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 457

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 December 1877 Registrar Robert Seckett

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
72	06 October 1877	Harry Ladley Ada Palmer	Harry Ladley Ada Palmer 💍 1877/2540	Bachelor Spinster	School teacher NIL	22 22	Waimea West Waimea West	4 days 22 years	At St. Michael's Church	77/2519		06 October 1877	Rev. Charles O. Mules
73	16 October 1877	mat M. Kenna Winifred White	Mat McKenna Winifred White 💍 1877/2518	Bachelor Spinster	Fireman Domestic Servant	35 23	on board P. L. Lyttelton Beachville Nelson	13 years 2 weeks	At St. Marys Catholic Church	77/2521		16 October 1877	Rev. Antoine M. Garin
74	19 October 1877	Samuel Crossman Emma Burton Pickard	Samuel Crossman Emma Burton Pickard 💍 1877/2523	Bachelor Spinster	Saddler NIL	25 20	Emano Sheet Nelson Vanguard Sheet-Nelson	2 weeks 2 weeks	At the residence of Samuel Crossman	77/2524	Israel Pickard, Father	19 October 1877	Rev. John Beckenham
75	26 October 1877	Heinrich Theodor Wilhelm Friederich Siggelkow Magdalena Sophia Elsa Brüning	Heinrich Theodor Wilhelm Friedrich Siggelkow Magdalena Sophia Elisa Bruning 💍 1877/2530	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic Servant	35 17	Waimea East Richmond Waimea East	30 years 4 months	At the Lutheran Church, Upper Moutere	77/2532	John Matthias Brüning, Father	26 October 1877	Rev. John Willm C. W. Heine
76	03 November 1877	Henry Newport Susan Whiting	Henry Newport Susan Whiting 💍 1877/2520	Widower Spinster	Butcher Governess	26 20	Shelburne Street Nelson Nile Street East Nelson	26 years 20 years	At the residence of John McCleary	77/2523	Henry Whiting, Father	03 November 1877	Rev. Thomas I. Reeve
77	03 November 1877	John Nash delina Goddard	John Nash Selina Goddard 💍 1877/2524	Widower Spinster	Police Serjeant Domestic Servant	50 23	Brook Street Nelson Nile Street-East Nelson	20 years 23 years	At the residence of John Nash	77/2527		03 November 1877	Rev. John Beckenham
78	12 November 1877	Philip Henry Butter Annie Noon	Phillip Henry Butler Annie Noon 💍 1877/3089	Bachelor Widow	Butcher NIL	38 36	Haven road Nelson Haven road Nelson	1 week 1 week	At the Baptist Chapel	78/3128		12 November 1877	Rev. A. I. Hamilton
79	13 November 1877	Robert Meharry Mary Ann Meharie	Robert Meharry Mary Anne Melarie 💍 1877/2538	Bachelor Spinster	Miner NIL	23 22	Haven road Nelson Haven road Nelson	2 weeks 2 weeks	At the Presbyterian Church	77/2574		15 November 1877	Rev. Patrick Calder
80	21 November 1877	Henry Cotton Frances Blick	Henry Cotton Frances Blick 💍 1877/2521	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer NIL	23 14	Grove Sheet Nelson Emano Sheet Nelson	22 years 14 years	At the residence of Andrew Blick	77/2525	Halpia Blick, Father	21 November 1877	Rev. Patrick Calder
81	24 November 1877	John Brennan Elizabeth Jane Beel	John Brennan Elizabeth Jane Beel 💍 1877/2525	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Domestic servant	26 19	on board Ship Waitara Nelson Harbour on board Ship "Waitara" Nelson Harbour	3 days 3 days	At the residence of Rev. John Beckenham, Waimea Street, Nelson	77/2528	John James Beel, Father	24 November 1877	Rev. John Beckenham
82	04 December 1877	Robert M. Gavin Thomson Georgiana Palmer	Robert McGavin Thomson Georgiana Palmer 💍 1877/2517	Bachelor Spinster	Wool merchant NIL	26 21	Waimea West Waimea West	4 days 21 years	At St Michael's Church	77/2520		04 December 1877	Rev. Charles Moon
83	07 December 1877	John William Duckett Nancy Harvey	John William Duckett Nancy Harvey 💍 1877/2539	Widower Spinster	Blacksmith NIL	43 43	Haven road Nelson Haven road Nelson	10 years 9 years	At the Presbyterian Church	77/2578		07 December 1877	Rev. Patrick Calder
84	11 December 1877	John Jamieson Joan Elizabeth Smith	John Jamison Joan Elizabeth Smith 💍 1877/2526	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Domestic Servant	24 22	Victoria Heights Nelson Victoria Heights Nelson	3 years 3 years	At the residence of John Jamieson	77/2529		11 December 1877	Rev. John Beckenham
85	20 December 1877	James Jones Gardner Louisa Emma Anstice	James Jones Gardner Louisa Emma Anstice 💍 1877/2528	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher Dressmaker	22 20	Bridge Sheet Nelson Hardy Sheet Nelson	1 year 12 years	At the residence of John Snook Anstice	77/2530	John Snook Anstice, Father	20 December 1877	Rev. John Beckenham
86	20 December 1877	Joseph Carey amie Caroline Thompson	Joseph Carey Annie Constance Thompson 💍 1877/2522	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer General Servant	26 22	Grove Sheet Nelson Milton Sheet Nelson	2 years 2 years	At the residence of Joseph Carey	77/2525		20 December 1877	Rev. George S. Harper
87	27 December 1877	George Besley Margaret Van	George Besley Margaret Van 💍 1877/2519	Bachelor Spinster	Accountant NIL	28 24	Church Sheet Nelson Saint Vincent Sheet-Nelson	6 days 2 1/2 years	At all Saints	77/2522		27 December 1877	Rev. Richard Joshua Thorpe
88	27 December 1877	andrew Josephson Ellen Kelly	Andrew Josephson Ellen Kelly 💍 1877/2529	Bachelor Widow	Mariner NIL	39 27	Alma Sheet Nelson Alma Sheet Nelson	1 week 3 years	At the Congregational Church	77/2531		27 December 1877	Rev. John Beckenham

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).