Intentions to Marry, 1867

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840379, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Page 321

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	2 Jany 1867	George Hodgson Martha Ann Barrett	George Hodgson Martha Ann Barrett 💍 1867/6748	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk in government office	21 21	City of Nelson City of Nelson	21 years 18 years	All Saints Church	817		23 Jany	Rev. Geo Henry Johnstone
2	5 Jany 1867	Edward James Byland Maria Jane Davis	Edward James Byland Maria Jane Davis 💍 1867/6823	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	35 24	City of Nelson City of Nelson	4 days 4 days	at the residence of Elizabeth me Beth Haven road	842			Rev. Edward Thomas
3	15 Jany	Walter Huddleston Powel Clara Eugenia Jacobsen	Walter Hardgrove Haines Clara Fulgertia Jacobsen 💍 1867/6718	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	32 18	City of Nelson City of Nelson	1 week 1 month	at the Catholic Church in Nelson	807	Johann Sigismund 15 Jany		Rev. Antoine Marie Garin
4	19 Jany	Charles Wright Betsy Gifford	Charles Knight Betsy Gifford 💍 1867/6745	Bachelor Widow	Plasterer	30 30	City of Nelson Waimea East	3 months 14 years	at Christchurch	816		19 Jany	Rev. Geo: Henry Johnstone
5	21 Jany	Thomas Hall Lammas Mary Ann Eyles	Thomas Hall Lammas Mary Ann Eyles 💍 1867/6691	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	23 19	Richmond Richmond	6 years 19 years	at the residence of William Eyles Richmond	798	William Eyles Father	2 Feby	Rev. John Davis
6	29 Jany	Richard Ramsay Morton Emma Webb	Michael Ramsay Morton Emma Webb 💍 1867/6751	Bachelor Spinster	Merchant	23 18	City of Nelson City of Nelson	2 years 18 years	at Christ church	818	Joseph Webb Father	29 Jany	Rev. Geo Henry Johnstone
7	7 Febry	Arthur Crosbie Ann Davis	Arthur Crosbie Ann Dawes 💍 1867/6589	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	23 24	City of Nelson City of Nelson	1 year 2 years	at the residence of Samuel Wakeley Toi Toi valley	762		25 Febry	Rev. Patrick Calder
8	13 Febry	William Lines Lucy Allcock	William Lines Lucy Allcock 💍 1867/6586	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	25 20	Waimea East Waimea East	10 years 12 years	at the residence of William Lines	761	Charlotte Allcock mother	13 Feby	Rev. R. S. Bunn
9	15 Febry	Robert Aitken Mary Bollen	Robert Aitken Mary Bollen 💍 1867/6826	Widower Spinster	Brewer	31 21	City of Nelson City of Nelson	10 years 1 year	at the residence of James Noel Wilkinson Albion Hotel Haven road Nelson	843		15 Feby	Rev. Edward Thomas
10	18 Febry	Henry Adams Jane Elliott	Henry Adams Jane Elliott 💍 1867/6754	Widower Spinster	Solicitor	46 32	City of Nelson City of Nelson	17 years 25 years	at Christ church	819		18 Febr	Rev. Geo Henry Johnstone
11	18 Febry	James Edmund Ferguson Catherine Otterson	James Edmund Hodson Catherine Otterson 💍 1867/6757	Bachelor Spinster	Run holder	34 23	City of Nelson City of Nelson	4 days 20 years	At Christchurch	820		18 Febr	Rev. Geo: Henry Johnstone
1866	91 1867	Robert Youngson Scott Mary Elizabeth Fletcher	Robert Henry Bartlett Mary Elizabeth Fletcher 💍 1867/6742							815		1867	Rev. Geo Henry Johnstone
1866	94	John Hogg Ellen Bush	John Hogg Ellen Bush 💍 1867/6739							814		4 Jany	Rev. Geo. Henry Johnstone

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).