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 365

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 December 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
60	1 October 1870	James Fieldes Coombs Ellen Robinson	James Fielder Coomles Ellen Robinson 💍 1870/6609 Ernest Stephen Thyme Ellen Robinson 💍 1870/5685	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	26 21	City of Nelson City of Nelson	26 years 3 months	At the residence of John Dave miller, Alton Street, Nelson		1 October 1870	Rev. Edward Thomas
61	1 October 1870	William Avery Alice Hammond	William Avery Alice Hammond 💍 1870/6456	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	27 25	Richmond Richmond	20 years 20 years	At the residence of David Hammond, farmer, Richmond		1 October 1870	Rev. James Alfred Taylor
62	7 October 1870	Francis Day Annie Murphy	Francis Day Annie Murphy 💍 1870/4128	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	24 22	City of Nelson City of Nelson	24 years 4 years	At St. Marys Catholic Church, Nelson		25 October 1870	Rev. Antoine M. Garin
63	18 October 1870	Jesse Parkinson Ann Elizabeth Jordan	Jesse Parkinson Ann Elizabeth Jordan 💍 1870/6459	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	33 25	Richmond Richmond	2 weeks 9 years	At the residence of George Jordan, Carter, Richmond		18 October 1870	Rev. James Alfred Taylor
64	22 October 1870	Herbert Haycock Jane Drummond	Herbert Haycock Jane Drummond 💍 1870/6465	Bachelor Spinster	Mail man	23 24	Richmond Richmond	8 years 4 days	At the residence of Amy Grace Haycock, Spinster, Richmond		22 October 1870	Rev. James Alfred Taylor
65	27 October 1870	Robert Lie Fanny Thompson Gully	Robert Lee Fanny Thompson Gully 💍 1870/6561	Bachelor Spinster	Schoolmaster	33 21	City of Nelson City of Nelson	6 years 10 years	At Christ Church Nelson		27 October 1870	The Lord Bishop of Nelson
66	28 October 1870	John Alexander Couper Amy Grace Haycock	John Alexander Couper Amy Grace Haycock 💍 1870/6462	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	23 18	Richmond Richmond	4 days 18 years	At the residence of Herbert Haycock, mailman, Richmond		28 October 1870	Rev. James Alfred Taylor
67	3 November 1870	George Haines Fanny Walker	George Haines Fanny Walker 💍 1870/6612	Bachelor Spinster	Brick maker	21 21	City of Nelson Suburban South	7 years 7 years	At the residence of Charles Walker, Farmer, Stoke	Bromicoat Jno. W. (Guardian under Will)	3 November 1870	Rev. Edward Thomas
68	4 November 1870	Archibald Grant Louisa Simmonds	Archibald Grant Louisa Simmonds 💍 1870/6615	Bachelor Spinster	Mail contractor	28 18	Nelson City Nelson City	3 years 1 year	At the residence of The Rev. Edw. Thomas, Manuka St, Nelson	Shimmonds Mill, Father	5 November 1870	Rev. Edward Thomas
69	8 November 1870	George Willis Nichol Mary Emma Campion	George Willis Nichol Mary Emma Campion 💍 1870/6564	Bachelor Spinster	Merchant	35 27	City of Nelson City of Nelson	3 days 1 week	At Christchurch Nelson		8 November 1870	Rev. Geo. Henry Johnstone
70	8 November 1870	James Duffy Armstrong Margaret Jane Wood Dickson	James Duffy Armstrong Margaret Jane Ward Dickson 💍 1870/6498	Bachelor Spinster	Carter	26 21	City of Nelson City of Nelson	26 years 2 years	At the Manse, Presbyterian Church, Nelson		8 November 1870	Rev. Patrick Calder
71	11 November 1870	George Castle Mary Cox	George Castle Mary Cox 💍 1870/6618 Michael Waters Mary Cox 💍 1870/7515	Widower Widow	Farmer	63 53	Richmond City of Nelson	17 years 6 months	At the residence of Robert Carter, Hardy St, Nelson		11 November 1870	Rev. Edward Thomas
72	30 November 1870	John Bannatyne Marianne Macdonald	John Bannatyne Marianne Ross 💍 1870/6501	Bachelor Widow	Presbyterian minister	53 32	City of Nelson City of Nelson	3 days 1 week	At the residence of Marianne Macdonald, Collingwood St, Nelson		30 November 1870	Rev. Patrick Calder
73	1 December 1870	John Bannatyne Marianne Ross	John Bannatyne Marianne Ross 💍 1870/6501	Bachelor Widow	Presbyterian minister	53 32	City of Nelson City of Nelson	3 days 1 week	At the residence of Marianne Ross, Collingwood St, Nelson		1 December 1870	Rev. Patrick Calder
74	15 December 1870	John Boughton Jordan Sarah Hurst	John Boughton Jordan Sarah Hurst 💍 1870/6621	Bachelor Spinster	Saddler	26 20	City of Nelson City of Nelson	7 years 6 years	At All Saints Church, Nelson	Geo. John Hurst, Father	15 December 1870	Rev. Richd Joshua Thorpe

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

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).