Intentions to Marry, 1861

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840373, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke Howison at Archives NZ Wellington, December 11 2024

Page 179

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 March 1861 Registrar John Poynter

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

02 January 1861

George Heppel
Catherine Corner

George Heppel
Catherine Corner
💍 1861/3768

Bachelor
Spinster

Principal of Nelson College

30
24

City of Nelson
City of Nelson

12 months
4 days

Christ church, Nelson

02 January 1861

The Lord Bishop of Nelson

No	1
Date of Notice	02 January 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Heppel	Catherine Corner
	💍 1861/3768
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Principal of Nelson College
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	City of Nelson	City of Nelson
Length of Residence	12 months	4 days
Marriage Place	Christ church, Nelson
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	02 January 1861
Officiating Minister	The Lord Bishop of Nelson

02 January 1861

Edward William Dee
Lydia Organ

Edward William Dee
Lydia Organ
💍 1861/4204

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor

27
19

Bridge St Nelson
Washington Rd. Nelson

3 years
12 months

The Baptist Chapel, Nelson

Thomas Organ, father

02 January 1861

Rev. Patrick Calder

No	2
Date of Notice	02 January 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward William Dee	Lydia Organ
	💍 1861/4204
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	Bridge St Nelson	Washington Rd. Nelson
Length of Residence	3 years	12 months
Marriage Place	The Baptist Chapel, Nelson
Folio
Consent	Thomas Organ, father
Date of Certificate	02 January 1861
Officiating Minister	Rev. Patrick Calder

04 January 1861

John Ratt
Fanny Elizabeth Simmonds

John Ratt
Fanny Elizabeth Simmonds
💍 1861/3805

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

27
20

Waimea South
Waimea South

2 weeks
10 years

the residence of Joseph Simmonds, Waimea South

05 January 1861

Rev. Decimus Dolamore

No	3
Date of Notice	04 January 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Ratt	Fanny Elizabeth Simmonds
	💍 1861/3805
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Waimea South	Waimea South
Length of Residence	2 weeks	10 years
Marriage Place	the residence of Joseph Simmonds, Waimea South
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	05 January 1861
Officiating Minister	Rev. Decimus Dolamore

07 January 1861

Samuel Helier Pike
Priscilla Maria Saxton

Samuel Helier Pike
Priscilla Maria Saxton
💍 1861/3787

Bachelor
Spinster

Flock owner

32
20

City of Nelson
Waimea East

10 days
5 years

the residence of John Waring Saxton, Waimea East

John Waring Saxton, father

07 January 1861

Rev. Jonathan Innes

No	4
Date of Notice	07 January 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Helier Pike	Priscilla Maria Saxton
	💍 1861/3787
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Flock owner
Age	32	20
Dwelling Place	City of Nelson	Waimea East
Length of Residence	10 days	5 years
Marriage Place	the residence of John Waring Saxton, Waimea East
Folio
Consent	John Waring Saxton, father
Date of Certificate	07 January 1861
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jonathan Innes

08 January 1861

Robert Quance
Mary Harbot

Robert Quance
Mary Harbot
💍 1861/3784

Bachelor
Widow

Mariner

40
30

City of Nelson
City of Nelson

1 1/2 months
7 months

the residence of Robert Quance, St Vincent St.

08 January 1861

Rev. Jonathan Innes

No	5
Date of Notice	08 January 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Quance	Mary Harbot
	💍 1861/3784
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Mariner
Age	40	30
Dwelling Place	City of Nelson	City of Nelson
Length of Residence	1 1/2 months	7 months
Marriage Place	the residence of Robert Quance, St Vincent St.
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	08 January 1861
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jonathan Innes

10 January 1861

Richard Bayley
Sarah Ann Ruff

Richard Bayley
Sarah Ann Ruff
💍 1861/4207

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

26
19

City of Nelson
City of Nelson

3 days
1 year

the residence of William Norgrove, Selwyn Place

Elizabeth Flower, mother

10 January 1861

Rev. Patrick Calder

No	6
Date of Notice	10 January 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Bayley	Sarah Ann Ruff
	💍 1861/4207
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	City of Nelson	City of Nelson
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	the residence of William Norgrove, Selwyn Place
Folio
Consent	Elizabeth Flower, mother
Date of Certificate	10 January 1861
Officiating Minister	Rev. Patrick Calder

11 January 1861

William Morgan Harries
Susanna Gameston Lawrence

William Morgan Harries
Susanna Gameston Lawrence
💍 1861/4210

Widower
Spinster

Grazier

27
15

Richmond
Richmond

6 days
9 months

the residence of Mary Elizabeth Harris in Richmond

Mary Elizabeth Harris, mother

12 January 1861

Rev. Patrick Calder

No	7
Date of Notice	11 January 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Morgan Harries	Susanna Gameston Lawrence
	💍 1861/4210
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Grazier
Age	27	15
Dwelling Place	Richmond	Richmond
Length of Residence	6 days	9 months
Marriage Place	the residence of Mary Elizabeth Harris in Richmond
Folio
Consent	Mary Elizabeth Harris, mother
Date of Certificate	12 January 1861
Officiating Minister	Rev. Patrick Calder

