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 499

District of Nelson Quarter ending Oct - Dec

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
53	2 October 1880	Edward Wade Petherick Elizabeth Smith	Edward Wade Petherick Elizabeth Smith 💍 1880/75 John Walker Elizabeth Smith 💍 1880/1911	Widower Spinster	Builder Domestic Servt	40 25	Richmond Nelson Richmond Nelson	3 days 10 years	Church of England Richmond	80/12554		25 October 1880	Rev. William Atherry Whyte Church of England
54	4 October 1880	Henry Eure Pamelia Jane Shiles	Henry Eure Pamilea Jane Stiles 💍 1880/83	Widower Widow	Mariner Dressmaker	43 39	Harley Street Nelson Harley Street Nelson	21 years 7 years	Residence of Rich Metcalf Brook Street Nelson	80/12557		4 October 1880	Rev. John Beckenham Congregational Independent
55	6 October 1880	Thomas Fathers Jean Malcolm Calder	Thomas Fathers Jean Malcolm Calder 💍 1880/91	Bachelor Spinster	Shoemaker Shop Assistant	22 20	Waimea Road Nelson Bridge Street Nelson	5 years 20 years	Residence of Thomas Calder Haven Road Nelson	80/12561	Thomas Calder father No person in colony having authority	19 October 1880	Rev. Patrick Calder Presbyterian Church
56	5 October 1880	Thomas Arthur Clements Jane McHary	Thomas Arthur Clements Jane McAlary 💍 1880/88	Widower Spinster	Bootmaker Servant	39 21	Waimea Road Nelson Haven Road Nelson	1 year 4 years	Residence of Thomas John June New Street Nelson	80/12558		6 October 1880	Rev. John Beckenham Congregational Independent
57	11 October 1880	Charles Henry Dement Ann Watson Henry	Charles Henry Dement Ann Watson Henry 💍 1880/90	Bachelor Spinster	Bricklayer Dressmaker	24 22	Hardy Street Nelson Collingwood Street Nelson	25 years 13 years	Residence of Architect Hardy Collingwood Street Nelson	80/12560		11 October 1880	Rev. Patrick Calder Presbyterian Church
58	8 November 1880	Arthur Henry Isedgeworth Maud Mary Sealy	Arthur Henry Sedgwick Maude Mary Sealy 💍 1880/516	Bachelor Spinster	Minister Nil	26 30	Bishopdale Nelson Hardy Street Nelson	3 days 15 years	Bishopdale Chapel Nelson	80/3069		8 November 1880	Rev. A. B. Suter, Bishop of Nelson Church of England
59	9 November 1880	James Newman Emily Gardener	James Newman Emily Gardiner 💍 1880/2879	Bachelor Spinster	Bookbinder Nil	33 18	Nile Street East Nelson Nile Street East Nelson	15 Months 18 years	Residence of Jesse Gardener, Nile Street East Nelson	80/12555	Jesse Gardener father	9 November 1880	Rev. Rainsford Bavin Wesleyan
60	11 November 1880	William Oliver Jones Mary Ann Whiting	William Oliver Jones Mary Ann Whiting 💍 1880/73	Bachelor Spinster	Saddler Nil	22 21	Trafalgar Street Nelson Brook Street Nelson	14 days 21 years	Residence David Whiting Brook Street Nelson	80/12565		11 November 1880	Rev. Alexander John Hambleton Baptist Minister
61	24 November 1880	Charles Henry Hopkins Sarah Agnes Griffith	Charles Henry Wilkinson Sarah Agnes Griffiths 💍 1880/74	Bachelor Spinster	Wool Sorter Nil	23 19	Waimea Street Nelson Brook Street Valley Nelson	3 Weeks 1 Week	Residence Richard John Griffith Brook Valley Nelson	80/12566	John Griffith father	24 November 1880	Rev. Alexander John Hambleton Baptist
62	26 November 1880	Thomas Brice Allow Martha Almore	Thomas Brice Allan Martha Atmore 💍 1880/89	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer Nil	24 23	Bridge Street Nelson Alma Street Nelson	20 Months 23 years	Residence Edward Almore, Alma Street Nelson	80/12559		26 November 1880	Rev. John Beckenham Congregational Independent
63	30 November 1880	Alexander McHale Mary Kezia Yanall	Alexander McKenzie Mary Kezia Yarrall 💍 1880/92	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Nil	25 21	Bridge Street Nelson Cambria Street Nelson	1 day 21 years	All Saints Church Nelson	80/12562		30 November 1880	Rev. J. A. Bowden Church of England
64	4 December 1880	Charles John Bartlett Mahilda Evelyn Scadden	Charles John Bartlett Matilda Evelyn Scadden 💍 1880/2877	Widower Spinster	Carpenter Dressmaker	32 20	Grove Street Nelson Grove Street Nelson	1 year 17 years	Office of the Registrar of Marriages Nelson	80/12563	No person in Colony having authority	20 December 1880	Robert Runton Registrar of Marriages

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 1898. More registers will be added when the Archives NZ Wellington reading room re-opens in September 2025.

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).