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 513

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
77	11 November 1879	William Keys Farnell Emily Kate Foy	William Keys Farrelle Emily Kate Foy 💍 1879/3085	Bachelor Spinster	Physician and Surgeon NIL	35 24	Collingwood Street Nelson Wilden Lodge Nelson	8 years 5 years	Christchurch	79/2645		11 November 1879	Andrew Burn Suter D.D. Bishop of Nelson
78	18 November 1879	Benjamin Jimpson Penny Alice Brent	Benjamin Simpson Penney Alice Brent 💍 1879/3108	Bachelor Spinster	Bootmaker NIL	23 20	Collingwood Street Nelson Collingwood Street Nelson	3 days 1 year	Residence of William Brent Collingwood Street Nelson	79/2666	William Brent father	18 November 1879	Rev. William Rouse Nelson
79	29 November 1879	Peter John Duckson Catherine Davison	Peter John Dickson Catherine Davison 💍 1879/2679	Bachelor Spinster	Harney Maker Servant	22 21	Collingwood Street Nelson Brunke Street Nelson	8 years 6 years	Residence of Henry Armstrong Coal Merchant Hardy Street Nelson	79/3058		29 November 1879	Rev. Alexander John Hamilton Napier
80	2 December 1879	Joseph Henry Dobson Lucy Wasney	Joseph Henry Dodson Lucy Wastney 💍 1879/2754	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer NIL	25 20	Wakapuaka Nelson Wakapuaka Nelson	5 days 10 years	at the Office of the Registrar of Marriage Nelson	79/3138	Wasney father	2 December 1879	Robert Kinton Registrar
81	10 December 1879	James Cotton Maria Liley	James Cotton Maria Liley 💍 1879/3094	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher NIL	22 21	Bridge Street Nelson Waimea Street Nelson	22 years 5 years	Residence of Frederick Liley Labourer Waimea Street Nelson	79/2651		10 December 1879	Rev. John Beckenham Canzel
82	17 December 1879	Alfred Henry Barthorpe Elizabeth Caroline Cheel Annie	Alfred Henry Barltrop Elizabeth Caroline Annie Cheel 💍 1879/3096	Bachelor Spinster	Saddler NIL	22 22	Collingwood Street Nelson Washington Road Nelson	22 years 12 years	Residence of Charles William Cheel Washington Road Nelson	79/3453		17 December 1879	Rev. John Beckenham Canzel
83	20 December 1879	Charles Peter Kearns Anne Combes	Charles Peter Kearns Anne Combes 💍 1879/3095	Widower Widow	Farmer NIL	62 38	Rauzan Waimea East Rauzan Waimea East	29 years 5 years	Residence of Hermann Fagen Labourer Vincent Street Nelson	79/2652		20 December 1879	Rev. John Beckenham Canzel
84	22 December 1879	William Frederick Waley Susan Witney	William Frederick Worley Susan Witney 💍 1879/3097	Bachelor Spinster	Schoolmaster Schoolmistress	27 24	Vanguard Street Nelson Vanguard Street Nelson	4 years 4 years	Residence of George Witney Labourer Vanguard Street Nelson	79/2654		22 December 1879	Rev. John Beckenham Canzel
85	24 December 1879	John Jacob Jacobsen Kate Frances Brown	John Jacob Jacobsen Kate Frances Brown 💍 1879/2755	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinet Maker NIL	21 26	Vincent Street Nelson Vincent Street Nelson	21 years 5 days	Office of Registrar of Marriages Nelson	79/3139		24 December 1879	Robert Kinton Registrar
86	29 December 1879	George Lilley Marian Vallance	George Lilley Marion Vallance 💍 1879/2756	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer NIL	26 21	Waimea Street Nelson Waimea Street Nelson	3 days 3 days	Office of Registrar of Marriages Nelson	79/3140		29 December 1879	Robert Kinton Registrar
87	29 December 1879	Michael Andrews Edith Emily Elliott	Michael Andrews Edith Emily Elliott 💍 1879/2936	Bachelor Spinster	Banker NIL	36 31	Trafalgar Street Nelson Ngatimama Street Nelson	2 years 3 days	Chapel of the Holy Evangelists Bishopdale	79/3343		29 December 1879	Andrew Burn Suter D.D. Bishop of Nelson

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).