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

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
1	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		02 January 1861	The Lord Bishop of Nelson
2	02 January 1861	Edward William Dee Lydia Organ	Edward William Dee Lydia Organ 💍 1861/4204	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor	27 19	Bridge St Nelson Washington A. Nelson	3 years 12 months	The Baptist Chapel Nelson	Thomas Organ, father	02 January 1861	Rev? Patrick Calder
3	04 January 1861	John Natt 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		05 January 1861	Rev Decimus Dolamore
4	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	John Waring Saxton, father	07 January 1861	Rev Jonathan Innes
5	08 January 1861	Robert Quance Mary Harbot	Robert Quance Mary Harbot 💍 1861/3784	Bachelor Widow	Mariner	40 30	City of Nelson City of Nelson	15 months 7 months	the residence of Robert Quance		08 January 1861	Rev Jonathan Innes
6	10 January 1861	Richard Bayley Parah 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		10 January 1861	Rev Patrick Calder
7	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	Mary Elizabeth Harris, mother	12 January 1861	Rev Patrick Calder
8	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		29 January 1861	Rev Jonathan Innes
9	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		23 January 1861	Rev William Moore Biss
10	24 January 1861	Thomas Seaife 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	William Ball, father	24 January 1861	Rev Henry Meysey Turton
11	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	Jane Hargreaves, mother	25 January 1861	Rev Henry Meysey Turton
12	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		28 January 1861	Rev Patrick Calder
13	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		04 February 1861	Rev William Moore Biss
14	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		25 February 1861	Rev Jonathan Innes
15	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

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 1899. 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).