1862 Intentions to Marry

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840374, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

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

Page 227

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 September 1862

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
47	2 July 1862	Alfred Henry Carter Ellen Bright	Alfred Henry Carter Ellen Bright 💍 1862/4093	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	21 17	City of Nelson City of Nelson	3 years 17 years	At the residence of Thomas Bright Carpenter Nelson	Thomas Bright Father	2 July 1862	Rev. Patrick Calder
48	5 July 1862	James Gorrie (Junr) Mary McFarlane	James Gorrie Mary McFarlane 💍 1862/4096	Bachelor Spinster	Builder	25 22	Blenheim Marlborough City of Nelson	3 years 1 month	At the residence of James Gorrie Senr Builder Nelson		5 July 1862	Rev. Patrick Calder
49	7 July 1862	John Satherley Mary Ann Gledhill	John Satherley Mary Ann Gledhill 💍 1862/4063	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	21 17	Waimea West Waimea West	5 years 17 years	At the Baptist Chapel Bridge St. Nelson	James Gledhill Father	7 July 1862	Rev. William Moore Biss
50	9 July 1862	John Ward Amelia Kidson	John Ward Amelia Kidson 💍 1862/3960	Bachelor Spinster	Miner	28 24	Nelson Nelson	18 months 20 years	At the residence of John Kidson Gardener Brook St. Nelson		22 July 1862	Rev. Edward Thomas
51	23 July 1862	Thomas Henry Pratt Susan Anna Chant	Thomas Henry Pratt Susan Anna Chant 💍 1862/2119	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	21 17	City of Nelson City of Nelson	12 years 2 years	At the residence of Thomas Pratt Carpenter Van Dieman St. Nelson	William Chant Father	23 July 1862	Rev. Edward Thomas
52	30 July 1862	Louis Pike Mary Odell		Bachelor Widow	Sawyer	27 26	City of Nelson City of Nelson	3 days 5 years	At the Catholic Church Nelson		30 July 1862	Rev. Antoine Marie Garin
53	31 July 1862	William Valentine Salter Theresa Maria Manning	William Valentine Salter Theresa Maria Manning 💍 1862/4017	Bachelor Spinster	Book binder	25 33	City of Nelson City of Nelson	2 years 2 years	At Christ Church Nelson		31 July 1862	Rev. Henry Meysey Turton
54	1 August 1862	Henry Lawry Godel Jasper Adeline Gill	Henry Lawry Godel Jasper Adeline Gill 💍 1862/3963	Widower Spinster	Hotel Keeper	38 21	Bridge St. Nelson Bridge St. Nelson	18 years 20 years	At the residence of The Rev. Edwd Thomas Manuka St. Nelson		2 August 1862	Rev. Edward Thomas
55	2 August 1862	John Gardner Frances Jennens	John Gardner Frances Jennens 💍 1862/3966	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	27 22	City of Nelson City of Nelson	20 years 3 years	At the residence of John Gardner Carpenter Brook St. Valley Nelson		2 August 1862	Rev. Edward Thomas
56	5 August 1862	John William Neale Ann Greig	John William Neale Ann Greig 💍 1862/4102	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	26 24	City of Nelson City of Nelson	2 years 7 years	At the residence of Thomas Greig Storekeeper Waimea Rd. Nelson		6 August 1862	Rev. Patrick Calder
57	9 August 1862	Cornelius Donel Raymond Agnes Taylor	Cornelius Donel Raymand Agnes Taylor 💍 1862/4099	Bachelor Widow	Master Mariner	29 29	City of Nelson City of Nelson	1 year 12 years	At the Presbyterian Church Nelson		9 August 1862	Rev. Patrick Calder
58	15 August 1862	Robert Henry McCombes Charlotte Ladley	Robert Henry McCombes Charlotte Ladley 💍 1862/3969	Bachelor Spinster	Servant	25 26	City of Nelson City of Nelson	3 months 4 months	At the residence of The Rev. Edwd Thomas Manuka St. Nelson		15 August 1862	Rev. Edward Thomas
59	6 September 1862	William Norris Franklyn Agnes Hudson	William Morris Franklyn Agness Hudsun 💍 1862/2107	Bachelor Spinster	Gentleman	25 18	City of Nelson City of Nelson	2 months 18 years	At the residence of Henry Jacobsen Mariner Waimea St. Nelson	Emma Hudson Mother	6 September 1862	Rev. Jonathan Innes
60	8 September 1862	John Hart Emma Webley	John Hart Emma Webley 💍 1862/2134	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	22 21	Spring Grove City of Nelson	4 months 12 months	At the residence of James Webley Bootmaker Waimea St. Nelson		23 September 1862	Rev. William Moore Biss

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).