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 455

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 September 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
44	26 June 1877	William Thomas Pitcher Elizabeth Ross	William Thomas Pitcher Elizabeth Ross 💍 1877/1758									2 July 1877	The Registrar of marriages Nelson
46	28 June 1877	Frederick William John Tomlinson Mary Louisa Mason	Frederick Tomllinson May Louisa Mason 💍 1877/1754	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	25 20	Waimea West Waimea East	25 years 3 days	At St. Mary's Catholic Presbytery, Nelson	77/1409		13 July 1877	Rev. William Mahoney
47	2 July 1877	George Lewis Dodson Elizabeth Alborough	Geo Lewis Dodson Elizabeth Rafferty 💍 1877/2143	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 22	Suburban North Suburban North	9 days 7 years	At S. Andrews Church	77/1416		2 July 1877	Rev. Thos. Saml. Grace
48	3 July 1877	Richard the younger Adams Ellen Fissenden	Richard Adams Junior Ellen Fissenden 💍 1877/1778	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor	22 21	Alma Sheet Nelson Alma Sheet Nelson	1 year 1 year	At the residence of Richard Adams Tailor	77/2109		3 July 1877	Rev. George S. Harper
49	4 July 1877	George Lewis Dodson Elizabeth Rafferty	Geo Lewis Dodson Elizabeth Rafferty 💍 1877/2143	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 22	Suburban North Suburban North	9 days 7 years	At S. Andrews Church	77/2109		4 July 1877	Rev. Thos. Saml. Grace
50	11 July 1877	Andrew Jennings Annie Mooney	Andrew Jennings Annie Mooney 💍 1877/1757	Bachelor Spinster	Maltster Domestic Servant	23 23	Collingwood Sheet Nelson Collingwood Sheet Nelson	23 years 2 years	At the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Nelson	77/1412		11 July 1877	The Registrar of Marriages Nelson
51	14 July 1877	Thomas Henry Bellamore Rose anna Paul	Thomas Henry Bellamore Rose Anna Paul 💍 1877/1785	Bachelor Spinster	Trimmer P.S.	22 19	On board P.S. Charles Edward of Nelson Harley Sheet Nelson	22 years 22 years	At the residence of George Paul Laborer	77/1417	Paul George (Father)	14 July 1877	Rev. George S. Harper
52	17 July 1877	Edward the younger Everett Alice Jane Drew	Edward Erueti Junior Alice Jane Dren 💍 1877/2186	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	29 20	Haven road Nelson Trafalgar Sheet Nelson	20 years 20 years	At the residence of Edward Everett	77/2129	Drew James (Father)	17 July 1877	Rev. Patrick Calder
53	19 July 1877	George Newport Elizabeth Ann Kinzett	George Newport Eliz Ann Kinzett 💍 1877/2144	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	25 19	Brook Street Valley Suburban North	25 years 19 years	St. Peters Church, Suburban North	77/2110	George Kinzett (Father)	19 July 1877	Rev. Thomas S. Grace Junr.
54	20 July 1877	John Webley Susan Lockyer	John Webley Susan Lockyer 💍 1877/1756	Widower Spinster	Carpenter	29 17	Brook Sheet Nelson Brook Sheet Nelson	17 years 17 years	At the residence of William Lockyer	77/1411	Lockyer William (Father)	20 July 1877	Rev. John Bickenham
55	28 July 1877	Christopher Galwey Edith Bertha Hargreaves	Christopher Galway Edith Bertha Hardgreaves 💍 1877/2187	Bachelor Spinster	Surveyor	29 21	Trafalgar Sheet Nelson Collingwood Street Nelson	3 days 21 years	At the residence of Henry Irevt. Surveyor	77/2130		28 July 1877	Rev. Patrick Calder
56	30 July 1877	Charles Thomas Cooke Mary Ann Boucher	Charles Thomas Cooke Mary Anne Boucher 💍 1877/1934	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	24 24	Manuka Sheet Nelson Manuka Sheet Nelson	4 days 3 years	At Christ Church	77/1866		30 July 1877	Rev. James Leighton
57	31 July 1877	Herbert Edcoin Hall Eliza Ann Kerr	Herbert Edwin Hale Eliza Anne Kerr 💍 1877/2101	Bachelor Spinster	Storekeeper	26 22	Hope Waimea East Waimea West	3 months 20 years	At the residence of James Kerr Farmer	77/2064		31 July 1877	Rev. Chas. O. Mules
58	4 August 1877	John Doidge Haimah Walker	John Doidge Hannah Walker 💍 1877/2091	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Governess	26 22	Stoke Suburban South Toi Toi Valley Nelson	15 years 2 years	At the residence of Charles Walker	77/2032		4 August 1877	Rev. Thomas F. Reeve
59	14 August 1877	George Sharp Jane Gill	George Sharp Jane Gill 💍 1877/1786	Widower Widow	Farmer	49 41	Suburban North Suburban North	10 days 20 years	At the residence of Frederick Merritt, Painter, Bridge Street, Nelson	77/1718		14 August 1877	Rev. George S. Harper
60	20 August 1877	Jacob Russ Catherine Burnett	Jacob Russ Catherine Burnett 💍 1877/1787	Widower Widow	Farmer	43 25	Dove Dale Waimea West Washington Valley Nelson	4 years 3 years	At the residence of Catherine Burnett widow, Washington Valley Nelson	77/1719		20 August 1877	Rev. George S. Harper
61	24 August 1877	Joseph Gilbertson Eliza Lockyer	Joseph Gilbertson Eliza Lockyer 💍 1877/2188	Bachelor Spinster	Shipwright Dressmaker	27 20	Wakefield Quay Nelson Brook Street Nelson	18 months 20 years	At the residence of William Lockyer cab proprietor, Brook Street Nelson	77/2131	Lockyer William (Father)	24 August 1877	Rev. Patrick Calder
62	27 August 1877	Arthur Richard Kitching Katherine Inchinan Percival	Arthur Richard Hitching Katharine Inchinnan Percival 💍 1877/107	Bachelor Spinster	Salesman Governess	26 21	Tasman Sheet Nelson Brook Sheet Nelson	14 years 20 years	At Christ Church Nelson	77/1867		27 August 1877	Rev. James Leighton C of E

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).