Intentions to Marry, 1879

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840391, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, April 30 2025

Page 508

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 June 1879

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
21	5 April 1879	Charles Samuel Jennens Eliza Walker	Charles Samuel Jennens Eliza Walker 💍 1879/1205	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer NIL	24 22	Collingwood Street Nelson Emanu Street Nelson	4 years 22 years	At the residence of Charles Walker Emanu Street Nelson	79/1164		5 April 1879	Revd. Alexd. Jno. Hamilton
22	5 April 1879	Harry Caplen Emma Agnes Dew	Harry Caplen Emma Agnes Dew 💍 1879/1202	Bachelor Spinster	Articled clerk Teacher of music	28 31	Trafalgar Square Nelson Trafalgar Square Nelson	2 weeks 3 days	At Christ Church Nelson	79/1161		5 April 1879	Revd. James Leighton
23	10 April 1879	William Bankes Denshire Fanny Lockhart Dodson	William Bankes Denshire Fanny Lockhart Dodson 💍 1879/1201	Bachelor Spinster	Gentleman NIL	24 23	near Nile Street East Nelson Hardy Street Nelson	9 months 10 years	At Christ church Nelson	79/1160		10 April 1879	The Bishop of Nelson
24	12 April 1879	Frank Longbourne Vickerman Rosetta Freeman	Frank Longbourne Vickerman Rosetta Freeman 💍 1879/1216	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner NIL	27 18	Haven road Nelson Russell Street Nelson	9 months 18 years	At Christ church Nelson	79/1157		12 April 1879	Revd. James Leighton
25	22 April 1879	Smith James Furness Emily Eva Hough	Smith James Furness Emily Eva Hough 💍 1879/1208	Bachelor Spinster	Printer Teacher	27 23	Washington road Nelson Collingwood Street Nelson	3 days 23 years	At the residence of William Hough Collingwood Street Nelson	79/1166		22 April 1879	Revd. Rainsford Bavin
26	23 April 1879	Patrick Murphy Minnie McNamara	Patrick Murphy Minnie McNamara 💍 1879/1203	Bachelor Spinster	Mining speculator Barmaid	37 22	Collingwood Street Nelson Collingwood Street Nelson	10 days 3 days	At Saint Marys Catholic Church Nelson	79/1162		23 April 1879	Revd. Antoine M. Garin
27	7 May 1879	Frank Longbourne Vickerman Rosetta Freeman	Frank Longbourne Vickerman Rosetta Freeman 💍 1879/1216	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner NIL	27 18	Haven Road Nelson Russell Street Nelson	9 Months 18 Years	At Office of Registrar of Marriages Nelson	79/1157	Freeman John Wynen Father	7 May 1879	Robt. Kirton Registrar
28	8 May 1879	Farquhar Matheson Elizabeth Chubbin	Farquhar Matheson Elizabeth Chubbin 💍 1879/1209	Bachelor Spinster	Builder NIL	40 19	Waimea Street Nelson Waimea Street Nelson	4 days 1 year	At the residence of Revd. Rainsford Bavin, Nelson	79/1164	Chubbin John, Father	8 May 1879	Revd. Rainsford Bavin
29	13 May 1879	Edward William Rudman Celia Emma Jones	Edwin William Rudman Celia Emma Jones 💍 1879/1200	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Dressmaker	34 27	Waimea Street Nelson Waimea Street Nelson	3 days 12 years	At Christ church Nelson	79/1159		13 May 1879	Revd. James Leighton
30	17 May 1879	Robert Small Ann Louisa Woodcock	Robert Small Ann Louisa Woodcock 💍 1879/2859	Widower Spinster	Farmer Servant	35 24	Waimea East Nelson Richmond Nelson	20 years 24 years	Holy Trinity Richmond	79/1166		17 May 1879	Revd. Charles Olives Mules
31	17 May 1879	Alfred Frost Clara Maule	Alfred Frost Clara Maule 💍 1879/1220	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer NIL	30 22	Haven Road Nelson Beachville Nelson	20 years 8 days	Congregational Independent Church Nelson	79/1171		17 May 1879	Revd. John Beckenham
32	27 May 1879	Charles Frost Christina Berkett	Charles Frost Christina Berkett 💍 1879/1217	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner NIL	23 17	Cable Bay Nelson Hope Waimea East	2 months 17 years	At Office of Registrar of Marriages Nelson	79/1152	William Berkett, Father	27 May 1879	Robt. Kirton Registrar
33	30 May 1879	George Armstrong Mary Jane Gray	George Armstrong Mary Jane Gray 💍 1879/1199	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep Farmer NIL	21 22	Bridge Street Nelson Bridge Street Nelson	3 weeks 22 years	At Christ church Nelson	79/1158		30 May 1879	Revd. James Leighton
34	31 May 1879	Thomas Gunderson Ellen Remnant	Thomas Gunderson Ellen Remnant 💍 1879/1218	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Servant	45 20	Haven Road Nelson Nile Street East Nelson	14 years 4 months	At Office of Registrar of Marriages Nelson	79/1153	George Remnant, Father	31 May 1879	Robt. Kirton Registrar
35	3 June 1879	George Hailes Mary Leonard	George Hailes Mary Leonard 💍 1879/1204	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer NIL	24 25	Collingwood Street Nelson Harley Street Nelson	3 days 4 days	At Saint Marys Catholic Church Nelson	79/1163		3 June 1879	Revd. James Mahoney
36	10 June 1879	George Jacoby Mercer Elizabeth Catherine Vondy	George Jacob Mercer Elizabeth Catherine Vondy 💍 1879/1210	Bachelor Spinster	Steamboat Steward Stewardess	22 23	Collingwood Street Nelson On board the S.S. Murray Nelson	3 days 5 months	At the Wesleyan Church Nelson	79/1168		10 June 1879	Revd. Rainsford Bavin
37	10 June 1879	John William Win Ada Martha Cresswell	John William Win Ada Martha Cresswell 💍 1879/1238	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer NIL	26 18	Dovedale Nelson Stoke Suburban South	8 years 18 years	At the residence of Edward Cresswell Stoke Suburban South	79/1173	Edward Cresswell, Father	10 June 1879	Revd. William Rouse
38	10 June 1879	George Eden Minnie Lampp	George Eden Minnie Lampp 💍 1879/1219	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer NIL	25 19	Hope Waimea East Hope Waimea East	25 years 6 weeks	At the Office of the Registrar of marriages Nelson	79/1151	John Lampp, Father	25 June 1879	Robt. Kirton Registrar

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).