Intentions to Marry, 1878

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840390, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, March 5 2025

Page 525

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 March 1878

No	Date of Notice	Names and Surnames of Parties	Condition	Calling or Profession	Age	Dwelling Place	Length of Residence	Marriage Place	Folio	Consent	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
1	8 January 1878	Nilson Christian Vosper Margaret	Bachelor Spinster	Miner Domestic Servant	38 22	Waimea Street Nelson Bridge Street Nelson	3 weeks 1 month	At the office of the Registrar of Marriages Nelson	78/381		8 January 1878	The Registrar of Marriages Nelson
2	10 January 1878	Elbick Henry Herman Coleman Elizabeth Ann	Bachelor Spinster	Stationer Nil	43 20	Nile Street Nelson Hope Waimea East	3 days 20 years	At Christ Church Nelson	78/384	Coleman William, Father	10 January 1878	Rev. James Leighton
3	19 January 1878	Tribe Edward Harold Burns Elizabeth Pettigrew	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Governess	26 24	Ngatitama Street Nelson Waimea Road Nelson	4 years 24 years	At the residence of David Burns, Builder, Waimea Road Nelson	78/380		19 January 1878	Rev. Patrick Calder
4	21 January 1878	Dane Henry Edward Hone Hannah	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Nil	25 19	Vanguard Street Nelson Waimea Street Nelson	5 years 3 weeks	At the Congregational Church Nelson	78/385	Declaration no person in N.Z. having authority	21 January 1878	Rev. [illegible]
5	2 February 1878	Gribble James Roberts Harriet	Widower Spinster	Labourer Domestic Servant	30 26	Bridge Street Nelson Bridge Street Nelson	1 year 1 year	At the residence of William Henry Roberts, Bridge Street Nelson	78/3332		2 February 1878	Rev. George S. Harper
6	4 February 1878	Haase Frederick William Ruffell Frances Emily	Bachelor Spinster	Cabman	23 20	Waimea Street Nelson Richmond, Waimea East	18 years 20 years	At the residence of Edward Haase, Carpenter, Waimea Street Nelson	78/378	Ruffell Harry, Father	6 February 1878	Rev. John Beckenham
7	5 February 1878	Collins Thomas Clutterbuck Lydia	Bachelor Widow	Mariner Nurse	45 41	Waimea Street Nelson Waimea Road Nelson	2 weeks 8 years	At the office of the Registrar of Marriages Nelson	78/382		6 February 1878	Registrar of Marriages Nelson
8	6 February 1878	Richardson William Ross Emily Alma	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher Domestic Servant	21 21	Van Dieman Street Nelson Franklin Street Nelson	21 years 21 years	At the Chapel of the Holy Evangelists, Bishopdale Nelson	78/3357		6 February 1878	The Bishop of Nelson
9	7 February 1878	Hodgson Henry Francis Infield Fannie	Bachelor Spinster	Merchant's Clerk Dressmaker	21 21	Nile Street East Nelson Tasman Street Nelson	21 years 7 years	At St. Barnabas Church, Stoke, Suburban South	78/389		7 February 1878	Rev. John P. Kempthorne
10	23 February 1878	Bradcock Joseph Crowcher Jane	Bachelor Spinster	Cab-driver Nil	22 18	Vanguard Street Nelson Vanguard Street Nelson	5 weeks 2 years	At the residence of Joseph Bradcock, cab-driver, Vanguard Street Nelson	78/386	Declaration no person in N.Z. having authority	23 February 1878	Rev. John Beckenham
11	2 March 1878	White Frederick John Hill Susannah	Bachelor Spinster	Chemist Domestic Servant	36 22	Haven Road Nelson Haven Road Nelson	2 months 4 months	At the office of the Registrar of Marriages Nelson	78/383		2 March 1878	Registrar of Marriages Nelson
12	5 March 1878	Merrick Thomas Sandys Scaife Mary Elizabeth	Bachelor Widow	Contractor Laundress	35 35	Waimea Street Nelson Parere Street Nelson	18 months 12 years	At the residence of Mary Elizabeth Scaife, Parere Street Nelson	78/319		5 March 1878	Rev. Patrick Calder
13	15 March 1878	Noble Charles Burch Susan Elizabeth	Widower Widow	Baker	43 30	Bridge Street Nelson Brook Street Nelson	5 years 15 years	At the residence of Charles Noble, Baker, Bridge Street Nelson	78/384		15 March 1878	Rev. John Beckenham
14	16 March 1878	Edwards Alfred Rutland Winnett Harriett	Widower Spinster	Farmer Housekeeper	33 28	Lower Moutere Grove Street Nelson	3 years 10 months	At All Saints Church Nelson			15 March 1878	Rev. Rich. Joshua Thorpe
15	27 March 1878	Abrahams Solomon Levy Rebecca	Bachelor Spinster	Storekeeper Nil	28 22	Trafalgar Street Nelson Nile Street West Nelson	1 week 13 years	At the Jewish Synagogue Nelson	78/1157		15 March 1878	Rev. David Moss Isaacs
16	27 March 1878	Newman Arthur Wilks Mary	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd Domestic Servant	20 19	Tasman Street Nelson Brook Street Nelson	20 years 19 years	At the residence of Solomon, [illegible], Tasman Street Nelson	78/388	Newman Sarah, mother; Wilks George, Father	27 March 1878	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 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).