Intentions to Marry, 1870

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840382, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke Howison at Archives NZ Wellington, November 15 2024

Page 361

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 June 1870

No	Date of Notice	Names and Surnames of Parties	BDM Match	Condition	Calling or Profession	Age	Dwelling Place	Length of Residence	Marriage Place	Consent	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
31	4 April 1870	Charles Henry Eden Sarah Ann Lines	Charles Henry Eden Sarah Ann Lines 💍 1870/6522	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	25 19	Waimea West Wakefield	15 years 10 years	St Michaels Church	John Lines, Father	5 April 1870	Rev. Chas O. Mules
32	6 April 1870	James Robert Wakelin Hannah Jane Robinson	James Robert Wakelin Hannah Jane Robinson 💍 1870/9438	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	24 18	City of Nelson City of Nelson	6 months 18 years	At the residence of Joseph Shaw, Waimea St, Nelson	Elizabeth Shaw, mother	6 April 1870	Rev. Patrick Calder
33	13 April 1870	Francis Neal Ellen Walker	Francis Neale Ellen Walker 💍 1870/6453	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	21 20	Waimea East Waimea East	21 years 14 years	At the residence of Amelia Neal, widow	John Walker, father	30 April 1870	Rev. James Alf. Taylor
34	20 April 1870	Edward John Fours Jane Bell	Edward John Ponis Jane Bell 💍 1870/6483	Bachelor Spinster	Stable Keeper	30 17	City of Nelson Waimea West	3 days 2 months	Presbyterian Church Nelson	William Bell, Father	20 April 1870	Rev. Patrick Calder
35	21 April 1870	Edward Fry Euphemia Eliza Patties	Edward Fry Euphemia Eliza Pattie 💍 1870/6471	Bachelor Spinster	Store Keeper	27 21	City of Nelson City of Nelson	3 days 3 days	At the residence of Rev. Wm Moore Biss, Tasman St, Nelson		21 April 1870	Rev. William Moore Biss
36	21 April 1870	John Edward Haase Emily Hounsell	John Edward Haase Emily Hounsell 💍 1870/6624	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	23 19	City of Nelson City of Nelson	10 years 19 years	At the residence of John Edward Haase, carpenter, Waimea St, Nelson	William Hounsell, father	5 May 1870	Rev. William J. Watkin
37	21 April 1870	Charles Hugh Webb Bowen Florence Angela Cooke	Charles Hugh Webb Bowen Florence Angela Cooke 💍 1870/6531	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk to the Bench, Westport	34 25	City of Nelson Spring Grove	3 days 14 days	St Paul's Church		21 April 1870	Rev. Chas O. Mules
38	26 April 1870	Mathew Townsend Frances Elizabeth Gillett	Mathew Townsend Francis Elizabeth Gillett 💍 1870/6438	Bachelor Spinster	Store Keeper	28 20	Wakefield City of Nelson	4 months 2 years	At the office of The Registrar of marriages Nelson		26 April 1870	Registrar of marriages Nelson
39	27 April 1870	Edmund Jones Elizabeth Howell Thomas	Edmund Jones Elizabeth Howell Thomas 💍 1870/3863	Bachelor Spinster	Printer	26 25	City of Nelson City of Nelson	1 week 10 years	At the residence of The Rev. Edw. Thomas, Manuka St, Nelson	Declaration (no person in NZ having authority)	11 May 1870	Rev. Edward Thomas
40	21 May 1870	Henry David Lloyd Hannah Huet Bates	Henry David Lloyd Hannah Huet Bates 💍 1870/6588	Bachelor Spinster	Bootmaker	25 21	City of Nelson City of Nelson	25 years 3 years	At the residence of Henry David Lloyd, Bridge St, Nelson		21 May 1870	Rev. Edward Thomas

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

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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).