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 550

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 September 1883 Registrar Robert Kirton

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

14 September 1883

Martin Christian
Esther Cooper

Martin Christian
Esther Cooper
💍 1883/1962

Widower
Widow

Coach Maker
Nil

46
46

Harley Street Nelson
New Street Nelson

21 years
3 weeks

Congregational Church, Nelson

83/2087

14 September 1883

Rev. John Beckenham, Congregational Church

No	42
Date of Notice	14 September 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Martin Christian	Esther Cooper
	💍 1883/1962
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Coach Maker	Nil
Age	46	46
Dwelling Place	Harley Street Nelson	New Street Nelson
Length of Residence	21 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Nelson
Folio	83/2087
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 September 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Beckenham, Congregational Church

18 September 1883

James Frederick Shaw
Jessie Blincoe

James Frederick Shaw
Jessie Blincoe
💍 1883/1963

Bachelor
Spinster

Rope Maker
Servant

29
23

Maitai Valley Nelson
Waimea Road Nelson

20 years
23 years

Residence of George Brooker, Washington Valley, Nelson

83/2088

18 September 1883

Rev. Edward Charles Nightingale, Church of England

No	43
Date of Notice	18 September 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Frederick Shaw	Jessie Blincoe
	💍 1883/1963
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Rope Maker	Servant
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Maitai Valley Nelson	Waimea Road Nelson
Length of Residence	20 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Residence of George Brooker, Washington Valley, Nelson
Folio	83/2088
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 September 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edward Charles Nightingale, Church of England

19 September 1883

William Henry Albrough
Sarah Jane Kinzett

William Henry Alborough
Sarah Jane Kinzett
💍 1883/2940

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Nil

26
22

Wakapuaka Nelson
Wakapuaka Nelson

26 years
22 years

St Peters by the Strand, Wakapuaka

83/2967

19 September 1883

Rev. Walter Herbert Kay, Church of England

No	44
Date of Notice	19 September 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Albrough	Sarah Jane Kinzett
BDM Match (98%)	William Henry Alborough	Sarah Jane Kinzett
	💍 1883/2940
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nil
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Wakapuaka Nelson	Wakapuaka Nelson
Length of Residence	26 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St Peters by the Strand, Wakapuaka
Folio	83/2967
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 September 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. Walter Herbert Kay, Church of England

24 September 1883

Arthur Hermon
Annie Jane Turner

Arthur Hermon
Annie Jane Turner
💍 1883/3618

Bachelor
Spinster

Minister
Nil

24
20

Wakapuaka Nelson
Wakapuaka Nelson

6 days
20 years

St Peters by the Strand, Wakapuaka

83/2969

William Henry Turner, father

24 September 1883

Rev. A. B. Suter, Church of England

No	45
Date of Notice	24 September 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Hermon	Annie Jane Turner
	💍 1883/3618
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Minister	Nil
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Wakapuaka Nelson	Wakapuaka Nelson
Length of Residence	6 days	20 years
Marriage Place	St Peters by the Strand, Wakapuaka
Folio	83/2969
Consent	William Henry Turner, father
Date of Certificate	24 September 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. B. Suter, Church of England

24 September 1883

John Samuel Gawith
Mary Jane Williams

John Samuel Gawith
Mary Jane Williams
💍 1883/1959

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Nil

32
20

Shelbourne Street Nelson
Washington Terrace Nelson

10 months
12 years

Residence of Henry White, Washington Terrace, Nelson

83/2084

Sarah Jane White, mother

24 September 1883

Rev. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church

No	46
Date of Notice	24 September 1883
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Samuel Gawith	Mary Jane Williams
	💍 1883/1959
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Nil
Age	32	20
Dwelling Place	Shelbourne Street Nelson	Washington Terrace Nelson
Length of Residence	10 months	12 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Henry White, Washington Terrace, Nelson
Folio	83/2084
Consent	Sarah Jane White, mother
Date of Certificate	24 September 1883
Officiating Minister	Rev. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian 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 1908. 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).