Intentions to Marry, 1885

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840397, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, April 30 2025

Page 793

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 March 1885 Registrar Robert Kirton

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

10 February 1885

Henry Vincent Phillips
Sarah Ann Evans

Henry Vincent Phillips
Sarah Ann Evans
💍 1885/459

Bachelor
Spinster

Stockkeeper
Milliner

47
33

Bridge Street, Nelson
Washington Valley, Nelson

30 years
1 year

All Saints Church, Nelson

85/472

10 February 1885

Rev. Charles William Jennings, Church of England

No	15
Date of Notice	10 February 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Vincent Phillips	Sarah Ann Evans
	💍 1885/459
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stockkeeper	Milliner
Age	47	33
Dwelling Place	Bridge Street, Nelson	Washington Valley, Nelson
Length of Residence	30 years	1 year
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Nelson
Folio	85/472
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1885
Officiating Minister	Rev. Charles William Jennings, Church of England

11 February 1885

Arthur John Percival
Elizabeth Bower Poynter

Arthur John Percival
Elizabeth Bower Poynter
💍 1885/454

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist
Nil

23
21

Brook Street, Nelson
Vanguard Street, Nelson

4 weeks
21 years

All Saints' Church, Nelson

85/471

11 February 1885

Rev. Charles William Jennings, Church of England

No	16
Date of Notice	11 February 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur John Percival	Elizabeth Bower Poynter
	💍 1885/454
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist	Nil
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Brook Street, Nelson	Vanguard Street, Nelson
Length of Residence	4 weeks	21 years
Marriage Place	All Saints' Church, Nelson
Folio	85/471
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1885
Officiating Minister	Rev. Charles William Jennings, Church of England

13 February 1885

William Devaney
Mary Theresa Kavanagh

William Devanny
Mary Theresa Kavanagh
💍 1885/502

Bachelor
Spinster

Asylum Attendant
Nil

28
23

Lunatic Asylum, Nelson
South Street, Nelson

3 1/2 years
4 days

St. Mary's Church, Nelson

85/485

13 February 1885

Rev. William Smith Mahoney, Roman Catholic Church

No	17
Date of Notice	13 February 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Devaney	Mary Theresa Kavanagh
BDM Match (97%)	William Devanny	Mary Theresa Kavanagh
	💍 1885/502
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Asylum Attendant	Nil
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Lunatic Asylum, Nelson	South Street, Nelson
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	4 days
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Nelson
Folio	85/485
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1885
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Smith Mahoney, Roman Catholic Church

18 February 1885

William Archer
Elizabeth Margaret Harris

William Aisher
Elisabeth Margaret Harris
💍 1885/458

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinet Maker
Nil

22
21

Hardy Street, Nelson
Tasman Street, Nelson

2 years
21 years

Residence of Henry Mason, Alton Place, Nelson

85/483

18 February 1885

Rev. William Henry Beck, Wesleyan Church

No	18
Date of Notice	18 February 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Archer	Elizabeth Margaret Harris
BDM Match (91%)	William Aisher	Elisabeth Margaret Harris
	💍 1885/458
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinet Maker	Nil
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Hardy Street, Nelson	Tasman Street, Nelson
Length of Residence	2 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Henry Mason, Alton Place, Nelson
Folio	85/483
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1885
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Henry Beck, Wesleyan Church

26 February 1885

Richard Nugent Allan
Maggie Walker

Richard Nugent Allan
Maggie Walker
💍 1885/513

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Nil

34
24

Bridge Street, Nelson
Haven Road, Nelson

3 days
1 year

Presbyterian Church, Nelson

85/490

26 February 1885

Rev. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church

No	19
Date of Notice	26 February 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Nugent Allan	Maggie Walker
	💍 1885/513
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Nil
Age	34	24
Dwelling Place	Bridge Street, Nelson	Haven Road, Nelson
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Nelson
Folio	85/490
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1885
Officiating Minister	Rev. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church

7 March 1885

Patrick Morris Day
Magdalen Mary Fanselow

Patrick Maurice Day
Magdalen Mary Fanselow
💍 1885/461

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Servant

30
24

Aniseed Valley, Nelson
Richmond

7 weeks
5 years

Appleby Church

85/474

7 March 1885

Rev. Charles Oliver Mules, Church of England

No	20
Date of Notice	7 March 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Morris Day	Magdalen Mary Fanselow
BDM Match (89%)	Patrick Maurice Day	Magdalen Mary Fanselow
	💍 1885/461
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Servant
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Aniseed Valley, Nelson	Richmond
Length of Residence	7 weeks	5 years
Marriage Place	Appleby Church
Folio	85/474
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 March 1885
Officiating Minister	Rev. Charles Oliver Mules, Church of England

