ridd Waters Harrett Gallard	William Ridd Waters Harriet Stallard 💍 1857/1936	Widower Widow	Bootmaker	30 33	Town of nelson Town of nelson	Two years Jen years	at the Protestant Episcopahan Church in nelson	13 July 1857	Rev Henry Francis Bull
40	20 July 1857	Roderick m Donald Margaret M Kennie	Roderick McDonald Margaret McKenzie 💍 1857/10	Bachelor Spinster	Shephard	34 27	Fairfield Downs Waimea Town of nelson	Four years Four days.	at the residence of In George M'Rae Nelson	20 fully 1857	Thomas D. Nichalson
41	27 July 1857	Henry John Tancred Georgeanna Janet Grace Richmond	Henry T Tancred George Anna Janet Grace Richmond 💍 1857/1939	Bachelor Spinster	Esquire	40 25	Town of nelson Town of nelson	Ten days Three years	at the Protestant Episcopalian Church in Nelson	27 July 1857	Revd Henry Francis Butt
42	3st July 1857	Thomas Bittles Caroline Stephens	Thomas Bittles Caroline Stephens 💍 1857/1942	Bachelor Widow	Carpenter	32 27	Town of nelson Town of nelson	Two months Two months	at the Protestant Episcopalian Church in Nelson	1857 31 July	Rev Henry Frances Butt
43	31 July 1857	Richard King Ellen Sevan	Richard King Ellen Fiven 💍 1857/2272	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	24 21	Richmond Waimea East Richmond Waimea East	Seven years Five years	at the Wesleyan Chapel in Nelson	1857 July 31	Rev John Warren
44	3 August 1857	George Thomas Blackmore Sarah Ann Carter	George Thomas Blackmore Sarah Ann Carter 💍 1857/2305	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	23 21	Town of Nelson Town of Nelson	Four years five years	at the residence of Mr George Thomas Blackmore on the Waimea Road Nelson	1857 3 aug	Thomas Dickson nicholson
45	6 August 1857	Banks Southwell Ann James	Banks Southwell Ann James 💍 1857/2308	Bachelor widow	Labourer	42 45	Town of nelson Town of nelson	Eight days Five years	at the residence David Mair in the Town of Nelson	1857 6 aug	Rev Thomas Dickson Nicholson
46	8 August 1857	William Hodgson Harriett Ann Gill	William Hodgson Harriett Ann Gill 💍 1857/2220	Bachelor Spinster	Farm Servant	37 19	Waimea East Waimea East	Fifteen days two years.	at the Protestant Episcopahan Church at Richmond, Waimea East	1857 25 Aug	Samuel Poole
47	10 August 1857	James Jamuel Edelssen Mary Anne Picard	James Samuel Edelston Mary Ann Picard 💍 1857/2190	Bachelor Widow	Merchant	29 25	Town of Nelson Rewarda	Four years Five years	at the Wesleyan Chapel in nelson	1857	Certificate not issued Bod
48	August 1857	Richard Norms Isabella Clark	Richard Norris Isabella Clark 💍 1857/2259	Bachelor Spinster	Lawyer	22 21	Waimea South Waimea South	Five years Five years	at the protestant Episcopalian Church in Waimea South	1857 11 aug	Thos A Bowden
49	17 August 1857	Hans John Christian Siggelrow Sophia Maria Amaria Lange	Ernst John Christian Siggelkow Sophia Maria Amalia Lange 💍 1857/2235	Bachelor Widow	Farmer	24 21	Waimea East Waimea East	Five years Five years	at the residence of Henry Siggelrow in Waimea East	17 August 1857	Rev Jno Wm Chris Heine
50	22 August 1857	James Ashton Lever Ainsworth Emily Hall	James Ashton H Ainsworth Emily Hall 💍 1857/1945	Bachelor Widow	Merchant	30 29	Town of Nelson Town of Nelson	Five weeks Two months	at the Protestant Episcopalian Church in Nelson	22 August 1857	Revd Henry Francis Butt

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 1898. More registers will be added when the Archives NZ Wellington reading room re-opens in September 2025.

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).