Intentions to Marry, 1880

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840392, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Page 496

District of Nelson Quarter ending Apr - Jun

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

155

31 May 1880

John William Treacher
Grace Rebecca Cheel

John William Treacher
Grace Rebecca Chell
💍 1880/1372

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Nil

30
21

Collingwood Street Nelson
Collingwood Street Nelson

2 Months
3 years

Residence of Charles Cheel Pender. Collingwood

80/1007

31 May 1880

Rev. John Beckenhaus Congregational Independent.

No	155
Date of Notice	31 May 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Treacher	Grace Rebecca Cheel
BDM Match (97%)	John William Treacher	Grace Rebecca Chell
	💍 1880/1372
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nil
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Collingwood Street Nelson	Collingwood Street Nelson
Length of Residence	2 Months	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Charles Cheel Pender. Collingwood
Folio	80/1007
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Beckenhaus Congregational Independent.

156

1 June 1880

William Martin
Mary Ann Welch

William Martin
Mary Ann Silcock
💍 1880/1382

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Nil

24
22

Hope Waimea East
Hope Waimea East

3 days
17 years

At the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Nelson

80/1010

1 June 1880

Robert Wilkins. Registrar

No	156
Date of Notice	1 June 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Martin	Mary Ann Welch
BDM Match (84%)	William Martin	Mary Ann Silcock
	💍 1880/1382
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Nil
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Hope Waimea East	Hope Waimea East
Length of Residence	3 days	17 years
Marriage Place	At the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Nelson
Folio	80/1010
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 June 1880
Officiating Minister	Robert Wilkins. Registrar

157

18 June 1880

John Thomas Waterhouse
Eliza Blanchett

John Thomas Waterhouse
Eliza Blanchett
💍 1880/1370

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Nil

26
20

Wakapuaka. Nelson
Suburban North Nelson

2 Months
20 years

At the residence of George Blanchett Farmer Suburban North

80/999

George Blanchett Father

18 June 1880

Rev. Rainsford Bavine Wesleyan Minister

No	157
Date of Notice	18 June 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas Waterhouse	Eliza Blanchett
	💍 1880/1370
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nil
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Wakapuaka. Nelson	Suburban North Nelson
Length of Residence	2 Months	20 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of George Blanchett Farmer Suburban North
Folio	80/999
Consent	George Blanchett Father
Date of Certificate	18 June 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. Rainsford Bavine Wesleyan Minister

158

25 June 1880

William Douglas
Mary Ann Franklin

William Douglas
Mary Ann Franklin
💍 1880/1373

Widower
Widow

Blacksmith
Nil

About 60
59

Bridge Street Nelson
Hastings Street Nelson

3 days
9 years

at the residence of William Morrison McFarlane St. Nelson

80/1002

25 June 1880

Rev. John Beckenhaus Congregational Independent

No	158
Date of Notice	25 June 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Douglas	Mary Ann Franklin
	💍 1880/1373
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Blacksmith	Nil
Age	About 60	59
Dwelling Place	Bridge Street Nelson	Hastings Street Nelson
Length of Residence	3 days	9 years
Marriage Place	at the residence of William Morrison McFarlane St. Nelson
Folio	80/1002
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 June 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Beckenhaus Congregational Independent

159

26 June 1880

Henry Wilkins
Margaret Evans

Heneary Wilkins
Margaret Evens
💍 1880/1383

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Servant

20
21

Collingwood Street Nelson
Bridge Street Nelson

15 years
3 years

Residence of Joseph Wilkins, Baker Collingwood St. Nelson

80/1011

Joseph Wilkins father

26 June 1880

Rev. Alexander J. Hamilton Baptist Minister

No	159
Date of Notice	26 June 1880
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Wilkins	Margaret Evans
BDM Match (90%)	Heneary Wilkins	Margaret Evens
	💍 1880/1383
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Servant
Age	20	21
Dwelling Place	Collingwood Street Nelson	Bridge Street Nelson
Length of Residence	15 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Joseph Wilkins, Baker Collingwood St. Nelson
Folio	80/1011
Consent	Joseph Wilkins father
Date of Certificate	26 June 1880
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alexander J. Hamilton Baptist Minister

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

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Attribution: This image was digitised by Archives NZ Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga and is republished here under CC BY. It has been cropped and rotated for convenience.

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 1903. 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).