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 623

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
78	13 November 1884	Henry John Lahman Margaret Thompson	Henry John Lahman Margaret Thompson 💍 1884/1512 Henry John Webb Johanna Thompson 💍 1884/1660	Bachelor Spinster	Accountant Nil	30 24	Trafalgar Street Nelson Trafalgar Street Nelson	4 days 4 days	Office of the Registrar of Marriages Nelson	84/13233		13 November 1884	Robert Kislord, Registrar
79	17 November 1884	Arthur William Tallen Susanna Newport	Arthur William Tatton Susannah Newport 💍 1884/724	Bachelor Spinster	Dentist Nil	23 24	Trafalgar Street Nelson Brown Street Nelson	23 years 24 years	Chapel of the Holy Evangelists, Bishopdale	84/13198		17 November 1884	Revd Walter Herbert Kay, Church of England
80	17 November 1884	Edward John Woolford Fanny Wallington	Edward John Woolford Fanny Wallington 💍 1884/1514	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	34 31	Gloucester Street Nelson Gloucester Street Nelson	1 week 2 weeks	Office of the Registrar of Marriages Nelson	84/13204		17 November 1884	Robert Kislord, Registrar
81	19 November 1884	Frank Moore Frances Emma Hill	Frank Moore Frances Emma Hile 💍 1884/3312	Bachelor Spinster	Shoemaker Shop Assistant	34 28	Bridge Street Nelson Collingwood Street Nelson	3 years 16 years	Residence of Mr E. T. Hill, Collingwood Street Nelson	84/13213		19 November 1884	Revd Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
82	22 November 1884	Edward Charles Nightingale Ada Mary Agnes Jones	Edward Charles Nightingale Ada Mary Innes-Jones 💍 1884/1526	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk in Holy Orders Nil	29 21	Hardy Street Nelson Shellbourne Street Nelson	7 years 4 years	Church of All Saints Nelson	84/13223		22 November 1884	Right Revd Bishop of Nelson (Church of England), Revd S. J. Jones
83	24 November 1884	Thomas McMillan Martha Adams	Thomas McMillan Martha Allan 💍 1884/1522 Thomas McMillan Mary Ann Kemp 💍 1884/1418	Bachelor Spinster	Miner Servant	26 24	Nelson Nelson	3 years 6 years	At the house of John Bartsoff, Nelson	84/13219		24 November 1884	Nelson Baptist Minister, Right Revd Bishop of Nelson
84	25 November 1884	Walter Herbert Kay Agnes Ellen Agnes Jones	Walter Herbert Kay Agnes Ellen Jones 💍 1884/1505	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk in Holy Orders Nil	26 28	Shellbourne Street Nelson Shellbourne Street Nelson	4 years 8 years	All Saints Church Nelson	84/13224		25 November 1884	Church of England, Revd S. J. Jones
85	28 November 1884	John Frederick Stricking Harriet Anne Waters	John Fletcher Kitching Harriet Anne Waters 💍 1884/1503	Bachelor Spinster	Compositor Nil	26 25	Tasman Street Nelson New Street Nelson	24 years 25 years	Church of England Nelson	84/13224		28 November 1884	Church of England, Revd W. G. Mahoney
86	1 December 1884	William Galbraith Lucy Ann Drages	William Galbraith Lucy Ann Drager 💍 1884/1516	Bachelor Spinster	Miller Nil	28 16	Wakefield Nelson	6 years 7 months	Residence of Wakefield	84/13236	Thomas Drages, Father	1 December 1884	Revd William Spinks
87	1 December 1884	Charles Edward Smith Amy Talbot	Charles O'Hara Smith Amy Talbot 💍 1884/1523	Bachelor Spinster	Farm Servant Nil	30 24	Richmond Richmond	4 days 4 years	Wesleyan Church Richmond	84/13220		1 December 1884	Revd F. J. Jones
88	4 December 1884	John Bowfield Waters Fanny Smith Bowfield	John Boufield Akers Fanny Smith Hadfield 💍 1884/1504	Bachelor Widow	Musician Nil	34 28	Trafalgar Street Hardy Street	1/2 years 28 years	All Saints Church Nelson	84/13225		4 December 1884	Revd F. J. Richmond, Nelson Church of England
89	9 December 1884	Thomas Kelly Mary Henry	Thomas Kelly Mary Henry 💍 1884/722	Bachelor Spinster	Warder Servant	27 23	The Lunatic Asylum Nelson Waimea Road Nelson	4 years 7 years	Catholic Station Nelson	84/3819		9 December 1884	Revd William Joseph Mahony, Roman Catholic Church
90	10 December 1884	Thomas Austins Ann Jane Fuller	Thomas Austin Ann Jane Fuller 💍 1884/1515	Bachelor Widow	Labourer Nil	24 32	Wakapuaka Wakapuaka	6 years 32 years	Office of the Registrar of Marriages Nelson	84/13233		10 December 1884	Robert Kislord, Registrar
91	16 December 1884	Thomas Smith Elizabeth Mill	Thomas Smith Elizabeth Mill 💍 1884/1509	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Dressmaker	25 22	Brook Street Valley Nelson Brook Street Valley Nelson	6 months 8 years	Wesleyan Church Nelson	84/13230		16 December 1884	Revd William Henry Beck, Wesleyan 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).