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 305

District of Nelson Quarter ending Apr - Jun

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
18	5 April 1872	Arthur McKellar Wise Emma Dodson	Arthur McKellar Wix Emma Dodson 💍 1872/9041	Bachelor Spinster	Gentleman	25 22	City of Nelson City of Nelson	1 week 10 years	St Barnabas Church Stoke	72/2301		5 April 1872	The Bishop of Nelson
19	8 April 1872	Alfred William Bradley Mary Oliver	Alfred William Bradley Mary Oliver 💍 1872/8675	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 21	Stoke Suburban South Stoke	20 years 3 months	at the residence of Alfred William Bradley said Stoke	72/2374		8 April 1872	The Revd. William J. Watkin
20	13 April 1872	William Westbrooke Squires Catherine Jane Crawshaw Simpson	William Westbrooke Squires Catherine Jane Crawshaw Simpson 💍 1872/7850	Bachelor Spinster	M. D.	31 22	City of Nelson Lower Moutere	7 years 9 months	at the residence of William Simpson, settler, Lower Moutere	72/2088		13 April 1872	The Revd. Geo. Henry Johnstone
21	24 April 1872	Edward Sumner Fairey Sarah Chillenden	Edward Sumner Fairey Sarah Chittenden 💍 1872/8678	Bachelor Spinster	Warehouseman	21 20	City of Nelson City of Nelson	3 years 10 years	at the residence of said Sarah Chillenden Waimea St: Nelson	72/2371	George Chillenden Father	11 May 1872	The Revd. William J. Watkin
22	25 April 1872	James Benson Fleming Hannah Mills Ford	James Bendon Fleming Hannah Mills Ford 💍 1872/8627	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	22 26	Waimea West Waimea West	22 years 22 years	at St Michaels Church Waimea West	72/2357		10 May 1872	The Revd. Charles Oliver Mules
23	29 April 1872	Samuel Henry Drew Catherine Alice Beatson	Samuel Henry Drew Catherine Alice Beatson 💍 1872/3657	Bachelor Spinster	Jeweller	27 20	City of Nelson City of Nelson	14 days 20 years	at the residence of S. Henry Drew, Jeweller Trafalgar St. Nelson	72/2363	Maria Beatson mother	29 April 1872	The Revd. Richard Joshua Thorpe
24	6 May 1872	Henry Byrne Julia Leonard	Henry Byrne Julia Leonard 💍 1872/8603	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	28 23	City of Nelson City of Nelson	3 days 1 week	At the Catholic Church Nelson	72/2348		6 May 1872	The Revd. Antoine Garin
25	6 May 1872	Charles Alexander Everett Emma Harley	Charles Alexander Collett Emma Harley 💍 1872/8618	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	23 23	City of Nelson City of Nelson	1 week 20 years	At Christ Church Nelson	72/2352	Charles Harley Father	6 May 1872	The Bishop of Nelson
26	10 May 1872	Joseph Best Elizabeth Sheat	Joseph Best Elizabeth Sheat 💍 1872/8654	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	23 20	Appleby Richmond	23 years 23 years	at the residence of The Revd. Edward Thomas Manuka St: Nelson	72/2366		10 May 1872	The Revd. Edward Thomas
27	11 May 1872	George Haslam Grace Emily Burlace Pote	George Haslam Grace Emily Burlace Pope 💍 1872/8681	Bachelor Spinster	Printer	21 19	City of Nelson Suburban South	21 years 16 years	at the residence of William Burlace Pote Suburban South	72/2374	William Burlace Pote Father	11 May 1872	The Revd. William J. Watkin
28	21 May 1872	Charles Frederick Wiesenhavern Mary Jane Richardson	Charles Frederick Wiesenhaven Mary Jane Richardson 💍 1872/5454	Bachelor Widow	Wine Merchant	46 37	City of Nelson City of Nelson	10 years 20 years	at the residence of the said Charles Frederick Wiesenhavern "Beece" Hotel Waimea St.	72/1290		21 May 1872	The Revd. Patrick Calder
29	11 June 1872	Luke Nelson Nattrass Marie Antoinette Hayes	Luke Nelson Nattress Marie Antoinette Hayes 💍 1872/5486	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 25	City of Nelson City of Nelson	3 days 11 years	At the Presbyterian Church Nelson	72/1291		11 June 1872	The Revd. Patrick Calder
30	17 June 1872	Joseph Vieara Cordoza Ellen Land	Joseph Vieara Cardoza Ellen Land 💍 1872/8606	Bachelor Spinster	Digger	33 28	City of Nelson City of Nelson	11 years 5 years	at the Catholic Church Nelson	72/2350		[UNCLEAR]	NOT YET ISSUED
31	24 June 1872	Thomas William Bear Eliza Bruce	Thomas William Bear Eliza Bruce 💍 1872/5474	Bachelor Spinster	Painter	25 20	City of Nelson City of Nelson	5 years 20 years	at the residence of Mr. Vere Bogle near Labourer Waimea Road	72/1286	Elizabeth Bogle mother	25 June 1872	The Revd. William Moore Biss
32	29 June 1872	George Fleming Lucy Jeffrey Durrant	George Fleming Lucy Jeffrey Devurant 💍 1872/5681	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	24 26	City of Nelson City of Nelson	14 years 26 years	at the residence of Robert Jeffrey Durrant Halifax St. Nelson	72/1356		29 June 1872	The Revd. William Moore Biss

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).