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 625

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
53	5 August 1884	Alfred William Clayden Christina Annie Frank	Alfred William Clayden Christina Annie Prask 💍 1884/2722	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Nil	25 24	Waimia Road Nelson Tasman Street Nelson	2 years 24 years	Presbyterian Church Nelson	84/2256		5 August 1884	Revd Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
54	11 August 1884	Arthur Douglas Bird Elizabeth Flower	Arthur Douglas Bird Elizabeth Flower 💍 1884/1283	Bachelor Spinster	Storekeeper Nil	25 25	Wakapuaka Wakapuaka	1 week 1 month	All Saints Church Nelson	84/2244		11 August 1884	Revd Francis Innes Jones, Church of England
55	30 August 1884	Francis Gledhill Elizabeth Walker	Francis Gledhill Elizabeth Walker 💍 1884/3832	Widower Spinster	Clerk Nil	36 30	Bridge Street Nelson Karori Street Nelson	5 years 9 years	Office of Registrar of Marriage Nelson	84/2266		30 August 1884	Robert Newton, Registrar
56	30 August 1884	Henry Davis Williams Alice Crowther Coveney	Henry Davis Williams Alice Lowther Coveney 💍 1884/1513	Widower Spinster	Sheep Farmer Nil	48 28	Trafalgar Square Nelson Wakapuaka	3 years 2 months	Christchurch Nelson	84/3214	John Miles, father of bride	30 August 1884	Revd Charles Lewis Houle, MA, Church of England
57	2 September 1884	Charles Joshua Johns Fannie McGivens Matthew	Charles Joshua Johns Fannie McGerens Matthew 💍 1884/1287	Bachelor Spinster	Baker Milliner	19 20	Trafalgar Street Nelson Nile Street Nelson	19 years 2 years	Residence of Revd Thomas Anson Cato, Baptist Church	84/3216	Isaac John, father; Jessie Matthew, Mother	2 September 1884	Revd Thomas Anson Cato, Baptist Church
58	2 September 1884	Edward Samuel Hoult Clara Maud Franklyn	Edward Samuel Hoult Clara Maud Franklyn 💍 1884/1292	Bachelor Spinster	Sawyer Nil	22 18	Bridge Street Nelson Tasman Street Nelson	3 days 3 days	St Mary Catholic Church Nelson	84/2761	James Franklyn, Father	2 September 1884	Revd William Joseph Mahoney, Roman Catholic Church
59	3 September 1884	Alexander McKenzie Eliza Fox Clouston	Alexander McKensie Eliza Fox Clouston 💍 1884/1276	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	26 23	Manuka Street Nelson Nile Street Nelson	4 days 13 years	Residence of Henry Clouston, Maitai Valley Nelson	84/2254		3 September 1884	Revd Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
60	3 September 1884	Henry Elliot Eloth Frances Mary Leven		Widower Widow	Gentleman Nil	66 53	Dunedin Nile Street Nelson	6 years 3 years	Bishopdale Church Dunedin	84/3196		3 September 1884	Revd G. Tudor, Church of England
61	4 September 1884	Peter Cooche Fanny Sarah Clayden	Peter Cooke Fanny Sarah Clayden 💍 1884/1285	Widower Spinster	Leather Merchant Nil	53 30	Manuka Street Nelson Wakefield	26 years 1 month	Residence of Samuel Clayden, Wakefield Waimea South	84/2276		4 September 1884	Revd Henry Josiah Lewis, Congregational Church
62	8 September 1884	Otto Adolph Wiechers Annie Elizabeth Ward	Otto Adolph Wiechern Annie Elizabeth Ward 💍 1884/1284	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	23 18	Ooridale (Waimea South) Cambria Street Nelson	5 years 9 years	All Saints Church Nelson	84/2245	Merchant Allen Warren	8 September 1884	Revd Francis Innes Jones, Church of England
63	20 September 1884	Walter Dix Radford Mary Devanny	Walter Dix Radford Mary Devanny 💍 1884/1293	Bachelor Spinster	Ship's Steward Servant	40 22	Haven Road Nelson South Street Nelson	9 years 22 years	The Catholic Station Nelson	84/2262		20 September 1884	Revd William Joseph Mahoney, Roman Catholic 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).