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 311

District of Nelson Quarter ending Apr - Jun

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
151	4 April 1866	John Leslie Stewart Hester Smith	John Leslie Stewart Hester Smith 💍 1866/6961	Bachelor Spinster	Banker	25 25	City of Nelson City of Nelson	1 year 10 years	at Christ Church Nelson	881		4 April 1866	Rev. Geo. Henry Johnstone
152	5 April 1866	Edward Masters Harriet Jane McCalla	Edward Masters Harriet Jane McCaller 💍 1866/6889	Bachelor Spinster	Ironmonger	27 23	City of Nelson City of Nelson	3 months 1 week	at the residence of william Henry Barebur Gentleman Nelson Maatitama st	855		5 April 1866	Rev. Patrick Calder
153	6 April 1866	James Griffis Roberts Mary Jane Caroline Doig	James Griffis Roberts Mary Jane Caroline Doig 💍 1866/6841	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	21 16	Waimea East Waimea East	21 years 10 years	at the Wesleyan Chapel Richmond	839	Mary Elizabeth Rauchfuss Mother	6 April 1866	Rev. Robt. S. Bunn
154	16 April 1866	Agenore Dupuis Rose Martin	Agenose Dupuis Rose Martin 💍 1866/7087	Bachelor Spinster	Hairdresser	30 22	City of Nelson City of Nelson	3 years 2 years	at the residence of The Rev. E. Thomas Manuka St. Nelson	928		16 April 1866	Rev. E. Thomas
155	17 April 1866	Thomas Shaw Deborah Healy	Thomas Shaw Deborah Healy 💍 1866/7072	Widower Widow	Coal Miner	46 41	City of Nelson City of Nelson	6 years 3 years	at the Catholic Church Nelson	922		2 May 1866	Rev. Ant. M. Garin
156	23 April 1866	John Simeon Mary Ellen Winstanley	John Simeon Mary Ellen Winstanley 💍 1866/7090	Bachelor Spinster	Gentleman	25 27	City of Nelson City of Nelson	3 months 3 months	at the residence of The Rev. E. Thomas Manuka St: Nelson	929		23 April 1866	Rev. E. Thomas
157	23 April 1866	Andrew Barret Williamson Charlotte Ranger	Andrew Barnet Williamson Charlotte Ranger 💍 1866/4237	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 24	Richmond Richmond	3 days 6 months	at the residence of James Ranger Farmer Richmond	840		23 April 1866	Rev. Robt. S. Bunn
158	25 April 1866	Thomas Zealand Elizabeth James	Thomas Zealand Elizabeth James 💍 1866/4145 James Freestone Elizabeth James 💍 1866/4489	Bachelor Spinster	Master Mariner	27 26	City of Nelson City of Nelson	3 months 5 days	at Christ Church Nelson	882		25 April 1866	Rev. Geo. H. Johnstone
159	25 April 1866	James Rutherford Martha Thompson	James Rutherford Martha Thompson 💍 1866/7021	Bachelor Spinster	Wheelwright	27 24	Spring Grove Spring Grove	14 years 6 years	at the residence of william Jeffery Farmer Spring Grove	904		25 April 1866	Rev. William Kirklean
160	25 April 1866	Thomas Reuben Bird Harriet Webber	Thomas Reuben Baird Harriet Webber 💍 1866/6892	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	22 20	City of Nelson City of Nelson	22 years 2 years	at the residence of Ann Bird widow Trafalgar St. Nelson	856	Declaration "no person in N.Z. having authority to consent"	25 April 1866	Rev. Patrick Calder
161	30 April 1866	Thomas Owens Mary Ann Crighton	Thomas Evans Mary Ann Crighton 💍 1866/7024	Bachelor Widow	Mariner	29 30	City of Nelson City of Nelson	10 years 2 weeks	at the residence of John Staples Brewer Collingwoods.	905		30 April 1866	Rev. William Kirk
162	30 April 1866	Hugh Kenyon Susan Elizabeth Eden	Hugh Kenyon Susan Elizabeth Eden 💍 1866/6934	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	32 23	Dove Dale Waimea West	3 years 20 years	at the Protestant Episcopalian Church Spring Grove	871		19 May 1866	Late Bishop of Nelson
163	14 May 1866	Timothy O'Regan Margaret Kenny	Timothy O'Regan Margaret Kenny 💍 1866/7075	Bachelor Spinster	Digger	25 25	City of Nelson City of Nelson	9 months 4 years	at the Catholic Church Nelson	923		28 May 1866	Rev. Ant. M. Garin

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).