Intentions to Marry, 1866

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840378, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Page 309

District of Nelson Quarter ending Jan - Mar

No	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
1	5 January 1866	George Sach Dyer Emily Matilda Smith	George Sach Dyer Emily Matilda Smith 💍 1866/6952	Bachelor Spinster	Digger	20 18	City of Nelson City of Nelson	2 weeks 4 months	at Chriss church Nelson	877	Declarations no person in N.Z. having authority to consent	5 January 1866	Rev Geo: Henry Johnstone
2	5 January 1866	Albert Frederick Wayman Angelina Berry	Albert Frederick Waxman Angelina Berry 💍 1866/6949	Widower Spinster	Sailor	35 19	City of Nelson City of Nelson	10 years 18 years	at Christ church Nelson	876	Thomas Berry Father	5 January 1866	Rev Geo: Henry Johnstone
3	5 January 1866	John Christian Frederick Schroder Mary Catharina Dorothea Stely	John Christian Frederick Schroder Maria Cathrina Maria Stelly 💍 1866/6940	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 17	Waimea West Waimea West	4 years 3 days	at the residence of John Christian Frederick Schroder Wainea West Redwoods valley	873	Hans Peter Asmus Stely Father	5 January 1866	Rev. Ino: Mr. Heine
4	8 January 1866	Thomas Tasker Mary Jordan	Thomas Tasker Mary Jordan 💍 1866/6997	Widower Widow	Butcher	43 22	Richmond Richmond	6 years 20 years	At the Wesleyan chapel Hardy St: Nelson	896		8 January 1866	Rev. William Kirk
5	15 January 1866	Arthur Chuckburgh Collins Erica Elspeth Mackay	Arthur Shuckburgh Collins Erica Elspeth MacKay 💍 1866/6955	Widower Spinster	Settler	33 22	Hillwood Suburban North Drumduan Suburban North	12 years 20 years	at St. Andrews Church Suburban North	878		15 January 1866	Rev Geo: Henry Johnstone
6	26 January 1866	Anthony St. George White Caroline Seadden	Anthony St George White Caroline Scadden 💍 1866/4282	Bachelor Spinster	Coustable	22 19	City of Nelson City of Nelson	10 months 2 years	at Christ Church Nelson	879	Richd Seadden Father	12 February 1866	Rev Geo: Henry Johnstone
7	3 February 1866	Walter Douglas Penelope Mary Tennant	Walter Douglas Penelope Mary Tennent 💍 1866/7000	Widower Widow	Teacher of the Gospel	45 40	City of Nelson City of Nelson	2 weeks 12 months	at the residence of Penelope Mary Tennant Dronse St. Nelson	897		5 February 1866	Rev. William Kirk
8	14 February 1866	Joseph Rothwell Junr Alice Elizabeth Gardner	Joseph Rothwell Alice Elizabeth Gardner 💍 1866/4146	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener	24 21	City of Nelson City of Nelson	23 years 21 years	at the residence of Joseph Rothwell Junr's weka the Nelson	926		28 February 1866	Rev. Edward Thomas
9	16 February 1866	Alexander Finlayson Harriot Beecher Eden	Alexander Findlayson Harriet Beacher Eden 💍 1866/6871	Bachelor Spinster	Master Mariner	25 21	City of Nelson City of Nelson	4 days 4 days	At the Presbyterian Church in Nelson	850		16 February 1866	Rev. Patrick Calder
10	16 February 1866	Robert Martin Smith Ellen Hurford	Robert Martin Smith Ellen Hurford 💍 1866/6868	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	28 17	Wakefield Suburban South	15 years 2 years	at the Custom House Hotel Haven road Nelson	849	Ann Sheddy mother	16 February 1866	Rev. Patrick Calder
11	17 February 1866	John William Slatter Mary Anne Cooper	John William Slatter Mary Ann Cooper 💍 1866/7003	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	23 18	City of Nelson City of Nelson	1 week 6 months	at the residence of Sarah Slatter Nile Street East	898	Mary Ann Franklyn mother	17 February 1866	Rev. William Kirk
12	22 February 1866	Robert Barnes Helen Stewart	Robert Barnes Helen Stewart 💍 1866/6880 Robert Bauchop Maria Stewart 💍 1867/9712	Widower Spinster	Glass china dealer	49 40	City of Nelson City of Nelson	18 months 3 days	at the residence of Robert Barnes Bridge St. Nelson	852		8 March 1866	Rev. Patrick Calder
13	26 February 1866	John Adolphus Wilson Lang Anna Cates	John Adolphus Wilson Lang Anna Cate 💍 1866/6874	Bachelor Spinster	Digger	28 18	City of Nelson City of Nelson	3 weeks 18 years	at the Presbyterian Church in Nelson	857	William Cates Father	26 February 1866	Rev. Patrick Calder

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

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Attribution: This image was digitised by Archives NZ Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga and is republished here under CC BY. It has been cropped and rotated for convenience.

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).