Intentions to Marry, 1858

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840370, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

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

Page 125

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 June 1858

No	Date of Notice	Names and Surnames of Parties	BDM Match	Condition	Calling or Profession	Age	Dwelling Place	Length of Residence	Marriage Place	Folio	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
12	15 March 1858	Thomas Trampton Elvia Sophia Parsons	Thomas Frampton Eliza Sophia Parsons 💍 1858/1929	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	24 18	Warmea West Waimea nest	Six months Eight weeks	at the Protestant Episcopalian Church in Waimea West	712	3 April 1858	Rev Samuel Poole
17	30 March 1858	John Andrew Frederick Suitus Ann Margaret Cathrina Bensomaen	John Andrew Frederick Sixtus Ann Margaret Cathrina Bensemann 💍 1858/2564	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	35 28	upper moutere upper moutere	Two years Two years	at the School House in upper montere	717	15 April 1858	Rev J. n.b Heine
18	1 April 1858	John Symnons Elviabeth	John Symons Elizabeth Gibson 💍 1858/2612	Bachelor Spinster	Thorekeeper	29 22	Jown of nelson Jown of nelson	Three years Five years	at the residenc of Mr John Symmons in Bridge Street	718	1 April 1858	Rev P balder
19	3 April 1858	William Keenan Yarah Ketbering	William Keenan Sarah Heberley 💍 1858/1900	Bachelor Spinster	Marmer	21 19	John of nelson Town of nelson	Four days dour days	at the Chapel of the Catholic in nelson	719	5 April 1858	Rev A M Garin
20	7 April 1858	Henry Boddington Elizabeth Beigent	Henry Boddington Elizabeth Baigent 💍 1858/1935	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	2X 22	Waunea South Waumea South	Five years Five years	at the Protectant Episcopakan Church in Waimea South	720	7 April 1858	Rev Iam Porle
21	10 April 1858	Frank Humpheys Elizabeth Lines	Frank Humphreys Elizabeth Lines 💍 1858/1932	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	20 19	Hope Hope HaimeaEach	Three years Three years	Ehiscopalian Chunch at Richmond Fraimea East	721	28 April 1858	Rev Saml Joole.
22	17 April 1858	Jammel Wadman Mary Walking	Saml Wadman Mary Watkins 💍 1858/2588	Bachelor Spinster	Soda water manufacturer	32 25	Joun of nelson 2wark ralley Waimea forth	Eight months Three years	at the residence of George Evans in Isaal Valley Fraimea South.	722	17 April 1858	Rev Jno Warren
23	20 April 1858	George Snow Marsha Newth	George Snow Martha Newth 💍 1858/1064	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	23 19	Town of nelson Waimea West	Sive years Five years	at the Protectant Episcopalian church in Warmea fresh	723	20 April 1858	Rev Y. Poole
24	26 April 1858	bharles mcLean Emily Carvell	Charles McLean Emily Carnwell 💍 1858/2615	Bachelor Spinster	Marinet	26 26	Joun of nelson Suburban north	Five years Four months	at thechestyperan Church in neleon.	724	26 April 1858	Rev S. Poole
25	8 May 1858	Louritz Christensen Burck Henrika Elizabeth Maria Schwass	Lauritz Christensen Borck Hinrika Elisabeth Maria Schwass 💍 1858/2567	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 18	Moutere Waimea East	Two years Five years	at the residence of Christopher Schwass, Waimea East	725	8 May 1858	Rev C. Heine
26	15 May 1858	George Parkin Eletyabeth Arm Kike	George Parkin Elizabeth Ann Kite 💍 1858/1870	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	23 17	Richmond Namea East Richmond Nameaiast	Eighteew months Five years	at-the new dena of m Henry gardener in Hardy Shut relem	726	17 May 1858	Rev Paticle falder
27	19 May 1858	Alfred Hibble Naom Mathews	Alfred Hibble Naomi Mathews 💍 1858/2591	Bachelor Spinster	writing (lest	28 19	down of heloon Jown of nelson	Jeamonths Jen years	at the residenceo mr Cra matthew in Hardy Shut helson	727	19 May 1858	Rev John Warren
28	14 June 1858	John Hebberley Charlotte Hockey	John Hebberley Charlotte Hockey 💍 1858/1915	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	22 19	Town of nelson Town of nelson	three days Three days	the Protestant Episcopalean Chicado in the Form of wilson	728	14 June 1858	Rev R B Paul
29	14 June 1858	Georgo Stott Rachel Emma Waterhouse	George Stott Rachael Emma Waterhouse 💍 1858/1058	Widower Spinster	Carpenter	30 23	Waimea East Waimea East	Three months four months	at-the Protestant Episcopalian Church in Richmond Waimea East	729	14 June 1858	Rev Saml Poole

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 1894. More registers will be added as the project continues.

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).