Intentions to Marry, 1881

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840393, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, January 31 2025

Page 555

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 March 1881

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
1	4 January 1881	Abraham Henry Harvey Agnes Marshall	Abraham Henry Harvey Agnes Marshall 💍 1881/387	Bachelor Widow	Farmer Nil	34 32	Bridge Street, Nelson Hardy Street, Nelson	3 days 1 year	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	81/323		4 January 1881	Robert Kinton, Registrar of Marriages
2		George Castle Hannah Burton	George Castle Hannah Burton 💍 1881/2522	Widower Widow	Farmer Nil	74 52	Richmond, Waimea Richmond, Waimea	30 years 20 years	At the residence of Hannah Burton, Richmond	81/2584		4 January 1881	Reverend William Rowse, Wesleyan Minister
3		Henry Livick Caroline Lineham	Henry Livick Caroline Lineham 💍 1881/382	Bachelor Spinster	Salesman Nil	22 18	Milton Street, Nelson Waimea Street, Nelson	21 years 5 years	At the residence of Thomas Lineham, Waimea Street, Nelson	81/318	Thomas Lineham, Father	6 January 1881	Reverend John Beckenham, Congregational Independent
4		Alexander Thompson Emma Smith	Alexander Thompson Emma Smith 💍 1881/389	Bachelor Widow	Miner Nil	44 34	Haven Road, Nelson Haven Road, Nelson	3 weeks 2 weeks	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	81/324		8 January 1881	Robert Kinton, Registrar of Marriages
5		William Liley Agnes Hannah (also called) Goodier	William Liley Agnes Hannahbella Croudis 💍 1881/383	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Nil	24 17	Waimea Road, Nelson Russell Street, Nelson	4 months 17 years	Residence of Agnes Goodier, Russell Street, Nelson	81/319	Agnes Goodier, Mother	11 January 1881	Reverend John Beckenham, Congregational Independent
6		George Theat Ada Martha Betsy Millard	George Sheat Ada Martha Betsy Millard 💍 1881/3234	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith Nil	23 21	Richmond, Waimea Waimea West	4 days 11 years	Wesleyan Church, Richmond	81/329		18 January 1881	Reverend William Rowse, Wesleyan Minister
7		Robert Hunter Helen Kerr	Robert Hunter Helen Kerr 💍 1881/378	Bachelor Spinster	Watchmaker Nil	22 21	Bridge Street, Nelson Waimea West	20 years 21 years	Residence of Alexander Hunter, Bridge Street, Nelson	81/314		24 January 1881	Reverend Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
8		Robert Charles Ferdinand Kelling Anne Giblin	Robert Charles Ferdinand Kelling Anne Giblin 💍 1881/380	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep Farmer Nil	36 20	Hope, Waimea Stoke, Waimea	4 days 20 years	St Barnabas Church, Stoke	81/316	Frederick Giblin, Father	25 January 1881	Reverend William Akerry Whyte, Church of England
9	11 February 1881	William Dixon Livick Martha Harriett Bartholomew	William Dixon Livick Martha Harriet Bartholomew 💍 1881/384	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Nil	28 24	Milton Street, Nelson Milton Street, Nelson	28 years 3 days	Residence of J. Livick, Milton Street, Nelson	81/320		11 February 1881	Reverend John Beckenham, Congregational Independent
10		John Ryan Sarah Ann Hyland	John Ryan Sarah Anne Hyland 💍 1881/1023	Bachelor Spinster	Miner Servant	30 25	Bridge Street, Nelson Nile Street, Nelson	2 weeks 6 years	St Mary's Catholic Church, Nelson	81/982			Reverend William Mahoney, Roman Catholic Church
11		Frederick Herbert House Bertha Hooper	Frederick Herbert House Bertha Hooper 💍 1881/400	Bachelor Spinster	Storeman Nil	25 18	Alma Street, Nelson Nile Street West, Nelson	3 years 18 years	Residence of George Hooper, Nile Street West, Nelson	81/312	George Hooper, Father		Reverend William Rowse, Wesleyan Minister
12	15 February 1881	James Albert Russ Sylvia Eliza Davies	[There is no folio number, and the marriage was never registered, but James and Sylvia had several children and their respective wills make it clear that they considered they were married]	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	22 23	Waimea West Dovedale	22 years 10 years	Residence of John Davies, Dovedale			15 February 1881	Reverend James Leighton, Episcopalian Minister
13		Alfred Rowland Smart Clara Moore	Alfred Rowland Smart Clara Moore 💍 1881/385	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Nil	32 25	Collingwood Street, Nelson Cambria Street, Nelson	6 years 16 years	Residence of Mrs Moore, Cambria Street, Nelson	81/321			Reverend John Beckenham, Congregational Independent
14		Albert Webb Selina May	Albert Webb Selina May 💍 1881/381	Bachelor Spinster	Shoemaker Nil	20 18	Gloucester Street, Nelson Haven Road, Nelson	19 years 6 years	Residence of Robert Malcolm, [illegible]	81/374	Mary Jane May, Mother		Reverend Rainsford Bavin, Wesleyan
15		William Moyes Catherine Emily Young	William Moyes Catherine Emily Young 💍 1881/386	Bachelor Spinster	Watchmaker Nil	22 23	Bridge Street, Nelson Grove Street, Nelson	18 years 23 years	Christchurch, Nelson	81/322			Reverend James Leighton, Church of England
16	14 March 1881	Launcelot Peter Laurenson Catherine Martha Nash	Lauritz Peter Lauritzen Catherine Martha Nash 💍 1881/390	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Servant	27 20	Haven Road, Nelson Collingwood Street, Nelson	3 days 5 months	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	81/325	John Nash, Father	14 March 1881	Robert Kinton, Registrar of Marriages
17		Mark Stratford Dorothy Christina Washbourne	Mark Stratford Dorothy Christina Wakefield 💍 1881/391	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	25 17	Hope, Waimea Annesud Valley, Waimea	14 days 1 year	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	81/326			Robert Kinton, Registrar of Marriages
18		James Bell Elizabeth Palmer	James Bell Elizabeth Palmer 💍 1881/399	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	28 20	Hope, Waimea Hope, Waimea	3 years 20 years	Residence of Mrs H. Palmer, Hope	81/311	H. Palmer (sister), Mother		Reverend Charles Oliver Males, Registrar of Marriages
19	29 March 1881	Alexander Stewart Philippa Skeel Bell	Alexander Stewart Philippa Skeet Bell 💍 1881/379	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	34 21	Richmond, Waimea Richmond, Waimea	4 days 4 years	Residence of Mrs Eliza Bell, Richmond	81/315		29 March 1881	Reverend Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church

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).