14 March 1885

Charles John Monro
Helena Beatrice Macdonald

Charles John Monro
Helena Beatrice MacDonald
💍 1885/464

Bachelor
Spinster

Gentleman
Nil

33
19

Hardy Street, Nelson
Hardy Street, Nelson

5 days
16 years

Christ church, Nelson

85/477

Donald Macdonald, Father

14 March 1885

Rev. Samuel Poole, Church of England

No	21
Date of Notice	14 March 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles John Monro	Helena Beatrice Macdonald
BDM Match (98%)	Charles John Monro	Helena Beatrice MacDonald
	💍 1885/464
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gentleman	Nil
Age	33	19
Dwelling Place	Hardy Street, Nelson	Hardy Street, Nelson
Length of Residence	5 days	16 years
Marriage Place	Christ church, Nelson
Folio	85/477
Consent	Donald Macdonald, Father
Date of Certificate	14 March 1885
Officiating Minister	Rev. Samuel Poole, Church of England

23 March 1885

Christopher McDonogh
Mary Ann Hammond

Christopher McConogh
Mary Ann Hammond
💍 1885/1445

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Servant

35
20

Collingwood Street, Nelson
Collingwood Street, Nelson

11 years
2 weeks

St. Mary's Church, Nelson

See next quarter

No	22
Date of Notice	23 March 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Christopher McDonogh	Mary Ann Hammond
BDM Match (98%)	Christopher McConogh	Mary Ann Hammond
	💍 1885/1445
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Servant
Age	35	20
Dwelling Place	Collingwood Street, Nelson	Collingwood Street, Nelson
Length of Residence	11 years	2 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Nelson
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	See next quarter

27 March 1885

Philip Hingston
Johanna Maria Elizabeth Bensemann

Philip Hingston
Johanna Maria Elizabeth Bensemann
💍 1885/446

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Nil

22
21

Richmond
Upper Moutere

18 months
21 years

Residence of Joseph Henry Bensemann, Upper Moutere

85/470

27 March 1885

Rev. John Heathly Nightingale, Church of England

No	23
Date of Notice	27 March 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Philip Hingston	Johanna Maria Elizabeth Bensemann
	💍 1885/446
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Nil
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Richmond	Upper Moutere
Length of Residence	18 months	21 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Joseph Henry Bensemann, Upper Moutere
Folio	85/470
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 March 1885
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Heathly Nightingale, Church of England

30 March 1885

George Holland
Georgina Malcolm

George Holland
Georgiana Malcolm
💍 1885/1455

Widower
Widow

Hop Grower
Nil

60
46

Stoke
Waimea Road, Nelson

4 days
2 1/2 years

All Saints Church, Nelson

85/1412

30 March 1885

Rev. Francis James Jones, Church of England

No	24
Date of Notice	30 March 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Holland	Georgina Malcolm
BDM Match (97%)	George Holland	Georgiana Malcolm
	💍 1885/1455
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Hop Grower	Nil
Age	60	46
Dwelling Place	Stoke	Waimea Road, Nelson
Length of Residence	4 days	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Nelson
Folio	85/1412
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1885
Officiating Minister	Rev. Francis James Jones, Church of England

9 March 1885

George Tregea
Annie Ada Elizabeth Brown

George Tregea
Annie Ada Elizabeth Bowman
💍 1885/1441

Bachelor
Spinster

Tinsmith
Servant

23
18

Hardy Street, Nelson
Collingwood Street, Nelson

21 years
10 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson

No person having the proper authority

See next quarter

No	25
Date of Notice	9 March 1885
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Tregea	Annie Ada Elizabeth Brown
BDM Match (94%)	George Tregea	Annie Ada Elizabeth Bowman
	💍 1885/1441
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tinsmith	Servant
Age	23	18
Dwelling Place	Hardy Street, Nelson	Collingwood Street, Nelson
Length of Residence	21 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson
Folio
Consent	No person having the proper authority
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	See next quarter

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 1908. More registers are being added almost every week.

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).