Intentions to Marry, 1886

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840398, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, May 14 2025

Page 573

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 June 1886

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
18	5 April 1886	William Robert Walker Margaret Prath	William Robert Walker Margaret Pratt 💍 1886/118	Bachelor Spinster	Merchant's Clerk Nil	25 21	Cambria Street, Nelson Bridge Street, Nelson	25 years 21 years	Bishopdale Church, Nelson	86/1334		5 April 1886	Right Revd Andrew Burn Suter, Bishop of Nelson, Church of England
19	6 April 1886	James Gorrie Mary Anne Pitt	James Gorrie Mary Anne Pitt 💍 1886/137	Widower Widow	Coach Builder Nil	48 32	Bridge Street, Nelson Alma Street, Nelson	6 years 6 years	Christ Church, Nelson	86/1331		6 April 1886	Revd John Pratt Kempthorne, Church of England
20	8 April 1886	Thomas Bell Eliza Sheat	Thomas Bell Eliza Sheat 💍 1886/2261	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	29 23	Richmond, Waimea Richmond, Waimea	20 years 23 years	Residence of Mr Emma Dayrell, Richmond	86/2209		8 April 1886	Revd James Thomas, Wesleyan Church
21	15 April 1886	Arthur Richardson Annie Williams	Arthur Richardson Annie Williams 💍 1886/120	Bachelor Spinster	Asylum Attendant Nil	24 25	Wellington Street, Nelson Van Dieman Street, Nelson	2 months 4 months	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	86/1338		15 April 1886	Robert Kinton, Registrar
22	19 April 1886	John Carruthers Louisa Thirtleff	John Carruthers Louisa Shirtliff 💍 1886/132	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor Servant	57 40	Vincent Street, Nelson Waimea Road, Nelson	27 years 18 years	Residence of Thomas Thirtleff, Waimea Road, Nelson	86/1349		19 April 1886	Revd Henry Josiah Lewis, Congregational Church
23	19 April 1886	Charles William Ross Mary Elizabeth Bright	Charles William Ross Mary Elizabeth Bright 💍 1886/121	Bachelor Spinster	Wheelwright Teacher	30 22	Happy Valley, Waimea Waimea Road, Nelson	1 month 15 years	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	86/1339		19 April 1886	Robert Kinton, Registrar
24	22 April 1886	Charles Henry King Jean Morrison	Charles Henry King Jean Morrison 💍 1886/122	Bachelor Spinster	Contractor Nil	26 25	Richmond Richmond	2 years 2 years	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	86/1340		18 April 1886	Robert Kinton, Registrar
25	24 April 1886	Charles Stuart Emerson Phoebe King Hill	Charles Stuart Emerson Phoebe King Hill 💍 1886/138	Bachelor Spinster	Bank Clerk Nil	26 21	Nile Street, Nelson Waimea Street, Nelson	3 days 21 years	Christchurch	86/1332		24 April 1886	Revd John Pratt Kempthorne, Church of England
26	24 April 1886	Robert Neffery Lucas Julia Oakley	Robert Stepney Lucas Julia Oakley 💍 1886/127	Bachelor Spinster	Newspaper Proprietor Nil	45 25	Spring Grove Wakefield Quay, Nelson	4 years 10 years	Residence of Capt. Wakefield, J. Oakley, Wakefield Quay, Nelson	86/1344		24 April 1886	Revd William Henry Beck, Wesleyan Church
27	24 April 1886	David George Flewing Mary Ann Frances Barnes	David George Fleming Mary Ann Frances Barnes 💍 1886/125	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinet Maker Nil	25 19	Bridge Street, Nelson Brook Street, Nelson	23 years 19 years	Residence of George Black, Brook Street, Nelson	86/1343	Henry Barnes, Father	24 April 1886	Revd William Henry Beck, Wesleyan Church
28	29 April 1886	William Sutton Minnie McConkey	William Sutton Minnie McCoukey 💍 1886/124	Bachelor Spinster	Cab Proprietor Nil	29 19	Selwyn Place, Nelson Selwyn Place, Nelson	1 year 19 years	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	86/1342	James McConkey, Father	29 April 1886	Robert Kinton, Registrar
29	30 April 1886	William Frederick Thomson Annie Reader	William Frederick Thomson Annie Reader 💍 1886/128	Bachelor Spinster	Jam Boiler Servant	22 19	Alma Street, Nelson Trafalgar Street, Nelson	18 months 3 years	Residence of John Chapman, Alma Street, Nelson	86/1345	Alma Fearn, Mother	30 April 1886	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).