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 481

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 September 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
35	6 July 1876	Charles George Collins Georgeina Lineham	Charles George Collins Georgina Lineham 💍 1876/1987	Bachelor Spinster	Fitter Domestic Servant	26 17	Washington Valley, Nelson Nile Street East, Nelson	13 months 2 years	Residence of Charles George Collins, Washington Valley, Nelson	76/1892	Lineham Thomas, Father	16 August 1876	Rev. John Beckenham
36	10 July 1876	William Newport Eliza Jane Gill	William Newport Eliza Jane Gill 💍 1876/1989	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher Nil	22 16	Brook Street, Nelson Wakapuaka	2 years 6 years	Protestant Episcopalian Church, Wakapuaka	76/1894	Gill Jane, Mother	10 July 1876	Rev. Thos. Saml. Grace, Junr.
37	10 July 1876	Frank Frederick William Schulz Anna Margaretha Dorothea Claasen	Frank Frederich William Schulz Anna Margretha Dorothea Claasen 💍 1876/1812	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Nil	26 17	Russell Street, Nelson Russell Street, Nelson	18 months 1 year	Residence of Frank Frederick William Schulz, Russell Street, Nelson	76/1903	Claasen Johann, Father	10 July 1876	Rev. John Will, Chr. Heines
38	21 July 1876	William Sedman Chisholm Amelia Kate Brind	William Sedman Chisholm Amelia Heti Brind 💍 1876/1990	Bachelor Spinster	Painter Governess	33 26	Bridge Street, Nelson Collingwood Street, Nelson	13 years 3 years	Residence of Alfred Henry Brind, Collingwood Street, Nelson	76/1895	[illegible]	21 July 1876	Rev. Patrick Calder
39	24 July 1876	Herbert Simmons Margaret Smith Gilbertson	Herbert Simmons Margaret Smith Gilbertson 💍 1876/1991	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Nil	29 24	Bridge Street, Nelson Haven Road, Nelson	3 years 4 years	Residence of David Gilbertson, Shipwright, Haven Road, Nelson	76/1896	[illegible]	24 July 1876	Rev. Patrick Calder
40	1 August 1876	Carrington Gapper Frances Tomlinson	Carrington Gapper Frances Tomlinson 💍 1876/1810	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	32 27	Richmond, Waimea East Waimea West	2 weeks 27 years	Saint Marys Catholic Station, Nelson	76/1981	[illegible]	1 August 1876	Rev. Antoine M. Garin
41	1 August 1876	Patrick McGrath Sophia Lester	Pk McGrath Sophia Lester 💍 1876/1811	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Domestic Servant	30 21	Haven Road, Nelson Bridge Street, Nelson	2 years 15 months	Saint Marys Catholic Station, Nelson	76/1902		1 August 1876	Rev. Antoine M. Garin
42	17 August 1876	William James Hird Eugenie Marie Augarde	William James Hird Eugenie Marie Augarde 💍 1876/2403	Bachelor Spinster	Storekeeper Nil	27 19	Collingwood Street, Nelson Collingwood Street, Nelson	2 years 9 years	Christ Church, Nelson	76/2212	Augarde Henry John Louis, Father	17 August 1876	Rev. James Leighton
43	23 August 1876	William Brown Sarah Annie Jones	William Brown Sarah Annie Jones 💍 1876/2402 William Brown Margaret Bartholomew 💍 1876/2512 William Brown Fanny Laura Lane 💍 1877/110 William Brown Mary Stewart 💍 1877/1460	Bachelor Spinster	Draper Milliner	24 24	Collingwood Street, Nelson Beachville, Nelson	3 years 20 years	Christ Church, Nelson	76/2211	[illegible]	23 August 1876	Rev. James Leighton
44	1 September 1876	Wylie Thomas Wakelin Mary Canning	Wyllie Thomas Wakelin Mary Canning 💍 1876/1992	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Nil	28 21	Waimea Street, Nelson Waimea Street, Nelson	2 months 10 years	Residence of James Robert Wakelin, Bricklayer, Waimea Street, Nelson	76/1897	[illegible]	1 September 1876	Rev. Patrick Calder
45	4 September 1876	John Stuart Fanny Julia Gully	John Stuart Fanny Julia Gully 💍 1876/2404	Bachelor Spinster	Merchant Nil	45 17	Collingwood Street, Nelson Collingwood Street, Nelson	6 days 1 month	Christ Church, Nelson	76/2213	Gully Charles James, Father	4 September 1876	The Lord Bishop of Nelson
46	7 September 1876	George Witney Sarah Fallover	George Witney Sarah Falloner 💍 1876/1988	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic Servant	32 24	Vanguard Street, Nelson Nile Street East, Nelson	6 months 2 years	Residence of George Witney, Labourer, Vanguard Street, Nelson	76/1893	[illegible]	7 September 1876	Rev. John Beckenham
47	9 September 1876	Biaggio Grossi Elizabeth Kassebaum	Biaggio Grossi Elizabeth Kassebaum 💍 1876/1710	Bachelor Widow	Fisherman Nil	43 31	Oyster Island, Nelson Oyster Island, Nelson	18 months 18 months	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	76/1890	[illegible]	9 September 1876	The Registrar of Marriages, Nelson
48	23 September 1876	Friederich Johann Ewers Wilhelmine Wendelborn	Friedrich Johann Ewers Wilhelmine Sophia Louise Wendelborn 💍 1876/1809	Widower Widow	Farmer Nil	45 44	Upper Moutere Waimea West	17 years 4 years	Lutheran Church, Ranzau	76/1900	[illegible]	23 September 1876	Rev. Christian Friederich Meyer
49	26 September 1876	Martin Robert Christian Augustus Valentine Gembitsky Susannah Silcock	Martin Robert Christian Augustus Valentine Gembitzky Susannah Silcock 💍 1876/1986	Bachelor Spinster	Runholder Nil	23 21	Waimea East Waimea East	11 months 15 years	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	76/1891	[illegible]	26 September 1876	The Registrar of Marriages, Nelson
50	27 September 1876	Thomas Jennens Rose Anna Aldridge	Thomas Jennens Rose Anna Alldridge 💍 1876/1803	Bachelor Spinster	Carter Nil	28 15	Grove Street, Nelson Halifax Street, Nelson	2 years 8 years	Residence of Thomas Jennens, Halifax Street, Nelson	76/1899	Aldridge Henry, Father	27 September 1876	Rev. Decimus Dolamore

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 1898. More registers will be added when the Archives NZ Wellington reading room re-opens in September 2025.

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).