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 512

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 December 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
64	1 October 1879	Augustus James Henry Hawley Jane Ann Rowe	Augustus James Henry Hawley Jane Ann Rowe 💍 1879/3087	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner NIL	23 17	Russell Street Nelson Russell Street Nelson	2 years 5 years	Residence of Mrs Ann Rowe, Widow	79/2645	Ann Rowe, mother	1 October 1879	Revd Rainsford Bavin
65	4 October 1879	James Raglan Akersten Catherine Marie Mercer	James Raglan Akersten Catherine Marie Mercer 💍 1879/3089	Bachelor Spinster	Photographer NIL	24 21	Hardy Street Nelson Appleby Waimea E	14 years 21 years	Residence of Mr Samuel Mercer, Farmer, Appleby	79/2647		4 October 1879	Revd William Rouse, Congre
66	7 October 1879	William Richard O'Hara Agnes Ogilvie	William Richard O'Hara Agnes Ogilvie 💍 1879/3088	Bachelor Spinster	Book Binder NIL	21 22	Tasman Street Nelson Tasman Street Nelson	3 days 10 years	Residence of Mr James Ogilvie Cooper	79/2649		7 October 1879	Revd John Beckenham, Congre
67	7 October 1879	Thomas Green Ella Magdelan Kennedy	Thomas Green Ella Magdelan Kennedy 💍 1879/3110	Bachelor Spinster	Draper NIL	34 23	Bridge Street Nelson Manuka Street Nelson	7 months 3 days	St Mary Catholic Church, Nelson	79/2668		7 October 1879	Revd William Mahoney, RC
68	8 October 1879	Thomas Henry Stone Elizabeth Manton	Thomas Henry Shone Elizabeth Stanton 💍 1879/3090 Thomas Heaps Smith Elizabeth Dutton 💍 1880/3031 Thomas Feltham Elizabeth Dann 💍 1879/3220 Thomas Francis Lawler Elizabeth Ritson 💍 1879/2865 Thomas Walker Elizabeth Sutton 💍 1879/1939	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinet Maker NIL	22 23	Bridge Street Nelson Haven Road Nelson	15 years 14 years	Residence of Mr Frank Flowerday Baker	79/2648		8 October 1879	Revd John Beckenham, Congre
69	11 October 1879	Maurice Albert Adnams Eliza Hurpitt	Maurace Albert Adnams Eliza Hurfit 💍 1879/2750	Bachelor Spinster	Steward NIL	24 19	Grove Street Nelson Grove Street Nelson	3 months 2 years	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	79/3133	Eliza Hurpitt, Mother	11 October 1879	Robert Kiston, Registrar
70	11 October 1879	John Walton Kate Louisa Hargreaves	John Walton Kate Louisa Hargreaves 💍 1879/2751	Bachelor Spinster	Policeman NIL	26 19	Trafalgar Street Nelson Nile Street East Nelson	3 days 3 months	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	79/3136	Mr Walton, Guardian	11 October 1879	Robert Kiston, Registrar
71	13 October 1879	James West Taylor Dinah Speer	James Weeb Taylor Dinah Speer 💍 1879/2753	Bachelor Widow	Mariner Nurse	25 39	Washington Valley Nelson Washington Valley Nelson	25 years 29 years	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	79/3137		13 October 1879	Robert Kiston, Registrar
72	21 October 1879	Henry Webb Rose Alice Moore	Henry Webb Rose Alice Moore 💍 1879/3092	Bachelor Spinster	Bootmaker NIL	22 17	Hardy Street Nelson Hardy Street Nelson	19 years 4 days	Residence of Mrs Webb, Bootmaker	79/2649	Mrs Moore, Mother	21 October 1879	Revd John Beckenham, Congre
73	24 October 1879	James Parker Eliza Jane Bayles	James Parker Eliza Jane Bayles 💍 1879/3093	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher NIL	26 17	Grove Street Nelson Grove Street Nelson	2 weeks 16 years	Congregational Independent Church	79/2660	Mrs Bayles, Mother	24 October 1879	Revd John Beckenham, Congre
74	27 October 1879	Charles Ching Sarah Jane Norgate	Charles Ching Sarah Jane Norgate 💍 1879/3105	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer NIL	30 25	Stoke Suburban South Stoke Suburban South	30 years 25 years	Residence of Mr David Norgate, Farmer, Stoke	79/2655		27 October 1879	Revd William Rouse, Wes
75	30 October 1879	Arthur M'Manaugh Kavanagh Margaret M'Grail	Arthur McMurrough Kavanagh Margaret McGrail 💍 1879/2984	Bachelor Spinster	Schoolmaster NIL	28 23	Collingwood Street Nelson Hardy Street Nelson	3 years 3 days	Saint Marys Catholic Church, Nelson	79/2694		30 October 1879	Revd Antoine Garin, RC
76	31 October 1879	John Black Elizabeth Maria Fowler	John Black Elizabeth Maria Fowler 💍 1879/2678	Bachelor Spinster	Draper Shop Assistant	34 21	Collingwood Street Nelson Trafalgar Street Nelson	4 years 14 years	Dwelling house of Israel Johns, Pastry Cook	79/3057		31 October 1879	Revd Alexander John Hamilton, Bapt

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).