Intentions to Marry, 1876

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840388, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Alexandra at Archives NZ Wellington, January 31 2025

A few of the pages are missing.

Page 479

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 June 1876

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
19	1 April 1876	Thomas Frost Frances Fanny Small	Thomas Frost Frances Small 💍 1876/1377	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic Servant	34 22	Suburban North Suburban North	26 years 22 years	St Andrews Church, Hillside	76/1324		1 April 1876	Rev. Thos. Saml. Grace, CofE
20	12 April 1876	Douglas James Brown Catherine Mary March	Douglas James Brown Catherine Mary March 💍 1876/1373	Bachelor Spinster	Draftsman	32 24	Examiner Street, Nelson Examiner Street, Nelson	4 years 18 months	Christ Church, Nelson	76/1320		12 April 1876	Rev. James Leighton, CofE
21	12 April 1876	George Bendigo Hurst Julia Jane Betts	George Bendigo Hurst Julia Jane Betts 💍 1876/855	Bachelor Spinster	Saddler	22 22	Richmond, Waimea East Hardy Street, Nelson	2 years 18 years	All Saints Church, Nelson	76/893		12 April 1876	Ven. Archdeacon Thorpe, CofE
22	13 April 1876	Charles Luther Broad Ethel Geraldine Colt	Charles Sutter Broad Ethel Geraldine Colt 💍 1876/1379	Bachelor Spinster	Gentleman	24 17	Nile Street East, Nelson Spring Grove	3 months 3 days	St Pauls Church, Spring Grove	76/1326	Geraldine Colt, mother of bride	13 April 1876	The Rt. Rev. Lord Bp. of Nelson, CofE
23	20 April 1876	Moses Crewdson Margaret Triely	Moses Crewdson Margaret Kiely 💍 1876/876	Widower Spinster	Bus proprietor	46 36	Haven Road, Nelson Haven Road, Nelson	12 years 3 years	Residence of said Moses Crewdson, Haven Road, Nelson	76/890		20 April 1876	Rev. Decimus Dolamore, Bap.
24	22 April 1876	Charles Rowe Sitcock Emma Jane Stagg	Charles Rowe Silcock Emma Jane Stagg 💍 1876/1376	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	23 20	Toi Toi Valley, Nelson Waimea West	23 years 2 years	St Michaels Church, Waimea West	76/1323	James Stagg, father	22 April 1876	Rev. Charles Oliver Mules, CofE
25	25 April 1876	Edmund Slattery Margaret Sullivan	Edward Slattery Margaret Sullivan 💍 1876/946	Bachelor Spinster	Cooper	19 23	Emigration Depot, Nelson Emigration Depot, Nelson	3 days 3 days	St Marys Catholic Church, Nelson	76/1018	Declaration "no person in N.Z. having authority"	25 April 1876	Rev. Antoine Marie Garin, RC
26	15 May 1876	Christopher Smith Cross Ann Green	Christopher Smith Cross Anne Green 💍 1876/877	Bachelor Spinster	Merchant	23 23	Mary Ann Street, Nelson The Sands, Nelson	13 years 23 years	Wesleyan Church, Nelson	76/891		15 May 1876	Rev. George S. Harper, Wes.
27	20 May 1876	Percy Sheppard Emily Kate Lucas	Percy Sheppard Emily Kate Lucas 💍 1876/1823	Bachelor Spinster	Upholsterer	22 18	Ngatiawa Street, Nelson Waimea Street, Nelson	1 year 4 months	Presbyterian Church, Nelson	76/1500	Charles Lucas, father	20 May 1876	Rev. Patrick Calder, Pres.
28	27 May 1876	William Green Mary Ann Davis	William Green Mary Ann Davis 💍 1876/1821 Robert Brown Mary Ann Davis 💍 1876/1404	Widower Spinster	Farmer Dressmaker	45 27	Richmond, Waimea East Richmond, Waimea East	18 years 12 years	Congregational Church, Nelson	76/1498		27 May 1876	Rev. John Beckenham, Congl.
29	1 June 1876	David Buick Mary Ann Hill	David Buick Mary Ann Hill 💍 1876/875	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	28 23	Trafalgar Hotel, Nelson Waimea Street, Nelson	6 days 23 years	Residence of J. M. Hill, Ironmonger, Waimea Street, Nelson	76/889		1 June 1876	Rev. Decimus Dolamore, Bap.
30	5 June 1876	William Atkinson Isabella Younger	William Atkinson Isabella Younger 💍 1876/1374	Bachelor Spinster	Flockowner	22 21	Collingwood Street, Nelson Nile Street East, Nelson	3 days 10 years	Christ Church, Nelson	76/1321		5 June 1876	Rev. James Leighton, CofE
31	20 June 1876	Philip Gerald Dillon Constance Charlotte Monro	Philip Gerald Dillon Constance Charlotte Monro 💍 1876/1375	Bachelor Spinster	Sheepfarmer	28 22	The Port, Nelson Manuka Street, Nelson	3 days 10 years	Christ Church, Nelson	76/1322		20 June 1876	The Rt. Rev. Lord Bp. of Nelson, CofE
32	22 June 1876	Thomas Flower Amelia Frances Burbush	Thomas Flower Amelia Frances Burbush 💍 1876/1367	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	30 21	Wakapuaka Wakapuaka	30 years 4 days	All Saints Church, Nelson	76/1319		22 June 1876	Rev. Thomas Saml. Grace, CofE
33	28 June 1876	Thomas Ninnes Anne Eatwell	Thomas Ninnes Anne Eatwell 💍 1876/878	Bachelor Spinster	Joiner Dressmaker	26 18	Waimea Road, Nelson Waimea Road, Nelson	9 months 9 months	Residence of Thomas Ninnes, Bridge Street, Nelson	76/892	William John Eatwell, father	28 June 1876	Rev. George S. Harper, Wes.
34	30 June 1876	John Burrow Elizabeth Frances Robinson	John Burrow Elizabeth Frances Annie Robinson 💍 1876/1792	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic Servant	23 21	Waimea Road, Nelson Waimea Road, Nelson	2 months 21 years	Residence of said John Burrow, Waimea Road, Nelson	76/898		30 June 1876	Rev. Decimus Dolamore, Bap.

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).