Intentions to Marry, 1884

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840396, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, April 30 2025

Page 628

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 June 1884

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
21	1 April 1884	Carl Johan Johansen Angelina Street Jones	Carl Johan Johanson Angelina Street Jones 💍 1884/2148	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Dressmaker	37 27	Hardy Street Nelson Waimea Road Nelson	18 months 12 years	Bishopdale Church	84/1330		1 April 1884	Revd. Walter Herbert Ray, Church of England
22	4 April 1884	Thomas Thomas Mary Elizabeth King	Thomas Thomas Mary Elizabeth King 💍 1884/2502	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith Nil	24 23	Vanguard Street Nelson Bridge Street Nelson	24 years 23 years	Presbyterian Church	84/1888		4 April 1884	Revd. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
23	12 April 1884	George William Kassebaum Elizabeth Boes	George William Kassebaum Elizabeth Boes 💍 1884/2140	Bachelor Widow	Fisherman Nil	18 25	Oyster Island Waimer Oyster Island Waimer	9 years 6 months	At the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	84/1323	Elizabeth Boes, mother	12 April 1884	Robert Horton, Registrar
24	17 April 1884	Austin Lines Alice Priscilla Sutton	Austin Lines Alice Priscilla Sutton 💍 1884/2141	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	27 22	Hope Waimer Hope Waimer	17 years 1 week	At office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	84/1324		17 April 1884	Robert Horton, Registrar
25	26 April 1884	William Thomas Hargreaves Ellen Cahill	William Thomas Hargreaves Ellen Cahill 💍 1884/2138	Bachelor Spinster	Coach Smith Servant	21 23	Cambria Street Nelson Tasman Street Nelson	1 year 7 years	Residence of Thomas Harris, Tasman Street Nelson	84/1321		26 April 1884	Revd. John Beekenham, Congregational Church
26	30 April 1884	Samuel Hoult Martha Mary Theresa Ward	Samuel Hoult Martha Mary Teresa Ward 💍 1884/2149	Bachelor Spinster	Sawyer Nil	49 22	Brook Street Nelson Waimea Street Nelson	1 year 1 year	St. Mary's Church	84/1331		30 April 1884	Revd. William Joseph Mahoney, Roman Catholic Church
27	5 May 1884	George Newport Ada Wilkes	George Newport Ada Wilkes 💍 1884/2142	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher Servant	24 17	Waimea Road Nelson Collingwood Street Nelson	24 years 17 years	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	84/1325	George Wilkes, father	5 May 1884	Robert Horton, Registrar
28	6 May 1884	Edward Wilfred Watson Eliza Parkes	Edward Wilfred Watson Eliza Parkes 💍 1884/2145	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	21 24	Bridge Street Nelson Grove Street Nelson	3 days 5 years	Wesleyan Church	84/1327		6 May 1884	William Henry Beck, Wesleyan Minister
29	15 May 1884	John Burgess Margaret Dunn	William George Devey Margaret Dunn 💍 1884/248	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener Servant	24 22	Waimea Road Nelson Brook Street Nelson	14 months 10 months	Presbyterian Church	84/189		15 May 1884	Revd. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
30	17 May 1884	Leonard Stanley Fowler Ellen Pollock	Lenard Stanley Pouler Ellen Pollock 💍 1884/2504	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep Farmer Nil	24 26	Bridge Street Nelson Tui Tui Valley Nelson	3 days 18 years	Residence of Robert Pollock, Tui Tui Valley Nelson	84/1490		17 May 1884	Revd. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
31	17 May 1884	Augustus Fitz Townsend Somerville Mary Elizabeth Cowell	Anquetil Fitz Townshend Somerville Mary Elizabeth Cotterell 💍 1884/2192	Bachelor Spinster	Architect Nil	30 17	Hardy Street Nelson Tasman Street Nelson	21 months 17 years	Christchurch	84/1333	Napier Cowell, father	2 June 1884	Revd. John Chapman Andrew, Church of England
32	17 May 1884	Henry James Barnard Helena Marian Brown	Henry James Barnard Helena Marian Brown 💍 1884/2181	Bachelor Nil	Clerk Nil	24 19	Alton Street Nelson Alton Street Nelson	4 days 15 months	Residence of Alfred Joseph Brown, Alton Street Nelson	84/1332	Alfred Joseph Brown, father	17 May 1884	Revd. William Kirk, Wesleyan Church
33	27 May 1884	John Thomas Lock Annie Schroder	John Thomas Lock Annie Schroder 💍 1884/2139	Bachelor Spinster	Corn Dealer Servant	26 22	Waimea Street Nelson Waimea Street Nelson	26 years 1 year	Residence of Simpson Andrew, Hardy Street Nelson	84/1322		27 May 1884	Revd. Thomas Anson Bate, Baptist Church
34	5 June 1884	Thomas Vosper Elizabeth Rothwell	Thomas Vosper Elizabeth Rothwell 💍 1884/2147	Bachelor Spinster	Wood Turner Nil	29 17	Vanguard Street Nelson Grove Street Nelson	9 years 17 years	All Saints Church	84/1329	Joseph Rothwell, father	5 June 1884	Revd. Richard Nightingale, Church of England

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 1894. More registers will be added as the project continues.

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).