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 568

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 September 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
40	07 July 1882	John Burton Rose Selina Newbold	John Burton Rose Selina Newbold 💍 1882/2276	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Nil	23 19	Hardy Street, Nelson Waimea Street, Nelson	3 years 3 1/2 years	Office of Registrar, Nelson	82/211		07 July 1882	Robert Minton, Registrar
41	14 July 1882	John Martin Henrietta Louisa Colless	John Martin Henrietta Louisa Collins 💍 1882/2265	Bachelor Spinster	Householder Nil	28 22	Wakapuaka Wakapuaka	3 days 22 years	St. Andrew's Church	82/2107		14 July 1882	Rev. Alfred Owen Williams, Church of England
42	19 July 1882	Edward Mayne Eliza Jane Bartholomew	Edward Mayne Eliza Jane Bartholomew 💍 1882/2260	Bachelor Spinster	Miner Nil	34 34	Bridge Street, Nelson Bridge Street, Nelson	3 weeks 6 years	Residence of J. Bartholomew, Bridge Street, Nelson	82/2096		19 July 1882	Rev. James Leighton, Church of England
43	31 July 1882	George Roberts Emma Maton	George Roberts Emma Morton 💍 1882/2263	Bachelor Widow	Merchant Nil	41 33	Collingwood Street, Nelson Nile Street, Nelson	3 days 6 years	Chapel of Holy Evangelist	82/2099		31 July 1882	Rev. Charles Thor. Miller, Church of England
44	08 August 1882	James Buller Sayon Clara Harriet Elershunett	James Buller Saxon Clara Harriet Elise Pickett 💍 1882/2261	Bachelor Spinster	Surveyor Nil	34 18	Hardy Street, Nelson Hardy Street, Nelson	4 years 11 years	Christchurch	82/2094		08 August 1882	Rev. James Leighton, Church of England
45	14 August 1882	Charles Edward Molesworth Anne Ellen Terry	Charles Edward Molesworth Anne Ellen Terry 💍 1882/2273	Bachelor Spinster	Gentleman Nil	28 34	Hardy Street, Nelson Waimea House, Port Nelson	4 days 4 months	Residence of A. E. Terry, Waimea House, Port Nelson	82/2108	Gilbert Puckett, father	14 August 1882	Rev. Francis Innes Jones, Church of England
46	21 August 1882	William Andrews Margaret Goff	William Andrews Margaret Cox 💍 1882/2268	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Domestic Servant	31 21	Bridge Street, Nelson Bridge Street, Nelson	3 days 3 years	St. Mary's Catholic Church	82/2104		21 August 1882	Rev. William Mahoney, Roman Catholic Church
47	23 August 1882	John Octavius Beach Eleanor Sutton	John Octavius Beach Eleanor Sutton 💍 1882/2274	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Nil	24 21	Richmond, Waimea Richmond, Waimea	24 years 21 years	Residence of William Sutton, farmer Richmond	82/2109		23 August 1882	Rev. William North, Wesleyan Church
48	24 August 1882	Samuel James Friend Amelia Paul	Samuel James Friend Amelia Jane Paul 💍 1882/2266	Bachelor Spinster	Herdsman Nil	20 19	Agalitama Street, Nelson Richmond, Waimea	3 years 5 years	Residence of George Paul, Nelson	82/2102	Daniel Lane Friend, mother	24 August 1882	Rev. William Athening Whyte, Church of England
49	28 August 1882	William Simpson Hannah Maria Ketching	William Simpson Hannah Maria Kitching 💍 1882/2262	Bachelor Spinster	Printer Dressmaker	28 28	Russell Street, Nelson Tasman Street, Nelson	20 years 26 years	Christchurch	82/2098	George Paul, father	28 August 1882	Rev. James Leighton, Church of England
50	30 August 1882	George Aldridge Janet Smith	George Aldridge Janet Smith 💍 1882/2184 George Meredith Janet Smith 💍 1882/3117 George Caske Jane Smith 💍 1883/441	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer French Polisher	37 27	Van Dieman Street, Nelson Alma Street, Nelson	3 weeks 1 year	Residence of George Hooper, Alma Street, Nelson	82/2102		30 August 1882	Rev. John Beckenham, Congregational Church
51	01 September 1882	Patrick Breen Sarah Ann Walters	Patrick OBrien Sarah Ann Watters 💍 1882/2269	Bachelor Widow	Farmer Nil	39 37	Brougham Street, Nelson Brougham Street, Nelson	6 years 6 years	St. Mary's Catholic Church	82/2105		01 September 1882	Rev. William Mahoney, Roman Catholic Church
52	04 September 1882	Henry Webley Sarah Hamilton	Malcolm McKinley Sarah Hamilton 💍 1883/931	Widower Spinster	Shoemaker Domestic Servant	38 29	Allen Street, Nelson Allen Street, Nelson	2 1/2 years 1 year	Office of Registrar	82/[illegible]
53	15 September 1882	John Hyland Catherine Davers	John Hyland Catherine Davis 💍 1882/2271	Bachelor Widow	Farmer Nil	42 42	Waimea Road, Nelson Waimea Road, Nelson	3 days 3 days	Roman Catholic Church	82/2106		15 September 1882	Rev. William Mahoney, Roman Catholic 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 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).