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 510

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 September 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
44	2 July 1879	John Coom Louisa Hannah Foy	John Coom Louisa Hannah Foy 💍 1879/1932	Bachelor Spinster	Civil Engineer	32 21	Collingwood Street Nelson Wilden Lodge Bridge Head Nelson	3 days 4 years	at Christchurch	79/764		2 July 1879	Reverend James Leighton
45	18 July 1879	Robert Henry Croudis Annie Thomason	Robert Henry Croudis Annie Thomason 💍 1879/1933	Bachelor Spinster	Machinist Domestic Servant	21 19	Russell Street Nelson Hardy Street Nelson	10 years 3 months	at the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Nelson	79/1010		18 July 1879	Robert Kerton Registrar
46	30 July 1879	James Henry Betts Harriet Larkin	James Henry Betts Harriet Lakin 💍 1879/1928	Widower Spinster	Clerk Domestic Servant	54 29	Trafalgar Square Nelson the Hospital Nelson	3 months 6 months	at the residence of James Henry Betts Trafalgar Square Nelson	79/1060		18 August 1879	Reverend John Buckenham Congregational
47	2 August 1879	Graham Lord Greenwood Isobel Martin	Graham Lord Greenwood Isabel Martin 💍 1879/2955	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Dist. Court	45 32	Stoke Suburban South Stoke Suburban South	1 month 30 years	St. Barnabas Church Stoke	79/1334		2 August 1879	Andrew B. Suter Bishop of Nelson
48	8 August 1879	Alexander John Gray Clara Elizabeth Wakefield	Alexander John Gray Clara Elizabeth Wakefield 💍 1879/1934	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinet Maker	20 21	Bridge Street Nelson Waimea Street Nelson	20 years 21 years	At the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Nelson	79/1066	Robert Gray, Father	9 August 1879	Robert Kerton Registrar
49	9 August 1879	William Thomson Jane Wither	William Thomson Jane Wither 💍 1879/1931	Bachelor Spinster	Station Manager	28 21	Richmond Nelson Richmond Nelson	3 days 21 years	at the Holy Trinity Richmond	79/1063		9 August 1879	Reverend Charles Oliver Mules
50	9 August 1879	Thomas Walker Elizabeth Sutton	Thomas Walker Elizabeth Sutton 💍 1879/1939	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	21 24	Richmond Nelson Richmond Nelson	21 years 24 years	at the residence of John Sutton, farmer Richmond	79/1068		9 August 1879	Reverend William Howse
51	11 August 1879	John Bartlett Ann Maria Smith	John Bartlett Ann Maria Smith 💍 1879/1927	Bachelor Spinster	Storeman	26 18	Waimea Road Nelson Vincent Street Nelson	7 years 4 years	at the residence of John Smith, Labourer Vincent Street Nelson	79/1050	John Smith Father	11 August 1879	Reverend John Buckenham Congregational
52	12 August 1879	Denis McCormick Johanna Aylward	Denis McCormick Johanna Aylward 💍 1879/1941	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	27 21	South Street Nelson South Street Nelson	2 months 8 months	at St. Mary's Catholic Church Nelson	79/1042		12 August 1879	Reverend William Mahoney Roman Catholic
53	15 August 1879	John William Henry Lankow Elevora Sigelkow	John William Henry Lankow Elenora Sigelkow 💍 1879/1930	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	29 20	Hope Waimia East Hope Waimia East	7 days 6 months	Lutheran Church Ranzau Waimia East	79/1061	Henry Sigelkow Father	15 August 1879	Reverend Christian F. Meyer Lutheran
54	15 August 1879	Thomas Brown Agnes Margaret Kerr	Thomas Brown Agnes Margaret Kerr 💍 1879/2680	Bachelor Spinster	Boiler Maker	19 22	Russell Street Nelson Mary Ann Street Nelson	19 years 14 days	at the residence of Alexander Brown Engineer Mary Ann Street Nelson	79/3059		15 August 1879	Reverend Patrick Calder Presbyterian
55	21 August 1879	Henry Samuel Harris Sarah Ann Sophia Stone	Henry Samuel Harris Sarah Ann Sophie Stone 💍 1879/1938	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer	21 21	Hardy Street Nelson Brook Street Valley Nelson	14 days 5 Months	at Wesleyan Church Nelson	79/1069		21 August 1879	Reverend Rainsford Bavin Wesleyan

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).