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 181

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 June 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
27	4 April 1861	John Atto Scott Elizabeth Ann Scott	John Otto Scott Elizabeth Ann Scott 💍 1861/4225	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	25 26	City of Nelson City of Nelson	10 years 6 years	At the residence of Capt. Richard Scott		4 April 1861	Rev. Patrick Calder
28	11 April 1861	Eugene Hickey Norah Connor	Eugene Hickey Norah Connor 💍 1861/3665	Bachelor Widow	Labourer	23 27	Waimea West Waimea West	2 years 4 years	At the Catholic Chapel		11 April 1861	Rev. A. M. Garin
29	11 April 1861	Henry Michael Springer Sophia Maria Kruger	Henry Michael Springer Sophia Maria Kruger 💍 1861/3778	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	31 26	Waimea East Waimea East	4 years 2 years	At the residence of John Henry Kruger		26 April 1861	Rev. John Will Christopher Heine
30	15 April 1861	George Jacobs Jessie Somerville	George Jacobs Jessy Somerville 💍 1861/4228	Bachelor Spinster	Perfumer	26 26	City of Nelson City of Nelson	6 months 4 days	At the residence of Samuel Madman		15 April 1861	Rev. Patrick Calder
31	15 April 1861	Alfred Bright Mary Nesbett Flemming	Alfred Bright Mary Nesbett Flemming 💍 1861/3738	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	24 19	Suburban South City of Nelson	10 years 6 years	At the residence of Leo: Stewart Flemming	George Stewart Flemming, FATHER	15 April 1861	Rev. Edward Thomas
32	19 April 1861	Henry Barnes Elizabeth Jennings	Henry Barnes Elizabeth Jennings 💍 1861/3718	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	27 23	City of Nelson City of Nelson	5 years 5 years	At the protestant church in		19 April 1861	Rev. Samuel Poole
33	22 April 1861	John Davies Elizabeth Fedden	John Davies Elizabeth Fedden 💍 1861/3629	Widower Widow	Miner	30 29	City of Nelson City of Nelson	4 years 7 years	At the residence of Elizabeth Fedden		22 April 1861	Rev. Edward Thomas
34	24 April 1861	Thomas Hearn Mills Mary Wilson	Thomas Hearn Mills Mary Wilson 💍 1861/4033	Bachelor Spinster	Painter	26 21	City of Nelson City of Nelson	2 years 4 years	At the presbyterian Church in Nelson		24 April 1861	Rev. Patrick Calder
35	2 May 1861	Eugene Hickey Norah Connor	Eugene Hickey Norah Connor 💍 1861/3665	Bachelor Widow	Labourer	23 27	Waimea West Waimea West	4 years 4 years	At the Catholic Chapel in Nelson		2 May 1861	Rev. Ant. M. Garin
36	6 May 1861	William Laney Naomi Chittenden	William Laney Naomi Chittenden 💍 1861/4039	Bachelor Spinster	Baker	19 17	City of Nelson City of Nelson	10 years 3 years	At the residence of George Chittenden	George Chittenden, FATHER	21 May 1861	Rev. Patrick Calder
37	9 May 1861	John Wilkinson Augusta Rochfort	John Wilkinson Augusta Rochfort 💍 1861/3698	Bachelor Spinster	Gentleman	42 23	City of Nelson City of Nelson	1 month 10 days	At Christ Church		9 May 1861	Rev. Henry. M. Turton
38	10 May 1861	Edward Wheeler Mary Ann Snow	Edward Wheeler Mary Ann Snow 💍 1861/3632	Bachelor Spinster	Master Mariner	30 21	City of Nelson City of Nelson	2 years 20 years	At the residence of William Snow		10 May 1861	Rev. Edward Thomas
39	14 May 1861	Philip Roderick M. Rae Bertha Scott	Philip Roderick McRae Bertha Scott 💍 1861/4036	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep farmer	24 16	City of Nelson City of Nelson	18 years 9 years	At the residence of Capt. Richard Scott	Richard Scott, FATHER	14 May 1861	Rev. Patrick Calder
40	15 May 1861	Philip Roderick M. Rae Bertha Scott	Philip Roderick McRae Bertha Scott 💍 1861/4036	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep farmer	24 16	City of Nelson City of Nelson	18 years 9 years	At the presbyterian Church in Nelson	Richard Scott, FATHER	15 May 1861	Rev. Patrick Calder
41	16 May 1861	Johann Heinrich Otten Lucy Ann Madsworth	Johann Heinrich Otten Lucy Ann Wadsworth 💍 1861/3817	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	27 17	Waimea South Waimea South	1 year 10 years	At the residence of James Madsworth	James Madsworth, FATHER	16 May 1861	Rev. Decimus Dolaumore
42	18 May 1861	John Helier Vautier Elizabeth Jouet	John Helier Vautier Elizabeth Tonet 💍 1861/3635	Bachelor Spinster	Builder	27 22	City of Nelson City of Nelson	1 week 12 months	At the residence of Edward Jouet- farmer		18 May 1861	Rev. 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).