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 348

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
151	12 February 1868	James Jennings Susan Emma Woster	James Jennings Louisa Emma Worster 💍 1868/7952	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	24 21	City of Nelson City of Nelson	24 years 2 years	At the Wesleyan chapel Hardy St. Nelson	1153		12 February 1868	Rev. John Crump
152	15 February 1868	John Rogers Anne Elizabeth Burnett	John Rogers Ann Elizabeth Burnett 💍 1868/7955	Widower Spinster	Farmer	37 21	City of Nelson Stoke	3 days 21 years	At the residence of Richard Burnett Farmer Stoke	1154		15 February 1868	Rev. John Crum
153	15 February 1868	Michael Eright Mary Flinn	Michael Enright Mary Flinn 💍 1868/8039	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	29 19	City of Nelson City of Nelson	3 days 3 days	At the Catholic Church Nelson	1183	Declaration no person in NZ having authority to consent	15 February 1868	Rev. Ant: M. Ga
154	17 February 1868	James Tomlinson Elizabeth Foard	James Tomlinson Elizabeth Foard 💍 1868/8042	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	28 28	Mainea West Mainea West	25 years 25 years	At the Catholic Church Naimea West	1184		17 February 1868	Rev. Ant: M. Go
155	18 February 1868	William James Greene Harriett Castle	William James Greene Harriett Castle 💍 1868/8141	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	21 23	Hope Wainea East Rauzan Wainea East	10 years 15 years	At the office of the Registrar of marriages Nelson	1218		18 February 1868	The Registrar of marr
156	19 February 1868	John Wise Parker ellaria Lock	John Wise Parker Maria Lock 💍 1868/7958	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	27 19	City of Nelson City of Nelson	6 months 7 years	At residence of J.W. Parker Vanguard St: Nelson	1155	John Lock father	19 February 1868	Rev. John Crump
157	2 March 1868	John Orsborne Jane Veaail	John Orsborne Jane Benson 💍 1868/8144	Bachelor Spinster	Bricklayer	36 38	Waimea West Waimea West	11 years 14 years	At the Protestant Episcopalian church Waimea west	1219		2 March 1868	Rev. Will. David Rob
158	7 March 1868	Walter Frost Isabella Reed Dodson	Walter Frost Isabella Reed Dodson 💍 1868/8093	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	23 23	Suburban North Suburban North	15 years 20 years	At the Protestant Episcopalian Church Suburban North	1202		21 March 1868	Rev. Geo. H: John
159	12 March 1868	John Orsborne Jane Beuson	John Orsborne Jane Benson 💍 1868/8144	Bachelor Spinster	Bricklayer	36 38	Waimea West Waimea West	11 years 14 years	At the Office of the Registrar of marriages Nelson	1219		12 March 1868	The Registrar of Marr
160	13 March 1868	Evan Prichard Mary Browusdon	Goan Prichard Mary Brownsdon 💍 1868/8090	Widower Spinster	Sheep Farmer	45 37	City of Nelson City of Nelson	1 week 1 week	At Christ Church Nelson	1204		13 March 1868	Rev. Geo. H: Johns
161	14 March 1868	Esmy Brown Ann Garuett	Esmy Brown Ann Garnett 💍 1868/9664	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	28 29	Spring Grove Spring Grove	10 years 18 years	At the Protestant Episcopalian church Wakefield	1152		14 March 1868	Rev. J. Trippe
162	23 March 1868	Henry Hammond Fanny Allen	Henry Hammond Fanny Allen 💍 1868/7964	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	27 19	Richmond Richmond	23 years 6 months	At the residence of David Hammond Farmer Richmond	1157	Decl. no person in N.Z. having authority to consent	23 March 1868	Rev. Robt. L. Vicker
163	26 March 1868	Alexander Sutherland Elizabeth Finlayson	Alexander Sutherland Elizabeth Findlayson 💍 1868/4341 Donald Sutherland Elizabeth Thomson 💍 1868/8837	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	27 24	City of Nelson City of Nelson	3 years 2 years	At the Presbyterian Church Nelson	1136		26 March 1868	Rev. Patrick Calder
164	28 March 1868	William Ching Elizabeth Doidge	William Ching Elizabeth Doidge 💍 1868/7961	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	22 21	Suburban North Suburban North	18 months 6 years	At the Wesleyan Chapel Stoke Suburban South	1156		28 March 1868	Rev. John Crump

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).