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 626

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 September 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
39	1 July 1884	Peter John Hunter Julia anna Clissold	Peter John Hunter Juliana Clissold 💍 1884/3845	Bachelor Spinster	Hop Grower School Teacher	21 20	Hope, Waimea Hope, Waimea	4 days 20 years	Residence of Peter Clissold, Hope	84/12259	Peter Clissold, father	1 July 1884	Revd Charles Oliver Mules, Church of England
40	7 July 1884	Charles Joseph Gibbs Nellie Scott	Charles Joseph Gibbs Nellie Scott 💍 1884/1296	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	27 17	Washington Valley, Nelson Bridge Street, Nelson	3 days 3 days	At the Office of the Registrar of Marriage, Nelson	84/12265	No person having authority	22 July 1884	Robert Kitow, Registrar
41	10 July 1884	John William Hughes Alice Hancox	John William Hughes Alice Hancox 💍 1884/1294	Bachelor Spinster	Contractor Nil	33 15	Collingwood Street, Nelson Collingwood Street, Nelson	2 Weeks 3 Weeks	At the Office of the Registrar of Marriage, Nelson	84/12263	Henry Hancox, father	10 July 1884	Robert Kitow, Registrar
42	10 July 1884	Charles Challice Henrietta Tomlinson	Charles Challies Henrietta Tomlinson 💍 1884/1295	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	27 19	Waimea West, Nelson Waimea West, Nelson	27 years 19 years	Office of the Registrar of Marriage, Nelson	84/12264	Henry Tomlinson, father	10 July 1884	Robert Kitow, Registrar
43	10 July 1884	Robert Porter Westhupp Martha Clarke	Robert Porter Westrupp Martha Clarke 💍 1884/1282	Bachelor Widow	Mariner Barmaid	24 28	Haven Road, Nelson Bridge Street, Nelson	24 years 5 Weeks	All Saints Church, Nelson	84/12273		10 July 1884	Revd Francis Isaac Jones, Church of England
44	12 July 1884	William Nowell Kate Eliza Thomson	William Rowell Kate Eliza Thomson 💍 1884/2721	Bachelor Spinster	Storekeeper Nil	45 15	Wakefield Quay, Nelson Wakefield Quay, Nelson	16 years 15 years	Residence of William Nowell, Wakefield Quay, Nelson	84/12253	William Joseph Thomson, father	14 July 1884	Revd Patrick Calder, Church of Scotland
45	14 July 1884	Michael Fagan Rowena Nobel	Michael Fagan Rowena Ribet 💍 1884/3846	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Nil	26 19	Trafalgar Street, Nelson Brook Street, Nelson	4 days 4 days	St. Mary's Catholic Church, Nelson	84/12260	Jacques Nobel, father	14 July 1884	Revd William Joseph Mahony, Roman Catholic Church
46	14 July 1884	James Henry Hinton Lydia Jane Frost	James Henry Linton Lydia Jane Frost 💍 1884/1277	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Nil	32 19	Washington Valley, Nelson Trafalgar Street, Nelson	3 days 19 years	Residence of William Frost, Trafalgar Street, Nelson	84/12268	William Frost, father	14 July 1884	Revd William Henry Beck, Wesleyan Church
47	14 July 1884	Thomas Alexander Arkless Jessie Scott	Thomas Alexander Asken Jessie Scott 💍 1884/1278	Bachelor Spinster	Accountant Nil	24 23	Nile Street East, Nelson Bridge Street, Nelson	24 years 13 years	Residence of J. Scott, Mary Ann Street, Nelson	84/12269	J. Scott, father	14 July 1884	Revd William Henry Beck, Wesleyan Church
48	23 July 1884	Edwin Arthur Edwards Emma Louisa Ehing	Edwin Arthur Edwards Emma Louisa Ching 💍 1884/1298	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Nil	23 18	Richmond, Waimea Stoke, Waimea	6 months 18 years	Residence of Mrs. Elizabeth Ehing, Stoke	84/12267	Elizabeth Ehing, mother	23 July 1884	Revd William Kirk, Wesleyan Church
49	26 July 1884	George Albert Edwards Emma Jane Eley	George Albert Edmonds Emma Jane Elvy 💍 1884/1279	Bachelor Spinster	Grocer's Assistant Servant	20 25	Brook Street, Nelson Cambria Street, Nelson	20 years 12 years	Wesleyan Church, Nelson	84/12270	Joseph Edwards, father	26 July 1884	Revd William Henry Beck, Wesleyan Church
50	28 July 1884	Samuel Gorman Clara Matilda Lucas	Samuel Gorman Clara Matilda Lucas 💍 1884/1280	Bachelor Spinster	Traveller Nil	33 29	Alton Street, Nelson Britannia Heights, Nelson	4 days 25 years	Residence of Mrs. E. A. Lucas, Britannia Heights, Nelson	84/12271		28 July 1884	Revd William Henry Beck, Wesleyan Church
51	29 July 1884	Robert Samuel Woolf Ann Kidson	Robert Samuel Woolf Ann Kidson 💍 1884/1281	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Nil	20 19	The Port, Nelson Nelson Lighthouse	3 days 19 years	Lighthouse	84/12272	John Kidson, father	29 July 1884	Revd William Henry Beck, Wesleyan Church
52	29 July 1884	William Oliver Emily Annie Dymes Budge	William Oliver Emily Annie Dymes Budge 💍 1884/1297	Bachelor Spinster	Miner Nil	35 20	Wangamoa, Waimea Wakapuaka, Waimea	1 year 5 months	Office of the Registrar of Marriage, Nelson	84/12266	Elizabeth Ann Budge, mother	29 July 1884	Robert Kitow, Registrar

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 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).