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

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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
85	15 August 1868	Francis Joseph Crispin Mary Elizabeth Ernestien Neumann	Francis Joseph Crispin Mary Elizabeth Ernestein Newman 💍 1868/8000	Bachelor Spinster	Printer	23 17	City of Nelson City of Nelson	10 years 7 years	At the residence of said M.E.E. Neumann Ngatiawa St. NELSON.	1169	William Neumann, father	15 August 1868	Rev. John Crump
86	15 August 1868	George William Thompson Bridget Marten	George William Thompson Bridget Marten 💍 1868/8063	Bachelor Spinster	Sawyer	27 21	Spring Grove Spring Grove	5 years 1 year	At the Catholic Chapel Avainea West	1192		15 August 1868	Rev. Antoine M. G
87	18 August 1868	Henry Dances Gilbert Mary Smith	Henry James Gilbert Mary Smith 💍 1868/8177	Bachelor Spinster	Coachman	21 21	City of Nelson City of Nelson	1 year 21 years	At the residence of Denis Hurley gardener Tasman Street	1231		18 August 1868	Rev. Edward Tho
88	24 August 1868	John Bell Richardson Mary Ann Hay	John Bell Richardson Mary Ann Hay 💍 1868/8003	Bachelor Spinster	Wesleyan Minister	28 25	City of Nelson City of Nelson	3 days 5 days	At the residence of The Rev. John Crump Hardy St. Nelson	1190		24 August 1868	Rev. John Crump
89	27 August 1868	Wellington Barnett Anna Julia Selmes	Arthur Wellington Barnett Ann Julia Selmes 💍 1868/8126	Bachelor Spinster	Teacher	28 22	City of Nelson City of Nelson	10 years 1 week	At Christchurch Nelson	1213		27 August 1868	Rev. Geo. H. Johns
90	1 September 1868	Charles Man Margaret Boyd	Charles Wan Margaret Boyd 💍 1868/7925 Edward Thomas Margaret Boyd 💍 1869/6474	Widower Spinster	Labourer	48 40	City of Nelson City of Nelson	3 days 4 years	At the Manse Presbyterian Church Nelson	1144		1 September 1868	Rev. Patrick Cald
91	1 September 1868	Eric Sparrow Lucy Mary Hailes	Eric Sparrow Mary Lucy Hailes 💍 1868/8066	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	25 18	City of Nelson City of Nelson	3 days 3 days	At St. Mary's Catholic Church Nelson	1193	Geo. James Hailes, Father	1 September 1868	Rev. Antoine M.
92	2 September 1868	Samuel Robert Brewerton Ann Eves	Samuel Robert Brewerton Ann Eves 💍 1868/8180	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	24 19	Spring Grove Spring Grove	24 years 19 years	At the residence of William Eves, Farmer Spring Grove	1232	William Eves, Father	2 September 1868	Rev. Edward Tho
93	2 September 1868	Charles Curtis Elinor Fleming	Charles Curtis Eleanor Fleming 💍 1868/8069	Widower Widow	Publican	33 25	City of Nelson City of Nelson	4 days 4 weeks	At the Catholic Church Nelson	1194		2 September 1868	Rev. Antoine M.
94	5 September 1868	Alexander Thight Lucy Jane Maddocks	Alexander Knight Lucy Jane Maddock 💍 1868/8213	Widower Spinster	Jailor	36 21	City of Nelson Spring Grove	4 years 21 years	At St. John's Church Wakefield	1246		5 September 1868	Rev. Chas Oliver
95	11 September 1868	Charles Flowers Emily Grimsey	Charles Flowers Emily Grimsey 💍 1868/7928	Bachelor Spinster	Painter	35 22	City of Nelson City of Nelson	2 years 18 months	At residence of John Hoggmachser Tasman St. Nelson	1145		11 September 1868	Rev. Patrick Cal
96	18 September 1868	Robert Edgar Priscilla Santon Brewerton	Robert Edgar Priscilla Parton Brewerton 💍 1868/8006	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	25 21	Moputueka Valley Moputueka Valley	2 years 7 years	At the residence of The Rev. John Crump Wesleyan Minister Nelson	1171		18 September 1868	Rev. John Crump
97	18 September 1868	Thomas Humber Ellen Barton	Thomas Hunter Ellen Barton 💍 1868/8129	Widower Widow	Dealer	52 34	City of Nelson City of Nelson	2 weeks 10 years	At Christ church Nelson	1214		18 September 1868	Rev. Geo. H. Johns
98	28 September 1868	George Wilsden McRae Mary Moore	William Keeler Mary Moore 💍 1868/4697	Bachelor Spinster	Flock Owner	30 22	Waimea East City of Nelson	7 days 22 years	At the residence of Daniel Moore Trafalgar St. Nelson	1146		28 September 1868	Rev. Patrick Cal

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).