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 156

District of Nelson Quarter ending thirtieth of September 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
44	13 August 1860	John Wilson Heurietta Gardiner	John Wilson Henrietta Gardiner 💍 1860/3953	Bachelor Spinster	Baker	23 20	Bridge Street Nelson Waimea Road Nelson	Two years Eighteen years	the residence of William Gardiner Waimea Road Nelson	William Gardiner father	28 August 1860	Rev. Patrick Calder
45	16 August 1860	Hermann Fayen Annie Barrett	Hannan Fayer Annie Barrett 💍 1860/3679	Widower Spinster	Labourer	29 22	Richmond Waimea East Richmond Waimea East	Two years One month	the residence of W-Hermain Fayen Richmond Waimea East		35 August 1860	Reo Decimus Dolamore
46	16 August 1860	Francis John Hill Madeline Pahll	Francis John Hill Madeline Pahl 💍 1860/3724	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	25 23	Milton street Nelson Van Dieman Street Nelson	eleven months eighteen years	the residence of W-William Pahll Van Dieman Street		22 August 1860	Reo Jonathan Innes
47	22 August 1860	Samuel Meggett Mackley Mary liyabeth Allan Frist	Samuel Meggitt Mackley Mary Elizabeth Allan Trist 💍 1860/3727	Bachelor Spinster	Chemist	28 23	Collingwood. Nelson Brook Street Nelson	Two months Two years	the residence of W Thomas Heyward Brook Street Nelson		4 Sept 1860	Rev. Jouathan Junes
48	22 August 1860	Walter Davidson Mary Jane Malcolm	Walter Davidson Mary Jane Malcolm 💍 1860/3956	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	21 18	Richmond Wamea East Richmond Wainee East	eighteen months eighteen months	the residence of WeAndrew Malcolm Wheelwright Richmond	Andrew Malcolm father	6 Sept 1860	Rev. Patrick Calder
49	31 August 1860	Patrick Leahy Margaret Hagan	Patrick Leahy Margaret Hagan 💍 1860/3715	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	28 17	Waimea South Waimea South	two years Seventeen years	the Catholic Church in Waimea West	James Hagan father	31 August 1860	Rev. Antoine Marie Garin
50	8 September 1860	Christian Frederick Augustus Deucker Cleanor Kimber Stirling	Christian Frederick Augustus Dencker Eleonor Kimber Stirling 💍 1860/3911	Bachelor Widow	Gentleman	25 32	Waimea East Wainea East	five years fifteen years	the residence of The Reo: J.W.C.Heine Lutheran Minister Lower Moutere		8 Sept 1860	Rev Jno. Will. Chr. Heine
51	10 September 1860	James Blick Sarah Emily Biggs	James Blick Sarah Emily Biggs 💍 1860/3682	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	23 26	Brook Street Nelson Waimea Road Nelson	sixteen years Nine years	the residence of Samuel Biggs Wainiea Road		10 Sept 1860	Rev. Decimus Dolamore
52	14 September 1860	John George Miles Alice Harriott Smith	John George Miles Alice Harriett Smith 💍 1860/3781	Bachelor Spinster	Flock owner	22 20	Waimea South Waimea South	One week Three months	the protestant Chiscopalian church Wainea South	Declaration that no person in N.Z. hath authority to consent	14 Sept 1860	Rev. Samuel Poole
53	18 September 1860	John Lyne Mary Disher	John Lyne Mary Disher 💍 1860/3685	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	21 17	Richmoud Waimea East Richmond	sixteen years three years	the residence of w. Henry Ingham Stoke	Robert Disher father	19 Sept 1860	Rev. Decimus Dolamore
54	24 September 1860	William Thomas Pitcher Louisa Close	William Thomas Pitcher Louisa Close 💍 1860/3772	Bachelor Spinster	Sawayer	26 16	Suburban North Suburban North	Six years Seven years	the office of the Registrar ofmarriages Nelson	Stephen Close father	24 Sept 1860	The Registrar (John Poynter)
55	26 September 1860	Henry Balme Elizabeth Frances Redfearn	Henry Balme Elizabeth Frances Redfearn 💍 1860/3763	Bachelor Spinster	Coachbuilder	26 21	Trafalgar St Nelson Bridge St. Nelson	four years three days	the protestant Episcopalian church Nelson		26 Sept 1860	Rev. Henry Meysey Turton
56	29 September 1860	John ell Artney the younger Bridget Lydia Bowerman	John McArtney Bridget Lydia Bowerman 💍 1860/3959	Bachelor Spinster	Tinplate worker	28 22	Bridge St. Nelson Bridge St. Nelson	eighteen weeks five weeks	the residence of W.John ll'Artney Sen Bridge St. Nelson		29 Sept 1860	Rev. Patrick Calder

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).