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 566

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 June 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
20	04 April 1882	Walter Hockey Mary Hannah Stewart	Walter Hockey Mary Hannah Stewart 💍 1882/1207	Bachelor Spinster	Farm Labourer Nil	21 19	Brook Street Nelson Brook Street Nelson	7 years 19 years	Residence of Joseph Newat, Farmer	82/1230	Joseph Stewart, Father	04 April 1882	Rev William Lee
21	08 April 1882	John Walter Krahagen Lucy border	John Walter Krahagen Lucy Corder 💍 1882/1199	Bachelor Spinster	Carter Servant	22 16	Wellington Street Nelson Serari Street Nelson	3 years 3 days	Residence of Walter Krahagen, Wellington	82/1220	Inderie border, Father	08 April 1882	Rev John Buckenham
22	15 April 1882	Joseph Simmonds Emma Ching	Joseph Simmonds Emma Ching 💍 1882/1198	Widower Widow	Farmer [illegible]	60 39	Waimea West Stoke	30 years 11 years	Residence of Mr. Jellyman, Stoke	82/1222		15 April 1882	Rev William Kirk
23	15 April 1882	Henry John Goss Eliza Flower	Henry John Goss Eliza Flower 💍 1882/1203	Bachelor Widow	Storeman Nil	37 36	Harper Street Nelson Harper Street Nelson	5 years 3 years	Office of Registrar, Nelson	82/1224		19 April 1882	Norton Registrar
24	21 April 1882	John Brown Mary Athnal	John Brown Mary Atmore 💍 1882/1194	Bachelor Spinster	Boiler Master Dress Maker	32 22	Russell Street Nelson Allen Street Nelson	32 years 22 years	Presbyterian Church	82/1210		21 April 1882	Rev Patrick Calder
25	01 May 1882	John Robensore Ellen O'Connell	John Robinson Ellen OConnell 💍 1882/1204 James Breadon Ellen O'Connell 💍 1883/138	Widower Spinster	Engineer Hotel Keeper	52 42	Russell Street Nelson Bellingwood Street Nelson	18 years 8 days	St. Mary's Station	82/1228		01 May 1882	Rev William Mahoney
26	04 May 1882	Henry Benjamin Maleis Louisa Bradshaw	Henry Benjamin Waters Louisa Bradshaw 💍 1882/1200	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Servant	21 21	New Street Nelson Grove Street Nelson	21 years	Residence of Mr. Bradshaw	82/1224		01 May 1882	Rev John Buckenham
27	[illegible]	Henry Gill Charlotte Small	Henry Gill Charlotte Small 💍 1882/1201	Widower Widow	Farmer Nil	62 60	Wakapuaka Wakapuaka	25 years 33 years	Residence of Mr. Henry Moore	82/1225		06 May 1882	Rev John Buckenham
28	08 May 1882	Thomas Hayton Mary Gill	Thomas Hayton Mary Gill 💍 1882/1202	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener Nil	29 32	Wakapuaka Wakapuaka	18 months 20 years	Nelson Street Nelson	82/1226		08 May 1882	Rev John Buckenham
29	11 May 1882	William Harry Smith Cross Fanny Townsend	William Harry Smith Cross Fanny Townsend 💍 1882/1215	Bachelor Spinster	Accountant Nil	31 22	Haven Road Nelson Haven Road Nelson	22 years	All Saints Church	82/1215		11 May 1882	Rev Alfred Owen William
30	16 May 1882	William Eddy Rowe Caroline Gorland	William Eddy Rowe Caroline Gouland 💍 1882/1212	Bachelor Widow	Geologist Nil	35 37	Trafalgar Street Nelson Washington Valley Nelson	3 months 2 years	Chapel Holy Trinity	82/1212		16 May 1882	Rev James Leighton
31	26 May 1882	William Edward Ellis Ellen Mabier	William Edward Ellis Ellen Maher 💍 1882/1206	Bachelor Spinster	Baker Servant	24 22	Bridge Street Nelson South Street Nelson	4 1/2 years 3 days	St Mary's Station	82/1229		26 May 1882	Rev William Mahoney
32	30 May 1882	Alper Charles Barminter Elizabeth Milanda Adair	Alfred Charles Parmenter Elizabeth Milanda Adair 💍 1882/1214	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor Servant	26 22	Collingwood Street Nelson Bridge Street Nelson	2 1/2 years 3 days	Christchurch	82/1214		30 May 1882	Rev James Leighton
33	[illegible]	Frederic Charles Henry Tuljon Amy Gertrude Benfield	Frederick Charles Henry Tietjen Amy Gertrude Benfield 💍 1882/1217	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	25 21	Hope, Waimea Hope, Waimea	3 days 3 months	Holy Trinity Church	82/1211		30 May 1882	Rev Horton Athney Whyte

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).