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 1337

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 December 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
58	5 October 1886	Thomas Charles More Emily Caroline Ada Hughes	Thomas Charles Moore Emma Caroline Ada Hughes 💍 1886/2994	Bachelor Spinster	Doctor Nil	30 22	Napier Stoke	1 year 1 year	Bishopdale Church, Napier	86/2980		5 October 1886	Revd. Wm. Chatterton, Church of England
59	11 October 1886	Henry Harman Eliza Ann Bell	Henry Harman Eliza Ann Bell 💍 1886/3001	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	22 19	St. Vincent Street, Nelson St. Vincent Street, Nelson	4 days 5 Weeks	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	86/2984	Eliza Bell, mother	11 October 1886	Robert Kiston, Registrar
60	11 October 1886	Joseph Boyd Frances Mary Foy	Joseph Boyd Francis Mary Foy 💍 1886/2995	Widower Spinster	Baker Nil	35 24	Hardy Street, Nelson Hardy Street, Nelson	4 days 2 years	Residence of Thomas Foy, Hardy Street, Nelson	86/2981		11 October 1886	Revd. William Henry Beck, Wesleyan Church
61	11 October 1886	William Gill Elizabeth Withers	William Gill Elizabeth Withers 💍 1886/2993	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	24 21	Wakapuaka Wakapuaka	1 year 20 years	All Saints Church, Nelson	86/2979		11 October 1886	Revd. Frederick Wm. Chatterton, Church of England
62	15 October 1886	George William Jacobs Mary Ann Wigzell	George William Jacobs Mary Ann Wigzell 💍 1886/3023	Widower Spinster	Painter Cook	34 35	Trafalgar Square, Nelson Hampden Street, Nelson	13 years 20 years	Residence of William Wigzell, Hampden Street, Nelson	86/3001		15 October 1886	Revd. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Minister
63	18 October 1886	William Gill Elizabeth Withers	William Gill Elizabeth Withers 💍 1886/2993	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	24 21	Wakapuaka Wakapuaka	1 year 20 years	St. Andrew's Church, Wakapuaka	86/2979		18 October 1886	Revd. Fredk. Wm. Chatterton, Church of England
64	1 November 1886	John Philip Shepherd Mary Georgina Trolove	John Philip Shepherd Mary Georgina Trolove 💍 1886/3017	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep Farmer Nil	28 21	Stoke Stoke	1 week 4 years	St. Barnabas Church, Stoke	86/2995		1 November 1886	Right Revd. A. B. Suter, D.D., Bishop, Church of England
65	2 November 1886	Nichlous Samson Amelia Ann Ward	Nichlous Samson Amelia Ann Ward 💍 1886/3033	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	24 20	Brook Street Valley, Nelson Brook Street Valley, Nelson	3 days 10 years	Residence of John Ward, Brook Street, Valley, Nelson	86/3002	John Ward, father	2 November 1886	Revd. James Standing, Baptist Church
66	3 November 1886	Charles Coleman Mary Anna Margaretta	Charles Coleman Mary Anna Margaretta Windelborn 💍 1886/3018	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	21 22	Hope Hope	21 years 5 years	Holy Trinity Church, Richmond	86/2996		3 November 1886	Revd. Charles Oliver Mules, M.A., Church of England
67	6 November 1886	Alfred Challes Sarah Rebecca Bland	Alfred Challies Sarah Rebecca Claridge 💍 1886/3021	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	26 18	Waimea West Waimea West	26 years 13 years	St. Michael's Church, Waimea West	86/2999	John Whitwell Bland, father	6 November 1886	Revd. Charles Oliver Mules, M.A., Church of England
68	10 November 1886	Edward Delaney Fanny Midgley	Edward Delaney Fanny Midgley 💍 1886/3002	Widower Spinster	Labourer Servant	37 28	Nile Street, Nelson Nile Street, Nelson	9 days 2 months	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	86/2988		10 November 1886	Robert Kiston, Registrar
69	17 November 1886	Reginald Hermon Flora Mackay	Reginald Hermon Flora Mackay 💍 1887/2177	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk in Holy Orders Nil	25 23	Brougham Street, Nelson Bronte Street, Nelson	4 days 8 years	St. Peter's on the Strand Church, Wakapuaka	87/799		17 November 1886	Right Revd. A. B. Suter, D.D., Bishop, 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).