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 127

District of nelson Quarter ending 30th of September 1858

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
33	5 july 1858	Richard John Duncan marianne Blackmore Dodson	Richard John Duncan Marianne Blackmore Dodson 💍 1858/1912	Bachelor Sunster	Merchant	34 22	Town of reloon Joun of nelson	Six days Two years	The protestant Episcopal Church in nelson	5 july 1858	Robert Batemaw Faul
34	6 july 1858	Charles me Gee Catherine Brougham	Charles McGee Catherine Broughan 💍 1858/1903	Widower Thunster	Storekeeper	29 23	Journ of nelson Town of nelson	Jen years Three months	the Chapel of the Casholic Station in relean	6 july 1858	a m Gami
35	27 july 1858	William Burton Hannah Johnston	William Burton Hannah Johnston 💍 1858/1938	undower endow	Bricklayer	27 29	Richmoking warmea East Richmon namea East	two years Ley months	ar the Protect ant Episcopalian Church in nichmond	27 july 1858	Iam L Joole
36	27 july 1858	Andrew Millar McArtney Sarah Harriett Pratt	Andrew Miller McArtney Sarah Harriet Pratt 💍 1858/1879	Bachelor Gunster	Tinsmith	25 23	Town of Nelson Town of Nelson	Ten years Twelve months	At the residence of Mr McArtney Bridge St Nelson	27 July 1858	Rev. P Calder
37	10 august 1858	Thomas Thomas Jelpah Brown	Thomas Thomas Zilpah Brown 💍 1858/1843	Bachelor Spineter	Mines	26 22	Subusban South Jour of nelson	Six months Suyweeks	at the residence of Eli Carvell Suburban South)	10 august 1858	E. Thomas
38	8 august 1858	Peter Cooke Ann Cooke	Peter Cooke Ann Cooke 💍 1858/1846	Bachelor Widow	Shoemaker	27 27	Town nelson Jown of nelson	Five months Tive months	Baphit Chapel Budge sheet helson	18 august 1858	E Thomas
39	18" august 1858	William Price Emmy Clark	William Price Emily Clark 💍 1858/1941	Bachelor Spinster	Lawyer	23 19	makefield warmea South Makefull Naunea South	ught months Jen years.	Ehiscopalia Church Lower makefield Naimea South-	28 ung 1858	I. Poole
40	20 august 1858	John Freeman Jane Harris	John Freeman Jane Harris 💍 1858/1858	Bachelor Spinster	Ship Carpenter	21 21	Jown of nelson Journ of helson	Five years Two years	at theresidence of In maunce Hams in afalgar Ins		1"Sep" 1858 Rev Gramew
41	25 august 1858	James Ribet Mary Hoult	James Ribet Mary Hoult 💍 1858/1906	Bachelor Spinster	Lawyer	23 19	Wakefield Paynea Wakeheld	Two years	the chapel me Casholic State the down of	25 they 1858	Rer
42	6 September 1858	Walter Krahagen Maria Thomas	Walter Krahagen Maria Thomas 💍 1858/1882	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	30 24	Town of nelson Jour of nelson	Ten months Ten months	at the residence of Mr Thomas Dare in the town of Nelson	22 Sep 1858	Rev A Garen
43	6 September 1858	James Duff Hewelt Ellen Aim Baker	James Duff Hewett Ellen Ann Baker 💍 1858/1849	Bachelor	Sender	26 15	Jown of, nelson Joun of nelson	Three day Two years	at the residence Geo of mr George Baker Trafalgar Cheet north neleon	Sept 1858	Ediv Thomas.
44	7 September 1858	Thomas Allen Sarah Bowen	Thomas Allen Sarah Bowen 💍 1858/1917	Bachelor Spinster	Storekeeper	27 32	Jown of helson Joun of nelson	Four days Jen days	the proketant Episcopal Church in the		Sept 1858 RBPane
45	11th September 1858	George Buckeridge Elizabeth Sarah Canavan	George Buckeridge Elizabeth S Canavan 💍 1858/1861	Bachelor. Spinster	Runder	25 25	Town of nelson Hope framea East	Three years meemonths	at the residence of mirRobreson Hope Waumea East	Sept 1858	Reo JohnKanew
46	20 September 1858	Edmund Davidsing Annie Barbara Mackey	Edmund Davidson Annie Barbara Mackay 💍 1858/1920	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep Farmer	24 25	Suburban north Suburban north	devendays Five years	at the residen co of m James mackey Suburban north	20 dep 1858	tentle Rof Balaman Paul.

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).