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 794

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 March 1885

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
1	3 January 1885	Charles William Jennings Agnes Lavinia Grace	Charles William Jennings Agnes Lavinia Grace 💍 1885/462	Bachelor Spinster	Minister Nil	27 28	Bishopdale Nelson Bishopdale Nelson	3 days 2 weeks	Chapel of the Holy Trinity Church	85/499		3 January 1885	Right Revd Bishop Suter, Bishop Church of England
2	3 January 1885	Joseph Henry Sheer Dorothy Elizabeth Walker	Joseph Henry Steer Dorothy Elizabeth Walker 💍 1885/509	Bachelor Spinster	Shoemaker Nil	35 28	Gloucester Street Nelson Gloucester Street Nelson	6 months 6 months	Residence of Revd Gloucester Street Nelson	85/486		3 January 1885	Revd Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
3	6 January 1885	Adolph William Bain Catherine Mary Warner	Adolph William Bain Catherine Mary Warner 💍 1885/463	Bachelor Spinster	Draper Milliner	25 24	Alton Street Nelson Wakefield Quay Nelson	2 1/2 years 1 year	Christ Church	85/476		6 January 1885	Right Revd Bishop Suter, Bishop Church of England
4	7 January 1885	Simeon Russ Ellen Ann Hunter	Simeon Russ Ellen Ann Hunter 💍 1885/511	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	24 19	Waimea West Waimea West	24 years 19 years	Residence of Mr Gardner Hunter	85/488	Gardner Hunter, father	7 January 1885	Revd Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
5	8 January 1885	Alfred Gower Sarah Leach	Alfred Gower Sarah Leach 💍 1885/465	Bachelor Spinster	Schoolmaster Schoolmistress	40 28	Collingwood Street Nelson Collingwood Street Nelson	3 days 3 months	Office of Registrar of Marriages Nelson	85/478		8 January 1885	Robert Kirkwood, Registrar
6	12 January 1885	John Stone Esther Ross	John Stone Esther Ross 💍 1885/444 John McLeary Esther Ross 💍 1885/487	Widower Widow	Reservoir Keeper Nil	54 50	Brook Street Valley Nelson Waimea Street Nelson	17 years 2 1/2 years	Residence of Mrs Esther Ross, Waimea	85/468		12 January 1885	Revd William Henry Beck, Wesleyan Church
7	13 January 1885	Thomas Waters Annie Christina Frank	Thomas Waters Annie Christina Frank 💍 1885/491	Widower Spinster	Engineer Nil	39 22	Brook Street Nelson Brook Street Nelson	3 days 22 years	Residence of Mrs Mary Frank, Brook Street Nelson	85/484		13 January 1885	Revd William Joseph Mahoney, Roman Catholic Church
8	13 January 1885	George Russ Margaret Bell	George Russ Margaret Bell 💍 1885/512	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	32 20	Waimea West Waimea West	31 years 20 years	Presbyterian Church	85/489	William Bell, father	13 January 1885	Revd Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
9	16 January 1885	John Adelbert Lawson Matilda Pahl	John Adelbert Lawson Matilda Pahl 💍 1885/466	Bachelor Widow	Farmer Nil	24 22	Collingwood Street Nelson Vincent Street Nelson	3 days 3 days	Office of the Registrar of Marriages Nelson	85/419		16 January 1885	Robert Kirkwood, Registrar
10	16 January 1885	William Morris Sakhell Edith Eliza O'Loughlen	William Morris Satchell Edith Eliza O'Loughlen 💍 1885/460	Bachelor Spinster	Mercantile Assistant Nil	29 24	Richmond Waimea Richmond Waimea	2 years 24 years	Holy Trinity Church Richmond	85/473		16 January 1885	Revd Charles Oliver Mules, Church of England
11	24 January 1885	William Henry Heath Mary Isabel Bright	William Henry Scott Mary Isabel Bright 💍 1885/445	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer Nil	22 21	Harper Street Nelson Nile Street Nelson	4 years 4 years	Residence of Alfred Bright, Nile Street Nelson	85/469		24 January 1885	Revd William Henry Beck, Wesleyan Church
12	29 January 1885	George Hudson Sarah Ann Haycock	George Hudson Sarah Ann Haycock 💍 1885/455	Bachelor Spinster	Sawyer Nil	25 26	Hardy Street Nelson Richmond Waimea	1 week 1 year	At the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Nelson	85/480	Thomas Haycock, father	29 January 1885	Robert Kirkwood, Registrar
13	9 February 1885	Robert Watson Annie Harford	Robert Watson Annie Harford 💍 1885/457	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith Dressmaker	26 21	Wellington Street Nelson Collingwood Street Nelson	16 years 17 years	Residence of Christopher Harford, Collingwood Street Nelson	85/482		9 February 1885	Revd William Henry Beck, Wesleyan Church
14	9 February 1885	Sydney Percy Ellen Thomas	Sydney Percy Ellen Thomas 💍 1885/456	Bachelor Spinster	Waiter Housemaid	31 21	Hardy Street Nelson Collingwood Street Nelson	3 1/2 years 1 year	Residence of Sydney Percy, Alma Lane Nelson	85/481		9 February 1885	Revd John Chapman Andrew, Church of England

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).