Intentions to Marry, 1883

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840395, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, May 16 2025.

Page 545

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 March 1883 Registrar Robert Nelson

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 1883	Edward Jennings Elizabeth Bayne Darrell	Edward Jennings Elizabeth Bayne Darnell 💍 1883/509	Bachelor Spinster	Deacon in Holy Orders Nil	28 22	Waimia Street Nelson Waimia Street Nelson	2 weeks 9 years	Christchurch	83/382		4 January 1883	Revd. Charles Olwin Mules, Church of England
2	9 January 1883	Benjamin Thomas Elizabeth Letcher Lacy	Benjamin Thomas Elizabeth Letcher Laity 💍 1883/406	Bachelor Spinster	Wesleyan Minister Nil	35 23	Bridge Street Nelson Hardy Street Nelson	3 days 4 days	Residence of Revd. Wm. Hardy street, Nelson	83/372		9 January 1883	Revd. William Lee, Wesleyan Church
3	24 January 1883	Francis Philip Browne Mary Ellen Rogers	Francis Philip Browne Mary Ellen Rogers 💍 1883/510	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Dress maker	32 24	Hardy Street Nelson Hardy Street Nelson	17 months 15 years	Christchurch	83/383		24 January 1883	Revd. James Leighton, Church of England
4	29 January 1883	Frederick Augustus Seddon Ellen Harriet Hornsell	Frederick Augustus Scott Saisted Ellen Harriet Hounsell 💍 1883/511	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep Farmer Nil	35 18	Trafalgar Street Nelson Mary Ann Street Nelson	3 days 18 years	Nelson	83/384	Henry Hornsell, Father	29 January 1883	Revd. James Leighton, Church of England
5	2 February 1883	John Mercer Dimmick Mary Ann Cropp	John Mercer Dimmick Mary Ann Cropp 💍 1883/488	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	22 19	Appleby Waimea Hope Waimea	22 years 19 years	Residence of Thos. Cropp, Farmer, Hope	83/374	Thomas Cropp, Father	2 February 1883	Revd. William Kirk, Wesleyan Church
6	7 February 1883	Albert Karsten Sarah Walker	Albert Karsten Sarah Walker 💍 1883/507	Bachelor Spinster	Fruiterer Nil	21 21	Bridge Street Nelson Richmond Waimea	1 year 15 months	Residence of John Walker, Labourer, Richmond	83/380		7 February 1883	Revd. Thomas Anson Gale, Baptist Church
7	7 February 1883	Frederick Burpee Galland Anne Whiting	Frederick Burfield Galland Annie Whiting 💍 1883/407	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Nil	22 25	Waimea Street Nelson Brook Street Nelson	6 years 25 years	Wesleyan Church	83/373		7 February 1883	Revd. William Lee, Wesleyan Church
8	10 February 1883	John Nevin Mary Madeline Agnes Estwick	John Nevin Mary Madeline Agnes Erskine 💍 2018/17493	Bachelor Spinster	Commercial Traveller Nil	25 22	Wakapuaka Nelson Wakapuaka Nelson	4 days 13 years	Wakapuaka	83/375		10 February 1883	Revd. James Leighton, Church of England
9	10 February 1883	Charles Mallender Elizabeth Close	Charles Mallinder Elizabeth Close 💍 1883/506	Bachelor Widow	Labourer Settler	34 38	Wanganui Nelson Happy Valley Nelson	9 months 38 years	Office of Registrar, Nelson	83/349		10 February 1883	Robert Nelson, Registrar
10	13 February 1883	Charles James Dwyer Lucy Haase	Charles James Dwyer Lucy Haase 💍 1883/2035	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Nil	30 27	Parere Street Nelson Kawai Street Nelson	25 years 47 years	All Saints, Nelson	83/1208		13 February 1883	Revd. Francis Impey Jones, Church of England
11	27 February 1883	George Theak Eliza Helen Burton	George Theak Eliza Helen Burton 💍 1883/512	Bachelor Spinster	Book Keeper Governess	30 27	Alton Street Nelson Alton Street Nelson	1 year 1 month	Christchurch	83/385		27 February 1883	Revd. James Leighton, Church of England
12	28 February 1883	William Stewart Mary Davis Harford	William Stewart Mary Davis Harford 💍 1883/405	Bachelor Spinster	Ironmonger Servant	24 29	Waimia Street Nelson Waimia Road Nelson	2 1/2 years 7 years	Residence of Revd. Patrick Calder, Nile Street, Nelson	83/371		28 February 1883	Revd. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
13	10 March 1883	Samuel Frederick Bolton Mary Ann Lloyd	Samuel Frederick Bolton Mary Ann Lloyd 💍 1883/408	Bachelor Spinster	Seedsman Dressmaker	24 20	Waimia Road Nelson Collingwood Street Nelson	24 years 20 years	Residence of Samuel Bolton, Waimia Road Nelson	83/314	William Lloyd, Father	10 March 1883	Revd. William Lee, Wesleyan Church
14	12 March 1883	Robert Coupland Harding Sophia Sarah Blackmore	Robert Coupland Harding Sophia Sarah Blackmore 💍 1883/409	Bachelor Spinster	Printer Teacher	33 24	Brook Street Nelson Brook Street Nelson	16 days 2 years	Residence of Mr. A. Krouse, Brook Street, Nelson	83/315		12 March 1883	Revd. William Lee, Wesleyan 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 1899. More registers are being added almost every week.

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).