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 509

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 June 1879 Registrar Robert Pickett

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

16 June 1879

Samuel Thomas Clayden
Ellen Sharp

Samuel Thomas Clayden
Ellen Sharp
💍 1879/1212

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Dressmaker

23
23

Waimea Road Nelson
Waimea Road Nelson

3 days
18 months

at the residence of Mrs. Mary Preston, Waimea Road, Nelson

79/1170

16 June 1879

Rev. John Beckenham

No	39
Date of Notice	16 June 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Thomas Clayden	Ellen Sharp
	💍 1879/1212
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Dressmaker
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Waimea Road Nelson	Waimea Road Nelson
Length of Residence	3 days	18 months
Marriage Place	at the residence of Mrs. Mary Preston, Waimea Road, Nelson
Folio	79/1170
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 June 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Beckenham

18 June 1879

James Kershaw
Elizabeth Sarah Renshaw

James Kershaw
Eliz Sarah Renshaw
💍 1879/1211

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Mechanic
NIL

27
27

St Vincent Street Nelson
Bridge Street Nelson

4 years
3 days

Congregational Independent Church, Nelson

79/1169

18 June 1879

Rev. John Beckenham

No	40
Date of Notice	18 June 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Kershaw	Elizabeth Sarah Renshaw
BDM Match (89%)	James Kershaw	Eliz Sarah Renshaw
	💍 1879/1211
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Mechanic	NIL
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	St Vincent Street Nelson	Bridge Street Nelson
Length of Residence	4 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Congregational Independent Church, Nelson
Folio	79/1169
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 June 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Beckenham

24 June 1879

Thomas White
Annie Eliza Shatford

Thomas White
Annie Eliza Statford
💍 1879/1231

Thomas White
Annie Farrell
💍 1879/46

Bachelor
Spinster

Wheelwright
NIL

23
19

Richmond Nelson
Richmond Nelson

1 month
6 years

at the residence of William Thomas White, Richmond, Nelson

79/1172

William Shatford, Father

24 June 1879

Rev. William Rouse

No	41
Date of Notice	24 June 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas White	Annie Eliza Shatford
BDM Match (98%)	Thomas White	Annie Eliza Statford
	💍 1879/1231
BDM Match (68%)	Thomas White	Annie Farrell
	💍 1879/46
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wheelwright	NIL
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Richmond Nelson	Richmond Nelson
Length of Residence	1 month	6 years
Marriage Place	at the residence of William Thomas White, Richmond, Nelson
Folio	79/1172
Consent	William Shatford, Father
Date of Certificate	24 June 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Rouse

25 June 1879

John Hughes
Eliza Reubena Askew

John Hughes
Eliza Reubena Askew
💍 1879/1198

Bachelor
Spinster

Hotel Keeper
NIL

37
23

Bridge Street Nelson
Nile Street Nelson

3 days
23 years

at Christ church, Nelson

79/1157

25 June 1879

Rev. James Leighton

No	42
Date of Notice	25 June 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hughes	Eliza Reubena Askew
	💍 1879/1198
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hotel Keeper	NIL
Age	37	23
Dwelling Place	Bridge Street Nelson	Nile Street Nelson
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	at Christ church, Nelson
Folio	79/1157
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 June 1879
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Leighton

26 June 1879

Samuel Heath
Eliza Roberson

Samuel Heath
Eliza Robinson
💍 1879/1196

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner
NIL

35
24

Russell Street Nelson
Russell Street Nelson

12 months
15 years

at the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson

79/1155

26 June 1879

Robt. Kirton Registrar

No	43
Date of Notice	26 June 1879
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Heath	Eliza Roberson
BDM Match (93%)	Samuel Heath	Eliza Robinson
	💍 1879/1196
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner	NIL
Age	35	24
Dwelling Place	Russell Street Nelson	Russell Street Nelson
Length of Residence	12 months	15 years
Marriage Place	at the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson
Folio	79/1155
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 June 1879
Officiating Minister	Robt. Kirton Registrar

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).