Intentions to Marry, 1877

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840389, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, April 16 2025

Page 451

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 March 1877 Registrar Robert Pickett

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	02 January 1877	Edward Collins Mary O'Marah	Edwards Colling Mary O'Marah 💍 1877/1751	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer NIL	23 20	Lunatic Asylum Nelson Waimea Street Nelson	2 years 2 years	At St. Marys Catholic Church	77/1404		02 January 1877	Rev. Ant: M. Garin
2	05 January 1877	George Stephens Emily Prideaux	George Stephens Emily Prideaux 💍 1877/396	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Dressmaker	22 22	St. Vincent Street Nelson Gloucester Street Nelson	2 years 2 years	At the residence of James Penney, Cabdriver	77/301		05 January 1877	Rev. Jno. Beckenham
3	05 January 1877	Thomas Scott Rosa Caroline Harris	Thomas Scott Rosa Caroline Harris 💍 1877/394	Widower Spinster	Accountant Governess	55 34	Brook Sheet Nelson Brook Street Nelson	10 months 3 days	At Christ Church Nelson	77/299		05 January 1877	The Bishop of Nelson
4	09 January 1877	Joseph Busch Christina Wakefield	Joseph Busch Christina Wakefield 💍 1877/427	Widower Widow	Farmer NIL	36 41	Aniseed Valley Waimea East Waimea East	32 years 32 years	At the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Nelson	77/309		09 January 1877	The Registrar of Marriages Nelson
5	11 January 1877	Thomas Skallie Ellen Aldridge	Thomas Skallie Ellen Aldridge 💍 1877/404	Bachelor Spinster	Cook Domestic Servant	22 19	P.S. Lady Barkly Nelson Van Dieman Street Nelson	2 years 19 years	At the residence of Job Aldridge, Farmer, Van Dieman St: Nelson	77/302	Aldridge Job, Father	11 January 1877	Rev. John Beckenham
6	12 January 1877	George Meluish Beer Lucy Pickering	George Meluish Beer Lucy Pickering 💍 1877/410	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinetmaker NIL	21 21	Richmond Waimea East Richmond Waimea East	6 weeks 20 years	At the Wesleyan Church, Richmond, Waimea East	77/316		12 January 1877	Rev. Geo. S. Harper
7	13 January 1877	Thomas Edmund Small Elizabeth Jane Bellingham	Thomas Edmond Small Eliz Jane Bellingham 💍 1877/757	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer NIL	27 26	Suburban North Suburban North	27 years 2 years	At St. Peters Church, Suburban North	77/673		13 January 1877	Rev. Tho. Saml. Grace
8	19 January 1877	George Meluish Beer Lucy Pickering	George Meluish Beer Lucy Pickering 💍 1877/410	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinetmaker NIL	21 21	Richmond Waimea East Richmond Waimea East	3 days 20 years	At the Wesleyan Church Richmond	77/632		19 January 1877	Rev. George S. Harper
9	19 January 1877	Allaby William Hobbs Sarah Marks	Allaby William Hobbs Sarah Marks 💍 1877/739	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner NIL	60 47	Haven road Nelson Haven road Nelson	20 years 16 years	At the Presbyterian Church Nelson	77/632		19 January 1877	Rev. Patrick Calder
10	20 January 1877	Edward Harvey Abbe Johanna Turner	Edward Harvey Abbe Johanna Turner 💍 1877/736	Bachelor Spinster	Bushman NIL	28 19	Bridge Street Nelson Bridge Street Nelson	14 days 14 days	At the Presbyterian Church Nelson	77/629	Turner Robert Ting, Father	20 January 1877	Rev. Patrick Calder
11	27 January 1877	George Moss Sarah Hounsell	George Moss Sarah Hounsell 💍 1877/415	Bachelor Spinster	Barman NIL	23 21	Tasman Sheet Nelson Tasman Sheet Nelson	1 week 1 week	At the Congregational Church Nelson	77/303		27 January 1877	Rev. John Beckenham
12	31 January 1877	Robert Brown Amelia Moore	Robert Brown Milly Moore 💍 1877/737	Widower Spinster	Miner Domestic Servant	41 23	Collingwood Sheet Nelson Collingwood Sheet Nelson	14 days 14 days	At St. Marys Catholic Church Nelson	77/440		31 January 1877	Rev. Antoine M. Garin
13	02 February 1877	Robert Brown Milly Moore	Robert Brown Milly Moore 💍 1877/737	Widower Spinster	Miner Domestic Servant	41 23	Collingwood Street Nelson Collingwood Street Nelson	16 days 16 days	At Charles McGee's Hotel Collingwood Street Nelson	77/630		02 February 1877	Rev. Patrick Calder
14	05 February 1877	John Bray Mary Ann Clark	John Bray Mary Ann Clark 💍 1877/422	Bachelor Spinster	Contractor Domestic Servant	33 29	St. Vincent Street Nelson Brough Street Nelson	10 years 3 months	At the residence of John Bray, Contractor, Tasman Street Nelson	77/304		05 February 1877	Rev. John Beckenham
15	07 February 1877	Lewis Henry Chittenden Mary Ann Macey	Lewis Henry Chittenden Mary Ann Macey 💍 1877/424	Bachelor Spinster	Writing Clerk NIL	20 18	Alma Street Nelson Nile Street East Nelson	5 years 1 year	At the Congregational Church Nelson	77/306	Chittenden George, Father, Macey William, Father	08 February 1877	Rev. John Beckenham
16	07 February 1877	William Avery Eleanor Rose	William Avery Eleanor Rose 💍 1877/395	Widower Spinster	Farmer NIL	33 25	Shelburne Street Nelson Shelburne Street Nelson	5 days 6 months	At the residence of John Rose, Storeman, Shelburne Street Nelson	77/300		07 February 1877	Rev. George S. Harper
17	12 February 1877	Samuel Dickinson Matilda Gibbs	Samuel Dickinson Matilda Gibbs 💍 1877/428	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer NIL	26 23	Hardy Street Nelson Waimea road Nelson	6 months 5 days	At the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Nelson	77/310		12 February 1877	The Registrar of Marriages Nelson
18	21 February 1877	Francis Roach Catherine Leaty	Francis Roach Catherine Leahy 💍 1877/411	Widower Spinster	Farmer NIL	35 37	Bridge Street Nelson Waimea West	14 days 20 years	At the Catholic Church Waimea West	77/314		21 February 1877	Rev. Antoine Marie Garin

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 1899. More registers are being added almost every week.

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).