Intentions to Marry, 1860

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840372, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke Howison at Archives NZ Wellington, December 12 2024

Page 218

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 December 1860

No	Date of Notice	Names and Surnames of Parties	BDM Match	Condition	Calling or Profession	Age	Dwelling Place	Length of Residence	Marriage Place	Consent	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
57	2 October 1860	John McCann Ellen Jordan	John McCann Ellen Jordan 💍 1860/3962	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	28 24	City of Nelson City of Nelson	3 years Half a year	At the Presbyterian Church in Nelson		2 October 1860	Reverend Patrick Calder
58	3 October 1860	Alfred Harley Emily Annie Cundy	Alfred Harley Emily Annie Cundy 💍 1860/3766	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	22 19	Stoke Suburban South Stoke Suburban South	18 months 10 years	At the protestant Episcopalian Church in Nelson	John Cundy (Father)	20 October 1860	Reverend Henry M. Turton
59	5 October 1860	John George Denne Elizabeth Estcourt	John George Denne Elizabeth Estcourt 💍 1860/3793	Bachelor Widow	Cabinet maker Dress maker	43 29	Bridge Street, Nelson Collingwood Street, Nelson	3 years 4 years	At the residence of Elizabeth Estcourt, Dressmaker, Collingwood Street, Nelson		20 October 1860	Reverend Edward Thomas
60	5 October 1860	Edward Kiernan Mary Ann Kingett	Edward Kiernan Mary Ann Kinzett 💍 1860/3775	Bachelor Spinster	Saddler	25 21	Richmond Waimea East	1 year 1 year	At the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson		5 October 1860	The Registrar of Marriages, Nelson
61	8 October 1860	William Pearce Mary Ann Baker	William Pearce Mary Ann Baker 💍 1860/3730	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	32 30	City of Nelson City of Nelson	3 weeks 3 weeks	At the Jail in the City of Nelson		8 October 1860	Reverend Jonathan Innes
62	9 October 1860	Albert Duncan Austin Henrietta Melina Rogerson	Albert Duncan Austin Henrietta Melina Rodgerson 💍 1860/3965	Bachelor Spinster	Surveyor	22 22	City of Nelson City of Nelson	5 years 17 years	At the residence of W. William Rodgerson adjoining the Jail, Nelson		9 October 1860	Reverend Patrick Calder
63	13 October 1860	John George Graeser Celia Roberts	John George Graeser Celia Roberts 💍 1860/3688	Bachelor Spinster	Lodging house keeper	37 41	City of Nelson City of Nelson	10 months 3 days	At the Baptist Chapel in Nelson		13 October 1860	Reverend Decimus Dolamore
64	13 October 1860	Henry Davis Williams Jessie Dickson Nicholson	Henry Davis Williams Jessie Dickson Nicholson 💍 1860/3745	Bachelor Spinster	Flock owner	27 16	City of Nelson City of Nelson	4 days 9 months	At the residence of Mr Frank Sait, Cambria St, Nelson	Thomas Dickson Nicholson (Father)	13 October 1860	Reverend Thomas Dickson Nicholson
65	17 October 1860	John Ewart Hannah Harrison	John Ewart Hannah Harrison 💍 1860/3733 Joseph Martin Hannah Harrison 💍 1861/2927	Bachelor Spinster	Constable	30 26	City of Nelson City of Nelson	4 days 3 weeks	At the residence of Mr Joseph Lofthouse, Collingwood Street, Nelson		17 October 1860	Reverend Jonathan Innes
66	27 October 1860	Frederick Corder Susan Hagg	Frederick Corder Susan Stagg 💍 1860/3691	Bachelor Spinster	Sawyer	23 17	Waimea West Waimea West	3 years 16 years	At the residence of Mr James Hagg, Sawyer, Waimea West	Charles Hagg (Father)	27 October 1860	Reverend Decimus Dolamore
67	30 October 1860	William Moore Biss Louisa Hooper	William Moore Biss Louisa Hooper 💍 1860/3694	Widower Spinster	Clerk	29 21	Collingwood Street, Nelson Hardy Street, Nelson	6 months 16 years	At the residence of Mr George Hooper, Brewer, Hardy Street, Nelson		30 October 1860	Reverend Decimus Dolamore
68	31 October 1860	John Healy Sophia Balck	John Healy Sophia Balk 💍 1860/3706	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	28 19	Waimea West Waimea East	5 years 14 years	At the Catholic Church in Nelson	John Balck (Father)	19 November 1860	Reverend Antoine Marie Garin
69	3 November 1860	George James Small Emma Elizabeth Sarah Hargrave	George James Small Emma Elizabeth Sarah D'Hargrave 💍 1860/3784	Bachelor Spinster	Sawyer	22 18	Waimea South Waimea South	8 years 5 years	At the Protestant Episcopalian Church, Spring Grove, Waimea South	Sarah Barns (Mother)	3 November 1860	Reverend Samuel Poole
70	5 November 1860	William Woodhams Elizabeth Ann Burns Midgley	William Woodhams Elizabeth Ann Bunn Midgley 💍 1860/3697	Bachelor Spinster	Sawyer	22 17	Waimea South Waimea South	18 months 4 months	At the residence of Mr Henry Midgley, Fox Hill, Waimea South	Henry Midgley (Father)	5 November 1860	Reverend Decimus Dolamore
71	6 November 1860	George Hamilton Higginson Amelia Thompson	George Hamilton Higginson Amelia Thompson 💍 1860/3736	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	29 17	Washington Valley, Nelson Hardy Street, Nelson	3 months 2 years	At the residence of Mr Charles Bartlett, Washington Valley, Nelson		6 November 1860	Reverend Jonathan Innes
72	10 November 1860	Edward Augustin Harvey Bullot Amelia Parker	Edward Agustin Harvey Bullot Amelia Parker 💍 1860/3796	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	22 19	City of Nelson City of Nelson	5 weeks 2 months	At the residence of Mrs Jane Parker, Brook Street Valley, Nelson	Joseph Parker (Father)	10 November 1860	Reverend Edward Thomas

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).