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 527

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 June 1878

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	17 April 1878	Norton William Fitzsimons Margaret		Bachelor Widow	Labourer [illegible]	40 38	St Vincent Street Nelson St Vincent Street Nelson	14 years 11 years	St Mary's Catholic Church Nelson	78/1159		3 April 1878	Rev. Willm. Jos. Mahoney
2	18 April 1878	Ogilvie Charles Andrew Lucas Lucy		Bachelor Spinster	Music Teacher [illegible]	25 24	Alton Street Nelson Brook Street Nelson	4 months 20 years	All Saints Church Nelson	78/3345		18 April 1878	Venble. Archdeacon R. J. Thorpe
3	19 April 1878	Robertson George Freeman Ada Margaret		Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter [illegible]	22 19	Manuka Street Nelson Russell Street Nelson	22 years 19 years	At the residence of Thomas Freeman, Russell St, Stepneyville	78/3334	Freeman Thomas, Father	19 April 1878	Rev. A. J. Hamilton
4	20 April 1878	Nicholson Thomas Hutchison Wells Jessie		Bachelor Spinster	Farmer [illegible]	25 22	Stoke Suburban South Suburban North	25 years 22 years	At the residence of William Wells Esquire, Suburban North	78/1168		16 April 1878	Rev. Patrick Calder
5	21 April 1878	Miller George Holt Lewis Margaret Julia		Widower Widow	Coach Maker House Keeper	44 23	Vanguard Street Nelson Vanguard Street Nelson	13 years 3 1/2 years	At the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Nelson	78/1154		18 April 1878	Registrar of Marriages Nelson
6	22 April 1878	Adams Richard Snow Elizabeth		Widower Widow	Tailor [illegible]	54 47	Alma Street Nelson Hardy Street Nelson	18 years 20 years	At the residence of Elizabeth Snow, widow, Hardy Street Nelson	78/1169		18 April 1878	Rev. Patrick Calder
7	23 April 1878	Sproule Frederick Henry Augustus Frank M Frances		Bachelor Spinster	Dentist [illegible]	22 22	Collingwood Street Nelson Brook Street Nelson	21 months 22 years	St Mary's Catholic Church Nelson	78/1160		20 April 1878	Rev. Antoine M. Garin
8	24 April 1878	Arthur Augustus Winterborn Ada Lucas	Arthur Agustus Winterburn Ada Lucas 💍 1878/1148	Bachelor Spinster	Telegraphist and Postmaster NIL	23 17	Tory Street Nelson Stepneyville, Haven Road Nelson	3 months 9 years	At the residence of Frank Hill, Commission Agent, Vanguard Street Nelson	78/1147	Charles Lucas, Father	23 April 1878	Rev. John Beckenham
9	25 April 1878	Mellahoney Jeremiah Horan Catherine		Bachelor Spinster	Miner [illegible]	33 22	St Vincent Street Nelson St Vincent Street Nelson	3 days 9 weeks	St Mary's Catholic Church Nelson	78/1161		23 April 1878	Rev. Antoine Marie Garin
10	26 April 1878	Collins Floyd Foy Sarah Elizabeth		Bachelor Spinster	Physician and Surgeon [illegible]	27 22	Collingwood Street Nelson Milton Grove Nelson	10 days 4 years	At Christ Church Nelson	78/1163		23 April 1878	Rev. A. B. Suter, Bp. of Nelson
11	27 April 1878	Downie John Stott Sarah		Bachelor Spinster	Labourer [illegible]	34 22	Collingwood Street Nelson Washington Valley Nelson	8 months 5 weeks	At the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Nelson	78/1155		24 April 1878	Registrar of Marriages Nelson
12	28 April 1878	Adam Adam Leggat Dunn Annie Maclean		Bachelor Spinster	Grocer Milliner	22 25	Washington Valley Nelson Washington Valley Nelson	2 weeks 2 years	At the residence of George Dunn, Labourer, Washington Valley Nelson	78/1148		26 April 1878	Rev. John Beckenham
13	29 May 1878	Limond Edwin Harry Lewis Osborne Annie		Bachelor Spinster	Saddler [illegible]	35 30	Bridge Street Nelson St Vincent Street Nelson	2 years 1 year	At the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Nelson	78/1156		1 May 1878	Registrar of Marriages Nelson
14	30 May 1878	Black James Palmer Scadden Eliza		Widower Spinster	Draper (retired) [illegible]	72 28	Kawhia Street Nelson Grove Street Nelson	28 years 14 years	At the residence of James Palmer Black, Kawhia Street Nelson	78/1170		6 May 1878	Rev. Patrick Calder
15	31 May 1878	Higgins William John Quinn Sarah		Bachelor Spinster	Sailor [illegible]	38 30	Brook Street Nelson Brook Street Nelson	5 years 5 years	St Mary's Catholic Church Nelson	78/1162		13 May 1878	Rev. A. M. Garin
16	32 May 1878	Henry Robert Watt Ann		Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Dressmaker	25 23	Stepneyville Nelson Stepneyville Nelson	18 months 2 weeks	At the residence of Robert Henry, Stepneyville Nelson	78/1149		14 May 1878	Rev. John Beckenham
17	33 May 1878	Hayter Francis Huddleston Eugenie Elizabeth		Bachelor Spinster	Retired Commander R.N. [illegible]	34 23	Tasman Street Nelson Nile Street East Nelson	1 week 20 years	At Christ Church Nelson	78/1164		20 May 1878	Venble. Archdeacon Thorpe
18	34 May 1878	Bunny Charles Edward Huddleston Louise Alice Croft		Bachelor Spinster	Solicitor [illegible]	23 21	Milton Grove Nelson Nile Street East Nelson	3 years 21 years	At Christ Church Nelson	78/1165		20 May 1878	Venble. Archdeacon Thorpe

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).