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 529

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 September 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
45	3 July 1878	Gibson Thomas James Thomas Martha		Bachelor Spinster	Plaster layer Domestic Servant	30 24	Richmond Waimea East Waimea Street Nelson	2 years 8 months	At the residence of William Williams	78/1934		3 July 1878	Rev. John Beckenham
46	3 July 1878	Spierling Gustav Christop Frederick Lankow Anna Frederika		Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Nil	34 23	Skamboat Murray of Nelson Hope Waimea East	4 years 23 years	At the Lutheran Church	78/1933		8 July 1878	Rev. Christian F. Meyer
47	16 July 1878	Salmon John Henry Walmsley Mary Felicia		Bachelor Spinster	Merchant Nil	40 25	Trafalgar Street Nelson Kawia Street Nelson	3 weeks 25 years	At Christ Church Nelson	78/1928		16 July 1878	Rev. James Leighton
48	26 July 1878	Marks Edward George Cameron Kathleen		Bachelor Spinster	[illegible] Nil	24 26	Waimea Street Nelson Waimea Street Nelson	2 months 3 days	At Christ Church Nelson	78/1929		26 July 1878	Rev. James Leighton
49	31 July 1878	Bamforth Joseph O'Connell Ellen		Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith Dressmaker	30 20	Trafalgar Street Nelson Collingwood Street Nelson	3 days 3 days	St. Marys Catholic Station Nelson	78/1933		31 July 1878	Rev. William J. Mahoney
50	2 August 1878	Nicholls Samuel Willard Hill Rosina		Widower Spinster	Hotel Keeper Domestic Servant	42 24	Haven Road Nelson Haven Road Nelson	3 years 6 months	At the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Nelson	78/1938		2 August 1878	Registrar of Marriages Nelson
51	3 August 1878	Mark Daniel Davies Annie Win	Mark Daniel Davies Annie Win 💍 1878/1982	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	30 20	Dove Dale Waimea West Dove Dale Waimea West	8 years 10 years	At the Wesleyan Church Dove Dale	78/1924	William Win, Father	3 August 1878	Rev. William Rowse
52	6 August 1878	Draghicarvich John Moriarty Mary Ann		Bachelor Spinster	Publican Nil	38 22	Collingwood Street Nelson Collingwood Street Nelson	3 days 6 days	St. Marys Catholic Church Nelson	78/1932		6 August 1878	Rev. Antoine M. Garin
53	7 August 1878	August Frederick Christian Siggelkow Magdalena Catharina Bergmann	August Fredrick Christian Siggelkow Magdalena Catherine Malliner Bergmann 💍 1878/1988	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	21 19	Ranzau Waimea East Upper Moutere	21 years 18 years	At the Lutheran Church Ranzau Waimea East	78/1926	William Henry Dick Bergmann, Father	7 August 1878	Rev. Christian F. Meyer
54	8 August 1878	Burmett Thomas Rock Davies Ellen		Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	24 26	Dove Dale Waimea West Dove Dale Waimea West	10 years 2 years	At the Wesleyan Church Nelson	78/1930		8 August 1878	Rev. Rainsford Bavin
55	17 August 1878	Blight Samuel German Annie		Bachelor Spinster	Maltster Lace maker	31 25	Bridge Street Nelson Bridge Street Nelson	4 years 4 years	At the residence of The Rev. A. J. Hamilton Bridge Street Nelson	78/3359		17 August 1878	Rev. A. J. Hamilton
56	19 August 1878	Wildman William Arthur Kidson Ann		Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Nil	25 20	Russell Street Nelson Russell Street Nelson	10 years 20 years	At the residence of Amelia Kidson, widow Russell Street Nelson	78/1935	Kidson Amelia, Mother	19 August 1878	Rev. John Beckenham
57	19 August 1878	Charles George John Lukins Annie Amelia		Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Governess	24 22	Haven Road Nelson Haven Road Nelson	4 years 20 years	At All Saints Church Nelson	78/1940		19 August 1878	Rev. James Aldridge Newth
58	23 August 1878	Hudson Edward Mundy Esther Ann		Bachelor Spinster	Miner Domestic Servant	28 28	Waimea Street Nelson Brougham Street Nelson	9 weeks 3 years	At All Saints Church Nelson	78/1939		23 August 1878	Rev. James Aldridge Newth
59	24 August 1878	Robson James the younger Newth Clara		Bachelor Spinster	Schoolmaster Nil	23 18	Waimea West Waimea West	3 years 18 years	At St. Michaels Church Waimea West	78/1934	Newth Mark, Father	24 August 1878	Rev. Charles O. Mules
60	26 August 1878	Ward Charles McKie Annie		Bachelor Widow	Engineer Nil	42 23	Haven Road Nelson Washington Valley Nelson	14 days 3 days	At the Presbyterian Church Nelson	78/1931		26 August 1878	Rev. Patrick Calder
61	27 August 1878	Hadfield Harry Roodhouse Reynolds Mary Anna		Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	31 21	Waimea Road Nelson Shelbourne Street Nelson	3 days 9 years	At the Wesleyan Church Nelson	78/1931		27 August 1878	Rev. Rainsford Bavin
62	9 September 1878	Ball Alfred Noble Ellen		Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	23 18	Washington Valley Nelson Washington Valley Nelson	20 years 5 years	At the residence of William Ball, carpenter Washington Valley Nelson	78/3200	Noble Charles, Father	9 September 1878	Rev. Patrick Calder
63	18 September 1878	Hunt Arthur Henry Sowman Mary Ann		Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Domestic Servant	23 23	Bishopdale Nelson Bishopdale Nelson	13 months 23 years	At the residence of Sarah Sowman, widow Tasman Street Nelson	78/1936		18 September 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).