Intentions to Marry, 1872

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840384, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Page 303

District of Nelson Quarter ending Jan - Mar

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	2 January 1872	Thomas Renwick Anne Smith	Thomas Renwick Anne Smith 💍 1872/5480	Widower Spinster	Physician	52 27	City of Nelson City of Nelson	29 years 3 years	at the Presbyterian Church Nelson	72/1288		2 January 1872	Rev. Patrick Calder
2	2 January 1872	Donald John Fraser McRae Ann Muller McGuiery	Donald John Fraser McRae Ann Maller McGuier 💍 1872/5477	Widower Widow	Contractor	38 39	City of Nelson City of Nelson	14 years 8 years	at the residence of Ann Muller McGuiery Mainea rd: Nelson	72/1287		2 January 1872	Rev. Patrick Calder
3	3 January 1872	Richard McConville Ellen Murphy	Richard McCouvill Ellen Murphy 💍 1872/8597	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	32 25	City of Nelson City of Nelson	2 years 2 years	At the Catholic Church Nelson	72/2346		3 January 1872	Rev. Antoine Marie Garin
4	11 January 1872	Thomas Martin Maryann Davis	Thomas Martin Mary Ann Davis 💍 1872/8624	Bachelor Spinster	Hop grower	24 22	Waimea West Waimea West	3 years 22 years	at St: Michaels Church Waimea West	72/2356		11 January 1872	Rev. Charles Oliver Mules
5	13 January 1872	John Maver Sarah Elizabeth Hardy	John Maver Sarah Elizabeth Hardy 💍 1872/8642	Bachelor Spinster	Miner	30 25	City of Nelson City of Nelson	1 week 13 years	At the residence of Isaac Hardy Storekeeper Bridge St. Nelson	72/2362		13 January 1872	Rev. Charles Oliver Mules
6	19 January 1872	Michael Killeen Elizabeth MacMahon	Michael Killeen Elizabeth MacMahon 💍 1872/8600	Bachelor Spinster	Miner	27 27	City of Nelson City of Nelson	3 days 3 days	At the Catholic Church Nelson	72/2347		19 January 1872	Rev. Antoine Marie Garin
7	23 January 1872	Richard Beeby Alice Roberts	Richard Beeby Alice Roberts 💍 1872/8687	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	36 23	City of Nelson City of Nelson	7 days 6 weeks	at the Office of the Registrar of marriages Nelson	72/2378		23 January 1872	The Registrar of marriages
8	30 January 1872	Thomas Oliver Chittenden Lucy Stagg	Thomas Oliver Chittenden Lucy Stagg 💍 1872/5483	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	22 21	City of Nelson City of Nelson	5 years 3 years	at the residence of Daniel Chittenden Carpenter Nelson	72/1289		30 January 1872	Rev. Patrick Calder
9	15 February 1872	Stephen Clinch Sarah Rowbotham	Stephen Clinch Sarah Rowbotham 💍 1872/8645	Bachelor Spinster	Painter	21 20	City of Nelson Stoke Suburban South	6 years 20 years	at the residence of Hugh Reece labourer alma St: Nelson	72/2	James Rowbotham Father	3 March 1872	Rev. Edward Thomas
10	29 February 1872	Henry Muller Elizabeth Voller	Henry Miller Elizabeth Voller 💍 1872/5489	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner	27 22	City of Nelson City of Nelson	7 years 10 years	at the Wesleyan Church Richmond	72-1292		29 February 1872	Rev. William Cannell
11	8 March 1872	Thomas Gardner Sarah Womack	Thomas Gardner Sarah Womack 💍 1872/8648	Bachelor Widow	Drayman	29 38	City of Nelson City of Nelson	16 years 4 years	At the residence of The Rev. Edwd. Thomas Manuka St. Nelson	72/2384		8 March 1872	Rev. Edward Thomas
12	12 March 1872	Richard England McRae Florence McShane	Richard England McRae Florence MacShane 💍 1872/8615	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep farmer	25 21	City of Nelson City of Nelson	2 years 21 years	At Christ Church Nelson	72/2353		12 March 1872	Rev. Geo: Henry Johnstone
13	16 March 1872	Richard Chattock Hannah Alford	Richard Chattock Hannah Alford 💍 1872/9044	Widower Spinster	Schoolmaster	49 37	City of Nelson City of Nelson	5 years 3 years	at All Saints Church Nelson	72/2302		30 March 1872	Rev. Rich'd Joshua Thorpe
14	19 March 1872	William Boyd Annie Maria Pahl	William Boyd Annie Maria Pohl 💍 1872/8651	Bachelor Spinster	Sawyer	25 20	City of Nelson City of Nelson	5 months 5 months	At the residence of The Rev. Edward Thomas Manuka St. Nelson	72/2365	William Pahl Father	19 March 1872	Rev. Edward Thomas
15	22 March 1872	John Francis Trask Emily Mercer	John Francis Trask Emily Mercer 💍 1872/3978	Bachelor Widow	Butcher	31 29	City of Nelson City of Nelson	11 years 8 years	at the residence of John Francis Trask Collingwood Butcher Nelson	72/2371		22 March 1872	Rev. William J. Watkin
16	26 March 1872	John McGlashen Ellen Jane Newth	John McGlashan Ellen Jane Newth 💍 1872/8672	Bachelor Spinster	Livery Stable Keeper	21 19	City of Nelson Waimea West	21 years 2 months	At the residence of Mark Newth the younger Farmer Waimea West	72/2372	Mark Newth Junt Father	26 March 1872	Rev. Charles Oliver Mules
17	27 March 1872	George Muncaster Jane Elizabeth Rankin	George Muncaster Jane Elizth Rankin 💍 1872/8669	Bachelor Spinster	Jeweller	22 19	City of Nelson City of Nelson	14 years 19 years	at the residence of David Riddle engineer Washington R: Nelson	72/2377	William Rankin Father	27 March 1872	Rev. William J. Watkin

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).