14 January 1861

John Aiken
Celia Garrard

John Aiken
Celia Garrard
💍 1861/1868

Bachelor
Spinster

Writing clerk

25
21

City of Nelson
City of Nelson

4 years
1 year

the residence of George Baker, Trafalgar Street

29 January 1861

Rev. Jonathan Innes

No	8
Date of Notice	14 January 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Aiken	Celia Garrard
	💍 1861/1868
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Writing clerk
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	City of Nelson	City of Nelson
Length of Residence	4 years	1 year
Marriage Place	the residence of George Baker, Trafalgar Street
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1861
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jonathan Innes

23 January 1861

Frederick Adams
Eliza Hopkins

Frederick Adams
Eliza Hopkins
💍 1861/1722

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

28
18

Bridge St. Nelson
Bridge St. Nelson

30 months
12 months

The Baptist Chapel in Nelson

no person in N.Z. having authority to consent

23 January 1861

Rev. William Moore Biss

No	9
Date of Notice	23 January 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Adams	Eliza Hopkins
	💍 1861/1722
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	28	18
Dwelling Place	Bridge St. Nelson	Bridge St. Nelson
Length of Residence	30 months	12 months
Marriage Place	The Baptist Chapel in Nelson
Folio
Consent	no person in N.Z. having authority to consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1861
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Moore Biss

24 January 1861

Thomas Scaife
Mary Elizabeth Ball

Thomas Scaife
Mary Elizabeth Ball
💍 1861/3689

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

26
20

City of Nelson
City of Nelson

2 years
3 years

Christ church in Nelson

William Ball, father

24 January 1861

Rev. Henry Meysey Turton

No	10
Date of Notice	24 January 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Scaife	Mary Elizabeth Ball
	💍 1861/3689
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	City of Nelson	City of Nelson
Length of Residence	2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Christ church in Nelson
Folio
Consent	William Ball, father
Date of Certificate	24 January 1861
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Meysey Turton

25 January 1861

Henry Augustus Levestam
Elizabeth Hargreaves

Henry Augustus Levestam
Elizabeth Hargreaves
💍 1861/3692

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

27
19

City of Nelson
City of Nelson

2 years
18 years

Christ church in Nelson

Jane Hargreaves, mother

25 January 1861

Rev. Henry Meysey Turton

No	11
Date of Notice	25 January 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Augustus Levestam	Elizabeth Hargreaves
	💍 1861/3692
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	City of Nelson	City of Nelson
Length of Residence	2 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Christ church in Nelson
Folio
Consent	Jane Hargreaves, mother
Date of Certificate	25 January 1861
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Meysey Turton

28 January 1861

Charles Thompson
Anne Burns

Charles Thompson
Ann Burns
💍 1861/4213

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

26
30

Wakefield
City of Nelson

5 weeks
18 months

the residence of David Burns, Waimea Road

28 January 1861

Rev. Patrick Calder

No	12
Date of Notice	28 January 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Thompson	Anne Burns
BDM Match (95%)	Charles Thompson	Ann Burns
	💍 1861/4213
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	26	30
Dwelling Place	Wakefield	City of Nelson
Length of Residence	5 weeks	18 months
Marriage Place	the residence of David Burns, Waimea Road
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1861
Officiating Minister	Rev. Patrick Calder

04 February 1861

John Barton
Rebecca Agnes Sharp

John Barton
Rebecca Agnes Sharp
💍 1861/4198

Bachelor
Spinster

Police constable

42
34

City of Nelson
City of Nelson

3 years
12 months

the residence of John Barton, Manuka Street

04 February 1861

Rev. William Moore Biss

No	13
Date of Notice	04 February 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Barton	Rebecca Agnes Sharp
	💍 1861/4198
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Police constable
Age	42	34
Dwelling Place	City of Nelson	City of Nelson
Length of Residence	3 years	12 months
Marriage Place	the residence of John Barton, Manuka Street
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	04 February 1861
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Moore Biss

09 February 1861

John Wright Gower
Mary Cordelia Gapper

John Wright Gower
Mary Cordelia Gapper
💍 1861/3793

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25
25

Waimea East
Waimea East

2 years
12 years

the residence of Bernard Gapper, Waimea East

25 February 1861

Rev. Jonathan Innes

No	14
Date of Notice	09 February 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Wright Gower	Mary Cordelia Gapper
	💍 1861/3793
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Waimea East	Waimea East
Length of Residence	2 years	12 years
Marriage Place	the residence of Bernard Gapper, Waimea East
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 February 1861
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jonathan Innes

11 February 1861

Edward Oliver Dashwood
Frances Esther Cawte

[faint pencil note] "Not included in [?] Return - can mention in a later [?] but no reply appeared last [?]"

Bachelor
Widow

Mariner

30
28

City of Nelson
City of Nelson

14 days
4 days

The protestant Episcopalian Church in Nelson

11 February 1861

Rev Henry Meysey Turton

No	15
Date of Notice	11 February 1861
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Oliver Dashwood	Frances Esther Cawte
BDM Match (5%)
	💍 [faint pencil note] "Not included in [?] Return - can mention in a later [?] but no reply appeared last [?]"
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Mariner
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	City of Nelson	City of Nelson
Length of Residence	14 days	4 days
Marriage Place	The protestant Episcopalian Church in Nelson
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1861
Officiating Minister	Rev Henry Meysey Turton

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 1903. More registers are being added almost every week.

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).