Intentions to Marry, 1871

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840383, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

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

Page 345

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 March 1871

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	5 January 1871	Herbert Bonnington Susan Quayfe Saywell	Herbert Bonnington Susan Quafe Saywell 💍 1871/5385	Bachelor Spinster	Manager of Sheep Station Carpenter	28 28	Richmond Richmond	3 days 7 years	At the residence of George Saywell Richmond	71/503		5 January 1871	Rev. James Alfred Taylor
2	7 January 1871	Thomas Walls Cecilia Homann	Thomas Watts Cecilia Homann 💍 1871/5322	Widower Widow	Jailor	63 54	City of Nelson City of Nelson	14 years 1 month	at the residence of said Thomas Walls Grove Sheet Nelson	71/482		7 January 1871	Rev. Edward Thomas
3	16 January 1871	John Best Eliza Mary Best	John Best Eliza Mary Best 💍 1871/5391	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	24 25	Appleby Waimea East City of Nelson	24 years 4 years	At St Albans Church Appleby	71/505		16 January 1871	Rev. William David Parry
4	21 January 1871	Charles Houghton Mills Margaret Morrison	Charles Houghton Mills Margaret Morrison 💍 1871/5313 Charles Beckingsale Margaret Morrison 💍 1871/8514	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep farmer	26 18	City of Nelson City of Nelson	3 days 2 years	At Christ church Nelson	71/479	John Morrison Father	21 January 1871	Rev. Geo. Henry Johnstone
5	23 January 1871	Charles Andrews Jane Livingaston	Charles Andrews Jane Livingston 💍 1871/5277	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	29 24	City of Nelson City of Nelson	12 years 7 years	At St Michaels church Waimea West	71/469		23 January 1871	Rev. Charles Oliver Mules
6	24 January 1871	William Shutters Lydia Jane Bradley	William Struthers Lydia Jane Bradley 💍 1871/7374	Bachelor Spinster	Painter	30 21	Stoke Stoke	2 weeks 20 years	at the residence of Arthur Bradley Farmer Stoke	72/194		24 January 1871	Rev. Patrick Calder
7	8 February 1871	James Haycock Emma Nichols	James Haycock Emma Nichols 💍 1871/5388	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	30 21	Richmond Richmond	3 weeks 1 month	At the residence of Herbert Haycock Settler Richmond	71/504		8 February 1871	Rev. James Alfred Taylor
8	10 February 1871	James Pilkinson Mary Lucy Akersten	James Pilkington Mary Lucy Akersten 💍 1871/5328	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Marine Surveyor	36 22	City of Nelson City of Nelson	5 months 15 years	at the residence of William Akersten Hampden Street Nelson	71/484		10 February 1871	Rev. Edward Thomas
9	27 February 1871	Joshua Barclay Elizabeth Louisa Miles	Joshua Barclay Elizabeth Louisa Miles 💍 1871/7377	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher Carter	27 18	City of Nelson City of Nelson	7 days 7 days	at the residence of George King Bridge St Nelson	72/195	Sarah Baldwin Carter mother	27 February 1871	Rev. Patrick Calder
10	1 March 1871	James Hart Sarah Davis	James Hart Sarah Davis 💍 1871/5331	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	18 25	Richmond City of Nelson	18 years 5 years	at the residence of Mary Stanton widow Collingwood St. Nelson	71/485	Richard Hart father	1 March 1871	Rev. Edward Thomas
11	4 March 1871	Charles Columbus Perkins Sarah Blythe	Charles Columbus Perkins Sarah Blythe 💍 1871/5286	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	27 26	City of Nelson City of Nelson	18 months 20 years	At the Baptist church Bridge Street Nelson			4 March 1871	Rev. William Moore Biss
12	6 March 1871	William Stagg Christina Haase	William Stagg Christina Haase 💍 1871/5268	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	24 19	City of Nelson City of Nelson	6 years 19 years	At the "Post Boy" Hotel Vanguard St. Nelson	71/464	John Ludwig Haase father	6 March 1871	Rev. William I. Watkin
13	7 March 1871	John Aitken Jane Porthouse	John Aitken Jane Porthouse 💍 1871/5265	Bachelor Widow	Digger	25 29	City of Nelson City of Nelson	3 months 13 years	At the residence of Jane Porthouse, widow Gloucester St. Nelson	71/463		7 March 1871	Rev. William I. Watkin
14	8 March 1871	Walter Maunsell Stace Julia Johnston	Walter Maunsell Stace Julia Johnston 💍 1871/5316	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	27 22	Nelson City Nelson City	14 days 2 years	At Christ church Nelson	71/480		8 March 1871	Rev. Geo. Henry Johnstone
15	11 March 1871	John Rendell Catherine Devanny	John Rendell Catherine Devanney 💍 1871/5307	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	24 20	Nelson Nelson	6 years 20 years	At St. Marys Catholic Church Nelson	71/477	Andrew Devanny Father	11 March 1871	Rev. Antoine M. Garin
16	21 March 1871	John Saynster Ellen Withers	John Paynter Ellen Withers 💍 1871/5271	Widower Spinster	Farmer	26 18	Stoke Suburban South Suburban North	5 years 15 years	At the residence of John Withers farmer Suburban North	71/465	John Withers Father	21 March 1871	Rev. William I. Watkin

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).