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 1338

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
70	19 November 1886	William Thomas Dapp Isabella Adamson	William Thomas Dapp Isabella Adamson 💍 1886/3034	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	36 27	The Baton Waimea West	18 years 4 days	Presbyterian Church, Nelson	86/13002		19 November 1886	Revd Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
71	23 November 1886	John Johnson Martha Maria Gratt	John Johnson Martha Maria Crabb 💍 1886/2996	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	28 24	Alton Street, Nelson Brook Street, Nelson	9 days 3 years	Residence of Jamieson Gratt, Brook Street, Nelson	86/2982		23 November 1886	Revd William Henry Benn, Wesleyan Minister
72	24 November 1886	Arthur William Stallard Nelly Elizabeth Hall	Arthur William Stallard Nelly Elizabeth Hall 💍 1886/2997	Bachelor Spinster	Coach builder Nil	22 18	Collingwood Street, Nelson Nile Street, Nelson	3 days 18 years	Residence of Henry Thomas Hall, Nile Street, Nelson	86/2983	Henry Thomas Hall, Father	24 November 1886	Revd William Henry Benn, Wesleyan Minister
73	27 November 1886	Joseph Best Mary Ann Elizabeth Boddington	Joseph Best Mary Ann Elizabeth Boddington 💍 1886/3019	Widower Spinster	Farmer Nil	38 27	Richmond Appleby	1 year 9 years	Residence of Charles Best, Appleby	86/2999		27 November 1886	Revd Charles Wm. Jennings, Church of England
74	4 December 1886	Charles Ford Emily Ada Kerr	Charles Ford Emily Ada Kerr 💍 1886/3022	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	27 25	Waimea West Waimea West	27 years 25 years	Residence of James Kerr, Waimea West	86/3000		4 December 1886	Revd Charles Oliver Mules, Church of England
75	16 December 1886	Charles Page Emily Ann Fletcher	Charles Page Emily Ann Fletcher 💍 1886/3008	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	27 24	Bridge Street, Nelson Brook Street, Nelson	3 days 5 years	All Saints Church, Nelson	86/2993		16 December 1886	Revd Alfred Cecil Wright, Archdeacon, Church of England
76	18 December 1886	Henry John Puckett Sarah Agnes Biss	Henry John Pickett Sarah Agnes Biss 💍 1886/3004	Bachelor Spinster	Surveyor Nil	26 21	Nile Street, Nelson Tasman Street, Nelson	3 Weeks 3 Weeks	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	86/2989		18 December 1886	Robert Kirston, Registrar
77	18 December 1886	Henry Thomas Johns Alice Sarah Bliss	Henry Thomas Johns Alice Sarah Blick 💍 1886/3040	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Nil	22 22	New Street, Nelson Brook Street Valley, Nelson	5 months 22 years	Residence of James Bliss, Brook Street Valley, Nelson	86/3003		18 December 1886	Revd James Standing, Baptist Minister
78	20 December 1886	Henry Aldridge Ada Emily Tiven	Henry Alldridge Ada Emily Fiven 💍 1886/3000	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Dressmaker	39 29	Halifax Street, Nelson Richmond	24 years 29 years	Residence of Revd H. I. Lewis, Hardy Street, Nelson	86/2986		20 December 1886	Revd Henry Josiah Lewis, Congregational Minister
79	21 December 1886	Peter Coleman Annie Elizabeth Wray	Peter Coleman Annie Elizabeth Wray 💍 1886/3020	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Schoolmistress	31 31	Hope Hope	3 years 3 years	St Albans Church, Appleby	86/2998		21 December 1886	Revd John Leathly Nightingale, Church of England
80	22 December 1886	Edward Harman Alice Cross	Edward Harman Alice Cross 💍 1886/3005	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	24 20	Hope Hope	3 days 18 years	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	86/2990	William Edward Cross, Father	22 December 1886	Robert Kirston, Registrar
86	24 December 1886	John Elliot Elizabeth Hale	John Elliot Elizabeth Hale 💍 1886/2974	Bachelor Spinster	Gas Fitter Nil	29 26	Waimea Road, Nelson Waimea Road, Nelson	3 days 26 years	Chapel of the Holy Evangelists, Bishopdale	86/2959		24 December 1886	Revd Alfred Cecil Wright, Archdeacon, 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).