Intentions to Marry, 1868

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840380, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Page 347

District of Quarter ending

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	7 January 1868	George Nisbet Eliza Hughes	George Nisbet Eliza Hughes 💍 1868/8150	Bachelor Spinster	Waggoner	24 18	Fox Hill Fox Hill	2 years 6 months	At the residence of Thomas Nisbet, Fox Hill	1221	Harriet Hughes, mother	7 January 1868	Rev. Geo. H. Johnstone
2	10 January 1868	Robert Grant Susannah Bird	Robert Grant Susannah Bird 💍 1868/7898	Bachelor Spinster	Carter	28 24	City of Nelson City of Nelson	3 years 14 years	At the residence of William Dutton, Carpenter, Milton St. Nelson	1133		10 January 1868	Rev. Patrick Calder
3	14 January 1868	Charles John Bird Isabella Gilbertson	Charles John Bird Isabella Gilbertson 💍 1868/7901	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	22 22	City of Nelson City of Nelson	22 years 3 years	At the residence of Ann Bird, Butcher, Trafalgar St. Nelson	1134		14 January 1868	Rev. Patrick Calder
4	17 January 1868	Frederick Ludewig Kortegast Fanny Field	Frederick Ludwig Kortegast Fanny Field 💍 1868/8081	Bachelor Spinster	Hotel Keeper	34 26	City of Nelson City of Nelson	10 days 10 days	At Christchurch	1198		17 January 1868	Rev. Geo: H. Johnstone
5	20 January 1868	James Roberts Mary Hannah Smart	James Roberts Mary Hannah Smart 💍 1868/8153	Widower Spinster	Gentleman	58 62	City of Nelson City of Nelson	25 years 10 years	At the residence of the Rev. Edw. Thomas, Manuka St. Nelson	1222		20 January 1868	Rev. Edw. Thomas
6	21 January 1868	Robert Draper Emma Ricketts	Roberts Draper Emma Ricketts 💍 1868/7949	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	31 23	City of Nelson City of Nelson	2 years 23 years	At the residence of Robert Draper, Mariner, Russell St. Nelson	1152		21 January 1868	Rev. John Crump
7	21 January 1868	John Frederick Ericson Charlotte Kidson	John Frederick Ericson Charlotte Kitson 💍 1868/4329	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	25 18	City of Nelson City of Nelson	14 years 10 years	At the residence of John Kidson, Senr., Britannia Heights, Nelson	1224	John Kidson, father	5 February 1868	Rev. Edward Thomas
8	24 January 1868	Josesh Griffith Lavena Emily Symes	Joses Griffith Rowena Emily Symes 💍 1868/9661	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	22 19	Suburban South Suburban South	22 years 12 years	At the Protestant Episcopalian Church, Waimea South	1224	John Horace Symes, father	24 January 1868	Rev. Francis Tripp
9	25 January 1868	James Horton Harriet Elizabeth Godley	James Horton Harriet Elizabeth Godley 💍 1868/8084	Widower Spinster	Gentleman	50 28	City of Nelson City of Nelson	10 days 10 days	At Christchurch	1149		25 January 1868	Rev. Geo: H. Johnstone
10	30 January 1868	Francis Lusty Ann Streeter	Francis Lusty Ann Streeter 💍 1868/8159	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	28 20	Richmond Richmond	22 years 1 month	At the residence of Benjamin Lusty, Farmer, Richmond	1225	Richard Streeter, father	3 March 1868	Rev. Edward Thomas
11	31 January 1868	Charles Holdaway Helen Ramadge Millar Mair	Charles Holdaway Helen Ramage Miller Mair 💍 1868/8087	Bachelor Spinster	Miller	23 19	Spring Grove City of Nelson	4 years 11 years	At Christchurch	1200	David Mair, father	31 January 1868	Rev. Joshua Thorpe
12	5 February 1868	William Morrison Catherine Kidson	William Morrison Catherine Kitson 💍 1868/8156	Bachelor Spinster	Groom	27 20	City of Nelson City of Nelson	23 years 20 years	At the residence of John Kidson, Senr., Britannia Heights, Nelson	1223	John Kidson, father	5 February 1868	Rev. Edward Thomas
13	7 February 1868	Stephen Leaver Agnes Miller	Stephen Leaver Agnes Miller 💍 1868/8021	Bachelor Spinster	Carter	25 21	City of Nelson City of Nelson	5 years 4 years	At the residence of Edwin Edwards, Constable, Grove St. Nelson	1176		7 February 1868	Rev. John Davis
14	11 February 1868	James Coulter Helliker Jane Anastasia Molony	James Coulter Kellock Jane Anastasia Moloney 💍 1868/4919	Bachelor Spinster	Contractor	32 25	City of Nelson City of Nelson	3 days 10 weeks	At the Catholic Church, Nelson			11 February 1868	Rev. A. M. Garin
98	19 December 1867	James Woolley Sarah Fletcher	James Woolley Sarah Fletcher 💍 1868/8078							1197

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

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).