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 531

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 December 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
67	1 October 1878	Brooks William Henry Part Maria	Bachelor Widow	Contractor Dress maker	35 31	Alma Street Nelson Collingwood Street Nelson	8 months 3 months	At the residence of Rev. A. J. Hamilton Bridge Street Nelson	78/3337		1 October 1878	Rev. Alex. Jno. Hamilton
68	1 October 1878	Turner Robert King Jeannell Catherine Mary	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	23 22	Happy Valley Wakapuaka Happy Valley Wakapuaka	12 months 7 months	At the office of the Registrar of marriages Nelson	78/2767		1 October 1878	Registrar of marriages Nelson
69	8 October 1878	Brown Peter Ross Isabella	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Dress maker	48 34	Beachville Nelson Beachville Nelson	3 days 3 days	At the Presbyterian Church Nelson	78/2774		8 October 1878	Rev. Patrick Calder
70	14 October 1878	McGinley Daniel Lunneen Margaret	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	36 23	Collingwood Street Nelson Manuka Street Nelson	1 week 2 weeks	At Saint Marys Catholic Church Nelson	78/2766		14 October 1878	Rev. Antoine M. Garin
71	15 October 1878	Chapman William Henry Chapman Ellen	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	22 22	Bishopdale Nelson Bishopdale Nelson	8 days 1 month	At Bishopdale Episcopalian Church			15 October 1878	Rev. Thomas Sam. Grace Junr.
72	17 October 1878	Norgate Frank Roberts Elizabeth	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic Servant	32 24	Stoke Suburban South Hardy Street Nelson	12 months 6 months	At the residence of David Norgate Farmer Stoke			17 October 1878	Rev. William Rowse
73	21 October 1878	Braddock John George Welsh Amy Clotia	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener Domestic Servant	21 21	Vanguard Street Nelson Nile Street West Nelson	18 years 1 year	At the office of the Registrar of Marriages Nelson	78/2754		22 October 1878	The Registrar of marriages Nelson
74	21 October 1878	Braddock John George Welsh Amy Charlotte	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener Domestic Servant	20 19	Vanguard Street Nelson Nile Street West Nelson	18 years 1 year	At the office of the Registrar of Marriages Nelson	78/2768	Braddock John, Father	22 October 1878	The Registrar of marriages Nelson
75	23 October 1878	Price Joseph Millard Mary Jane	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	29 17	Waimea West Waimea West	29 years 17 years	At St. Michaels Church Waimea West	78/2773	Millard Samuel, Father	23 October 1878	Rev. Charles O. Mules
76	28 October 1878	Higgs William Joseph Sutton Mary	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	30 22	Richmond Waimea East Richmond Waimea East	30 years 22 years	At the residence of John Sutton Farmer Richmond Waimea East	78/2758		28 October 1878	Rev. William Rowse
77	29 October 1878	Akersten William Lake Jane	Widower Widow	Marine Surveyor	54 35	Haven Road Nelson Nile Street East Nelson	23 years 10 years	At the residence of said Jane Lake Nile Street East Nelson	78/2770		29 October 1878	Rev. Rainsford Bavin
78	4 November 1878	Kempthorne John Pratt Boor Mary Louisa	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk in Holy Orders	29 19	Bishopdale Nelson Waimea Road Nelson	9 days 5 years	At the Chapel of the Holy Evangelists Bishopdale Nelson	78/3272	Boor Leonard, Father	4 November 1878	Lord Bishop of Nelson
79	5 November 1878	Archer Peter Parkes Sarah	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	38 25	Collingwood Street Nelson Lower Wakefield	3 days 25 years	At the residence of George Parkes Farmer Lower Wakefield	78/2759		5 November 1878	Rev. William Rowse
80	5 November 1878	Berry George William Polglase Mary Jane	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Dress maker	26 21	Brook Street Nelson Brook Street Nelson	17 days 21 years	At the residence of Johanna Polglase Brook Street Nelson	78/2760		5 November 1878	Rev. Rainsford Bavin
81	6 November 1878	Sattie Thomas Webley Ellen Elizabeth	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	25 23	Brook Street Nelson Brook Street Nelson	8 days 20 years	At the residence of Joseph Webley, settler Brook Street Nelson	78/3338		6 November 1878	Rev. Alex. John Hamilton
82	8 November 1878	Prichard Ivan Godfrey Eliza Jane	Widower Widow	Chemist	54 47	Nile Street East Nelson Halifax Street Nelson	2 years 3 years	At St. Peters Church Wakapuaka	78/2774		8 November 1878	Rev. James Leighton
83	8 November 1878	Armstrong James Condell Caroline	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	28 21	Harper Street Nelson Stoke Suburban South	24 years 10 years	At St. Marys Catholic Church Nelson	78/2763		8 November 1878	Rev. Antoine Marie Garin
84	12 November 1878	Mangos Demetrius Nicolas Williams Mary Ann	Bachelor Spinster	Storekeeper	42 16	Collingwood Street Nelson Collingwood Street Nelson	4 days 2 weeks	At the Catholic Station Nelson	78/2765	Williams William, Father	12 November 1878	Rev. Antoine Marie Garin

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).