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 549

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 September 1883 Registrar Robert Kinton

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
28	2 July 1883	William Blick Amelia Mears	William Blick Amelia Mears 💍 1883/1969	Bachelor Spinster	Printer Nil	20 21	Bronte Street Nelson Grove Street Nelson	20 years 14 years	Residence of John Mears, Grove Street, Nelson	83/1241	Judge Blick, Father	2 July 1883	Revd William Lee, Wesleyan Church
29	4 July 1883	David Barnett Elizabeth Dodson	David Barnett Elizabeth Dodson 💍 1883/1948	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	33 24	Wakapuaka Nelson Wakapuaka Nelson	33 years 24 years	Wakapuaka	83/1244		4 July 1883	Revd Walter Herbert May, Church of England
30	6 July 1883	Alfred Cornelius Gill Mary Ann Amelia Avery	Alfred Cornelius Gill Mary Ann Amelia Avery 💍 1883/1970	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Dressmaker	25 21	Maitai Valley Nelson Collingwood Street Nelson	5 years 15 years	Residence of William Avery, Collingwood Street, Nelson	83/1247		6 July 1883	Revd William Lee, Wesleyan Church
31	7 July 1883	John Anderson Carolina Louisa Dorothea Lamph	John Anderson Caroline Louisa Dorothen Lanpp 💍 1883/1955	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith Nil	27 20	Hope Waimea Hope Waimea	1 week 20 years	Residence of John Lamph, Hope	83/2081	John Lamph, Father	7 July 1883	Revd Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
32	13 July 1883	Thomas Alexander Louisson Isabella Maria Parmenter	Thomas Alexander Louisson Isabella Maria Carminten 💍 1883/1971	Bachelor Spinster	Painter Nil	23 21	Bridge Street Nelson Bridge Street Nelson	23 years 21 years	St Mary's Catholic	83/1248		13 July 1883	Revd William Mahoney, Roman Catholic Church
33	16 July 1883	John Hoggaus Minnie Elizabeth Edwards	John Hoggard Minnie Elizabeth Edwards 💍 1883/1951	Bachelor Spinster	Civil Servant Nil	34 20	The Hill Nelson Fern Hill Nelson	5 days 20 years	Christchurch	83/2017	Henry Edwards, Father	16 July 1883	Revd Francis James Jones, Church of England
34	17 July 1883	Charles Green Elizabeth Corregan	Charles Green Elizabeth Corrigan 💍 1883/3337 Charles Green Jane Mickell 💍 1883/2030	Widower Widow	Farmer Boarding House Keeper	53 45	Collingwood Street Nelson Collingwood Street Nelson	3 days 15 years	Residence of Elizabeth Corregan, Collingwood Street, Nelson	83/1552		17 July 1883	Revd William Mahoney, Roman Catholic Church. Certificate not granted.
35	23 July 1883	James McCombe Annie Ada Waters		Bachelor Spinster	Tin Smith Dressmaker	45 27	St Vincent Street Nelson St Vincent Street Nelson	2 months 3 weeks	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	83/2090		23 July 1883	Revd Thomas Anson Lato, Baptist Church
36	27 July 1883	David Waters Gunn Annie Newman	David Waters Gunn Annie Newman 💍 1883/2310	Widower Spinster	Storeman Nil	38 27	Richmond Waimea Tasman Street Nelson	9 years 3 days	Residence of Revd Thos. Anson Cato, Bridge Street, Nelson	83/2090		27 July 1883	Revd Thomas Anson Cato, Baptist Church
37	27 July 1883	John Stevenson Mary Hunter	John Stevenson Mary Hunter 💍 1883/1956	Bachelor Spinster	Boiler Maker Nil	27 24	Haven Road Nelson Halifax Street Nelson	3 days 24 years	Residence of Robert Hunter, Halifax Street, Nelson	83/2082		27 July 1883	Robert Kinton, Registrar
38	27 August 1883	Joseph Edwards Annie Cresswell Bridger	Joseph Edwards Annie Cresswell Bridger 💍 1883/1949	Widower Spinster	Carpenter Servant	56 28	Bronte Street Nelson Washington Valley Nelson	3 years 7 years	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	83/1245		27 August 1883	Revd John Beckenham, Congregational Church
39	27 August 1883	George Fishenden Richardson Isabella Brimer	George Fishenden Richardson Isabella Brimner 💍 1883/1960	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinet Maker Sempstress	21 22	Vanguard Street Nelson Collingwood Street Nelson	3 years 22 years	Residence of William Brimer, Collingwood Street, Nelson	83/2085		27 August 1883	Revd Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
40	28 August 1883	Andrew Murray Henry Clara Janse	Andrew Murray Henry Clara Vause 💍 1883/1957	Bachelor Spinster	Draper Nil	25 21	Brougham Street Nelson Waimea Street Nelson	5 years 2 years	Residence of George Janse, House, Jacksler, Waimea Street, Nelson	83/2083		28 August 1883	Revd Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
41	7 September 1883	William Anstie Martha Elizabeth Bingham	William Anstice Martha Elizabeth Bingham 💍 1883/1961	Bachelor Spinster	Baker Milliner	22 24	Hardy Street Nelson Hardy Street Nelson	5 years 10 years	Residence of Revd J. Beckenham, Waimea Road, Nelson	83/2086		7 September 1883	Revd John Beckenham, Congregational Church

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).