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 952

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 September 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
45	3 July 1886	James Hudson Beatrice Jane Andrew	James Hudson Beatrice Jane Andrew 💍 1886/2200	Bachelor Spinster	Medical Practitioner Nil	31 23	Mile Street East Nelson Washington Valley Nelson	6 years 13 years	All Saints	86/2140		3 July 1886	Rev. C. Wright - Church of England
46	12 July 1886	Arthur Herbert Loughlin Martha Warner	Arthur Herbert O'Loughlen Martha Warner 💍 1886/2526	Bachelor Spinster	Railway Clerk Nil	23 22	Richmond Richmond	3 days 5 years	Holy Trinity Church	86/2492		12 July 1886	Revd. Chas. Wm. Jennings - Church of England
47	16 July 1886	William Beesley Catherine Ann Goth	William Besley Catherine Ann York 💍 1886/2201 William Garner Catherine Arnold 💍 1886/2072 William Rayner Catherine Cameron 💍 1887/2703	Bachelor Spinster	Sailmaker Servant	35 36	Church Street Nelson Vanguard Street Nelson	20 years 30 years	All Saints Church	86/2171		16 July 1886	Revd. Alfred Cecil Wright A.K.C. - Church of England
48	23 July 1886	Frank Whitwell Ada Wastney	Frank Whitwell Ada Wastney 💍 1886/2255	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	28 26	Wakapuaka Wakapuaka	3 days 26 years	Office of Registrar of Marriages Nelson	86/2163		23 July 1886	Robert Kirton - Registrar
49	26 July 1886	Charles George Wishes Jessie Louisa Gill	Charles George Withers Jessie Louisa Gill 💍 1886/2248	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	24 25	Wakapuaka Wakapuaka	24 years 25 years	St. Peters' Church	86/2164		26 July 1886	Revd. Frederick W. Chatterton - Church of England
50	3 August 1886	Charles James Beresford Sarah Hannah Lusty	Charles James Bebarfald Sarah Hannah Lusty 💍 1886/2256	Bachelor Spinster	Asylum Warder Nil	24 23	Waimea Road Nelson Richmond	2 years 23 years	Residence of Benjamin Lusty	86/2204		3 August 1886	Revd. William Henry Beck - Wesleyan Church
51	11 August 1886	Frederick Dixon Maria Kenning	Frederick Dixon Maria Kenning 💍 1886/2259	Bachelor Spinster	Carter Nil	24 24	Bridge Street Nelson Stoke	24 years 24 years	Residence of Mr Wm. Kenning	86/2207		16 August 1886	Revd. William Henry Beck - Wesleyan Church
52	16 August 1886	Frederick Joshua Johns Alice Kate Johns	Frederick Joshua Johns Alice Kate Johns 💍 1886/2257	Bachelor Spinster	Commercial Traveller Nil	25 22	Washington Valley Nelson Trafalgar Street Nelson	5 days 22 years	Residence of Israel Johns, Trafalgar Street Nelson	86/2205		16 August 1886	Revd. William Henry Beck - Wesleyan Church
53	16 August 1886	Richard Kenning Emelie Phoebe Margaret Leod	Richard Kenning Emilie Phoebe Margaret Leov 💍 1886/2258	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	26 20	Stoke Wakapuaka	26 years 6 months	Residence of William Kenning	86/2166	Charles August Herford Leod, Father	16 August 1886	Revd. William Henry Beck - Wesleyan Church
54	31 August 1886	Richard John Duncan Frances Bertha Strong	Richard John Duncan Frances Bertha Strong 💍 1886/2260	Widower Spinster	Commission Agent Nil	62 49	Hardy Street Nelson Richmond	5 days 25 years	All Saints Church	86/2208		31 August 1886	Revd. Alfred Cecil Wright - Church of England
55	2 September 1886	Frank Manning Evelyn Woothen	Frank Manning Evelyn Wootten 💍 1886/2433	Bachelor Spinster	Wheelwright Nil	22 22	Alfred Street Nelson Nile Street Nelson	22 years 22 years	Presbyterian Church	86/2392		2 September 1886	Revd. Patrick Calder - Presbyterian Church
56	11 September 1886	John Stuart Watt Emily Challies	John Stuart Wratt Emily Challies 💍 1886/2202	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	31 24	Waimea West Waimea West	2 months 24 years	St. Michael's Church	86/2172		11 September 1886	Revd. Charles Choir Mules M.A. - 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).