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 624

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 December 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
64	4 October 1884	Charles John Harley Janet Minnie Kerr	Charles John Harley Janet Rimage Kerr 💍 1884/3307	Bachelor Spinster	Solicitor Nil	22 23	Stoke Waimea Mellon Street Nelson	20 years 2 years	Presbyterian Church	84/3209		4 October 1884	Rev. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Minister
65	6 October 1884	William Howard Mafford Adelaide Constance Oldham	William Howard Stafford Adelaide Constance Oldham 💍 1884/1524	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	23 22	Stoke Waimea Wakapuaka	5 years 7 years	All Saints Church	84/3221		6 October 1884	Rev. Francis Hume Jones, Church of England
66	13 October 1884	Arthur Armstrong Emily Bertha Townsend	Arthur Armstrong Emily Bertha Townsend 💍 1884/1520	Bachelor Spinster	Master Mariner Nil	31 24	The Port Nelson The Port Nelson	3 days 3 years	Christchurch	84/3217		13 October 1884	Rev. John Taylor, D.D., Church of England
67	15 October 1884	James Moore Harriet Jane Key	James Moore Harriet Jane Keys 💍 1884/1506	Widower Widow	Mariner Nil	46 28	Washington Road Nelson Collingwood Street Nelson	3 years 6 weeks	Wesleyan Parsonage	84/3227		15 October 1884	Rev. William Henry Beck, Wesleyan Church
68	15 October 1884	Frank Clifton Litchfield Clara Lavinia Ganard	Frank Clifton Litchfield Clara Lavinia Garrard 💍 1884/1507	Bachelor Spinster	Ironmonger Nil	27 24	Haven Road Nelson Haven Road Nelson	3 days 4 years	Residence of Joseph Ganard, Haven Road Nelson	84/3228		15 October 1884	Rev. William Henry Beck, Wesleyan Church
69	21 October 1884	George William Jarrett Maria Cotton	George William Janett Maria Cotter 💍 1884/3309	Bachelor Widow	Carter Nil	41 26	Harley Street Nelson Harley Street Nelson	7 years 11 years	Residence of Mrs. Cotton, Harley Street Nelson	84/3210		21 October 1884	Rev. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
70	23 October 1884	George Boggis Eliza Isaac	George Boggis Eliza Isaac 💍 1884/1525	Bachelor Widow	Farmer Nil	55 49	Bridge Street Nelson Russell Street Nelson	3 days 3 weeks	Residence of Mr. Adams, Russell Street Nelson	84/3222		23 October 1884	Rev. Walter Herbert Kay, Church of England
71	29 October 1884	Marshall Nalder Constance Mary Browning	Marshall Nalder Constance Mary Browning 💍 1884/723	Bachelor Spinster	Solicitor Nil	28 22	Kaiapoi Selwyn St. Katherine's Nelson	1 year 4 years	Bishopdale Church, Kaiapoi	84/3197		29 October 1884	Rev. Walter Herbert Kay, Church of England
72	29 October 1884	Jesse Harry Mason Alice Jane Hyde	Jesse Harry Mason Alice Jane Hyde 💍 1884/1521	Bachelor Spinster	Painter Nil	23 18	Alton Street Nelson Stoke Waimea	1 year 18 years	St. Barnabas Church	84/3218	Hammond Hyde, father	29 October 1884	Rev. John Leathley Nightingale, Church of England
73	3 November 1884	John Hale Alice Mary Hastilow	John Hale Alice Mary Hastilow 💍 1884/1508	Bachelor Spinster	Nurseryman Servant	23 21	Waimea Road Nelson Trafalgar Street South Nelson	23 years 9 months	Wesleyan Church	84/3229		3 November 1884	Rev. William Henry Beck, Wesleyan Church
74	3 November 1884	Thomas Henry Bell Ada Tregea	Thomas Henry Bell Ada Tregen 💍 1884/3310	Bachelor Spinster	Carriage Painter Nil	28 21	Nile Street Nelson Alma Lane Nelson	2 1/2 years 2 1/2 years	Presbyterian Church	84/3211		3 November 1884	Rev. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
75	8 November 1884	George Chapman Jane Elizabeth Talbot	George Chapman Jane Elizabeth Talbot 💍 1884/1511	Bachelor Spinster	Miller Dressmaker	24 21	Collingwood Street Nelson Bridge Street Nelson	11 years 5 months	Office of Registrar	84/3232		8 November 1884	Robert Kitto, Registrar
76	8 November 1884	John Jellyman Jane Gof	John Jellyman Jane Cox 💍 1884/1517	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Nil	22 25	Stoke Waimea Tui Tui Valley Nelson	22 years 9 years	Congregational Church	84/3237		8 November 1884	Henry Isaiah Lewis, Congregational Church
77	8 November 1884	Sidney Francis Sherwood Emma Jane Morley	Sidney Francis Sherwood Emma Jane Morley 💍 1884/3311	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Nil	21 20	Nile Street East Nelson Waimea Street Nelson	21 years 7 years	Residence of Mr. George Morley, Waimea Street Nelson	84/3212	George Morley, father	8 November 1884	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 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).