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 511

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 September 1879 Registrar Robert Kirton

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

23 August 1879

James Taylor
Amelia Lines

James Taylor
Amelia Lines
💍 1879/1940

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Nil

22
23

Hope Waimea East
Hope Waimea East

22 years
23 years

at the residence of Thomas Lines, farmer, Hope, Waimea East

79/1971

23 August 1879

Rev. William Rouse

No	56
Date of Notice	23 August 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Taylor	Amelia Lines
	💍 1879/1940
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Nil
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Hope Waimea East	Hope Waimea East
Length of Residence	22 years	23 years
Marriage Place	at the residence of Thomas Lines, farmer, Hope, Waimea East
Folio	79/1971
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 August 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Rouse

23 August 1879

James William Hollyman
Eliza Ann Cox

James William Hollyman
Eliza Ann Cox
💍 1879/1935

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Lace Maker

20
21

Nile Street, Nelson
Waimea Road, Nelson

6 years
1 year

at the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson

79/1967

James Hollyman, father

23 August 1879

Robert Kirton, Registrar

No	57
Date of Notice	23 August 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James William Hollyman	Eliza Ann Cox
	💍 1879/1935
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Lace Maker
Age	20	21
Dwelling Place	Nile Street, Nelson	Waimea Road, Nelson
Length of Residence	6 years	1 year
Marriage Place	at the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson
Folio	79/1967
Consent	James Hollyman, father
Date of Certificate	23 August 1879
Officiating Minister	Robert Kirton, Registrar

4 September 1879

Henry Pilkington
Sarah Simmonds

Henry Percival Pilkington
Sarah Simmonds
💍 1879/2676

Bachelor
Widow

Miner
Hotel Keeper

44
46

Haven Road, Nelson
Haven Road, Nelson

3 months
2 years

at the residence of George Loyd, carter, Bridge Street, Nelson

79/3055

4 September 1879

Rev. Alexander John Hamilton

No	58
Date of Notice	4 September 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Pilkington	Sarah Simmonds
BDM Match (82%)	Henry Percival Pilkington	Sarah Simmonds
	💍 1879/2676
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Miner	Hotel Keeper
Age	44	46
Dwelling Place	Haven Road, Nelson	Haven Road, Nelson
Length of Residence	3 months	2 years
Marriage Place	at the residence of George Loyd, carter, Bridge Street, Nelson
Folio	79/3055
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 September 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alexander John Hamilton

8 September 1879

John Burke
Anne Maher

John Burke
Anne Maher
💍 1879/1942

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic Servant

23
22

Hardy Street, Nelson
Hardy Street, Nelson

2 1/2 years
1 1/2 years

St. Mary's Catholic Church, Nelson

79/1973

8 September 1879

Rev. William Mahoney

No	59
Date of Notice	8 September 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Burke	Anne Maher
	💍 1879/1942
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Hardy Street, Nelson	Hardy Street, Nelson
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	1 1/2 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Catholic Church, Nelson
Folio	79/1973
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 September 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Mahoney

13 September 1879

Alfred Horace Eustace Rawland Bliss
Angelina Lovell

Alfred Horace Eustace Rawland Bliss
Angelina Lovell
💍 1879/1936

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner
Nil

37
27

Waimea Street, Nelson
Wakefield Quay, Nelson

4 days
6 weeks

at the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson

79/1968

13 September 1879

Robt. Kirton, Registrar

No	60
Date of Notice	13 September 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Horace Eustace Rawland Bliss	Angelina Lovell
	💍 1879/1936
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner	Nil
Age	37	27
Dwelling Place	Waimea Street, Nelson	Wakefield Quay, Nelson
Length of Residence	4 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	at the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson
Folio	79/1968
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 September 1879
Officiating Minister	Robt. Kirton, Registrar

20 September 1879

Henry Samuel Berkett
Louisa Henrietta Sophia Lange

Henry Samuel Berkett
Louise Henriethe Sophia Lange
💍 1879/3109

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Nil

27
22

Hope Waimea East
Hope Waimea East

2 1/2 years
6 months

Lutheran Church, Ranzau

79/2667

20 September 1879

Rev. Christian Frederick Meyer

No	61
Date of Notice	20 September 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Samuel Berkett	Louisa Henrietta Sophia Lange
BDM Match (95%)	Henry Samuel Berkett	Louise Henriethe Sophia Lange
	💍 1879/3109
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nil
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Hope Waimea East	Hope Waimea East
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Lutheran Church, Ranzau
Folio	79/2667
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 September 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. Christian Frederick Meyer

22 September 1879

Edward Sumner Fairey
Martha Newman

Edward Skinner Fairey
Martha Newman
💍 1879/1929

Widower
Spinster

Storekeeper
Nil

28
18

Richmond, Nelson
Harley Street, Nelson

3 years
6 weeks

at the residence of Henry Ruff lime burner, Harley Street, Nelson

79/1961

Eliza Newman, mother

22 September 1879

Rev. John Beckenham

No	62
Date of Notice	22 September 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Sumner Fairey	Martha Newman
BDM Match (93%)	Edward Skinner Fairey	Martha Newman
	💍 1879/1929
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Nil
Age	28	18
Dwelling Place	Richmond, Nelson	Harley Street, Nelson
Length of Residence	3 years	6 weeks
Marriage Place	at the residence of Henry Ruff lime burner, Harley Street, Nelson
Folio	79/1961
Consent	Eliza Newman, mother
Date of Certificate	22 September 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Beckenham

29 September 1879

Thomas Jaffray
Harriet Stratford

Thomas Jaffray
Harriet Stratford
💍 1879/2681

Bachelor
Spinster

Boiler Maker
General Servant

27
22

Waimea Street, Nelson
Waimea Street, Nelson

8 months
6 months

at the residence of George Watts, painter, Waimea Street, Nelson

79/3060

29 September 1879

Rev. Patrick Calder

No	63
Date of Notice	29 September 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Jaffray	Harriet Stratford
	💍 1879/2681
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boiler Maker	General Servant
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Waimea Street, Nelson	Waimea Street, Nelson
Length of Residence	8 months	6 months
Marriage Place	at the residence of George Watts, painter, Waimea Street, Nelson
Folio	79/3060
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 September 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. Patrick Calder

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 1908. More registers are being added almost every week.

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).