Intentions to Marry, 1882

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840394, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, April 16 2025

Page 564

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 March 1882

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	02 January 1881	William Henry Taylor Annie Maude Lunn	William Henry Taylor Annie Maude Lunn 💍 1882/483	Bachelor Spinster	Baker Nil	25 17	Vanguard Street Nelson Vanguard Street Nelson	25 years 4 days	Residence of the R. Wesley, Vanguard Street, Nelson	82/425	Charles Lunn, father	01 January 1881	Rev. John Beckenham, Congregational Independent Church
2	03 January 1881	Charles Alexander Seymour Emily Madeline Brunette	Charles Alex Seymour Emily Madaline Brunetti 💍 1882/465	Bachelor Spinster	Telegraphist Schoolmistress	24 21	Collingwood Street Nelson Collingwood Street Nelson	3 weeks 10 days	St Mary's Nelson	82/431		02 January 1881	Rev. William Mahoney, Roman Catholic Church
3	03 January 1881	James M. Mahon Margaret O'Connell	James McMahon Margaret C OConnell 💍 1882/464 James Breadon Ellen O'Connell 💍 1883/138 James Hendron Mary OConnell 💍 1882/3316	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	33 20	Waimea Street Nelson Richmond	6 days 5 weeks	St Mary's Nelson	82/430		03 January 1881	Rev. William Mahoney, Roman Catholic Church
4	04 January 1881	Arthur Berry Barbara Theresa Olford	Arthur Berry Barbara Theresa Olford 💍 1882/460	Bachelor Spinster	Sunny Labourer Nil	22 21	Waimea Road Nelson Waimea Road Nelson	6 days 6 days	All Saints Nelson	82/414		04 January 1881	Rev. Francis Jones Jones, Church of England
5	05 January 1881	Richard Taylor Emma Kenny	Richard Taylor Emma Henney 💍 1882/500	Widower Widow	Farmer Nil	53 40	Collingwood Street Nelson Waimea Street Nelson	4 days 14 days	Residence of John Perry, Waimea Street, Nelson	82/415		06 January 1881	Rev. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
6	06 January 1881	Robert Gross Annie Dalgatty	Robert Gross Annie Dalgalty 💍 1882/478	Bachelor Widow	Boarding House Keeper Loom	44 52	Waimea Street Nelson Waimea Street Nelson	5 months 6 months	Office of Registrar, Nelson	82/420		06 January 1881	Robt. Kirton, Registrar
7	13 January 1881	George Petter Barbara McKay Robb	George Pettit Barbara McLeay Robb 💍 1882/479	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Teacher	33 24	Waimea Street Nelson Beachville Nelson	4 years 20 years	Office of Registrar, Nelson	82/421		13 January 1881	Robt. Kirton, Registrar
8	16 January 1881	James Ranger Naomi Patching	James Ranger Naomi Patching 💍 1882/461	Bachelor Spinster	Baker Nil	29 24	Vincent Street Nelson Vincent Street Nelson	5 days 3 weeks	Residence of James Patching	82/426		16 January 1881	Rev. John Beckenham, Congregational Independent Church
9	16 January 1881	John James Annie Curtis	John James Annie Curtis 💍 1882/480	Widower Spinster	Auctioneer Housemaid	43 23	Bridge Street Nelson Bridge Street Nelson	18 years 5 months	Office of Registrar	82/422		16 January 1881	Robt. Kirton, Registrar
10	17 January 1881	John Richard Ellen English	John Richards Ellen English 💍 1882/481	Widower Spinster	Upholsterer Nil	56 39	Bronte Street Nelson Bronte Street Nelson	3 days 3 days	Office of Registrar	82/423		17 January 1881	Robt. Kirton, Registrar
11	23 January 1881	George Gorlett Margaret Helly	George Corlett Margaret Kelly 💍 1882/3603 George Windrum Margaret Kelly 💍 1883/1868 George Heller Margaret Hamilton 💍 1882/1888 George Tyrrell Margaret Kelly Martin 💍 1882/2010 George Flood Margaret Halcrow 💍 1882/3328 George Andrews Margaret Sullivan 💍 1882/398	Bachelor Spinster	Compositor Domestic Servant	21 20	Vincent Street Nelson Vincent Street Nelson	7 years 2 1/2 years	Residence of Mr. Gorlett, Vincent Street, Nelson	82/427		06 February 1881	Rev. John Beckenham, Congregational Independent Church
12	24 February 1881	Charles Stratford Mary Ann Wratten	Charles Stratford Mary Ann Wratten 💍 1882/471	Widower Spinster	Farmer General Servant	62 33	Waimea West Waimea West	21 years 14 years	St. Michael's Waimea West	82/418		24 February 1881	Rev. Charles Mules, Church of England
13	28 February 1881	Henry Moore Priscilla Haylock	Henry Moore Priscilla Haylock 💍 1882/462	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Servant	39 24	Waimea Street Nelson Mary Anne Street Nelson	3 years 4 years	Residence of Henry Moore, Waimea Street, Nelson	82/428		28 February 1881	Rev. John Beckenham, Congregational Independent Church
14	01 March 1881	James Johnstone Eliza Mary Orsman	James Johnstone Eliza Mary Orsman 💍 1882/466	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Dressmaker	28 25	Fox Hill Valley Nelson Fox Hill Valley Nelson	3 days 25 years	Chapel Holy Evangelist	82/432		01 March 1881	Rev. Charles Mules, Church of England
15	03 March 1881	John Malelden Balder Charlotte Elizabeth Gray	John Malcolm Calder Charlotte Elizabeth Gray 💍 1882/501	Bachelor Spinster	Express Driver Nil	27 26	Newtone Street Nelson Bridge Street Nelson	2 years 21 years	Residence of Robert Gray, Bridge Street, Nelson	82/416		03 March 1881	Rev. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
16	18 March 1881	William Tyres Mary Anne Gross	William Tyree Mary Anne Cross 💍 1882/482 William Hughes Mary Ann Hughes 💍 1883/863 William Kirkus Mary June Harvey 💍 1882/2340 William Harris Mary Jane Tozer 💍 1882/1836 William Downie Mary Ann Lewis 💍 1882/668 William Smith Mary Manners 💍 1883/428 William Smith Mary Ann Shaw 💍 1882/3391 William Mirehouse Mary Ann Petterson 💍 1882/148	Bachelor Spinster	Photographer Nil	26 30	Trafalgar Street Nelson Haven Road Nelson	1 year 7 years	Office of Registrar	82/424		18 March 1881	Robert Kirton, Registrar
17	28 March 1881	Thomas Squire Hannah Ross	Thomas Squire Hannah Ross 💍 1882/499	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	36 22	Upper Moutere Upper Moutere	4 days 21 years	Residence of John Ross, farmer, Upper Moutere	82/414		28 March 1881	Rev. Johann F.J. Heine, Lutheran Church
18	29 March 1881	William Charles Baigent Anne Louisa Best	William Charles Baigent Annie Louisa Best 💍 1882/467	Bachelor Spinster	Saw Miller Nil	24 23	Appleby Waimea Appleby Waimea	3 days 23 years	Residence of Charles Best, Farmer, Appleby	82/433		29 March 1881	Rev. William Henry Whyte, Church of England

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 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).