Intentions to Marry, 1887

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840399, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, May 14 2025

Page 938

District of Nelson Quarter ending 1 July 1887 to 13 September 1887

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
43	5 July 1887	Robert Pallie Bessie Webster	Robert Pattie Bessie Webster 💍 1887/498	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	31 29	Trafalgar Street, Nelson Hampden Street, Nelson	3 days 29 years	Residence of Mr. Webster, Hampden Street, Nelson	87/2143		5 July 1887	Rev. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
44	7 July 1887	John Duncan Blumer Ross Annie McCallum	John Duncan Clunies-Ross Annie McCallum 💍 1887/516	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	27 24	Blenheim Wakapuaka	7 years 3 days	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Wairau	87/2145		7 July 1887	Robert Kinton, Registrar
45	7 July 1887	Charles Ball Martha Gibson	Charles Ball Martha Gibson 💍 1887/517	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor Nil	21 21	Bridge Street, Nelson Waimea Road, Nelson	14 years 1 year	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	87/2146		9 July 1887	Robert Kinton, Registrar
46	11 July 1887	William Campbell Barnett Frances Kingston	William Campbell Barnett Frances Hingston 💍 1887/500	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher Nil	24 23	Cambria Street, Nelson Waimea Street, Nelson	24 years 2 years	Wesleyan Church	87/2153		11 July 1887	Rev. William Oliver, Wesleyan Church
47	20 July 1887	Roger Percy Allen Louisa Caroline Erskine	Roger Percy Allen Louisa Caroline Erskine 💍 1887/518	Bachelor Spinster	Telegraphist Nil	19 19	Wakapuaka Wakapuaka	8 months 17 years	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	87/2147	John Allen, father; Thomas Erskine, father	20 July 1887	Robert Kinton, Registrar
48	22 July 1887	James Douglas Robb Clara Caroline Ann Flowerdew	James Douglas Robb Clara Caroline Ann Flowerday 💍 1887/519	Widower Spinster	Labourer Nil	36 26	Haven Road, Nelson Haven Road, Nelson	3 days 26 years	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	87/2148		22 July 1887	Robert Kinton, Registrar
49	6 August 1887	Roger William Wellesley Kingston Annie Evelyn Curtis	Roger William Wellesley Kingdom Annie Evelyn Curtis 💍 1887/489	Bachelor Spinster	Solicitor Nil	26 22	Halifax Street, Nelson Vanguard Street, Nelson	26 years 22 years	Christchurch	87/2141		6 August 1887	Rev. John Pratt Kempthorne, Church of England
50	8 August 1887	George Herbert Keyworth Gertrude Bellings	George Herbert Keyworth Gertrude Billings 💍 1887/520	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Nil	28 26	Waimea Road, Nelson Waimea Road, Nelson	3 days 1 week	All Saints Church	87/2149		8 August 1887	Rev. Alfred Cecil Wright, Church of England
51	8 August 1887	Joseph Simmiss Susan Eliza Davy	Joseph Vieiia Susan Eliza Davy 💍 1887/501	Widower Spinster	Mariner Nil	39 17	Stepneyville, Nelson Stepneyville, Nelson	1 month 1 year	Residence of Joseph Simmiss	87/2154	William Thomas Riddell Davy, father	8 August 1887	Rev. William Oliver, Wesleyan Church
52	17 August 1887	Charles Edward Molesworth Katherine Marianne Airey	Charles Edward Molesworth Katherine Marianne Airey 💍 1887/499	Widower Spinster	Gentleman Governess	33 21	Richmond Ngatimoti, Nelson	4 months 4 months	Trinity Church	87/2152		17 August 1887	Rev. John Leashly Nightingale, Church of England
53	17 August 1887	Tristan O'Achuna Cresswell Mary Charlotte Aile	Tristan D'Achuna Creswell Maxted Mary Charlotte Astle 💍 1887/502	Bachelor Spinster	Tinsmith Nil	36 28	Bridge Street, Nelson Haven Road, Nelson	8 years 26 years	Residence of Thomas Aile, Haven Road, Nelson	87/2155		17 August 1887	Rev. William Oliver, Wesleyan Church
54	23 August 1887	Charles Donald Feudall Georgina Elizabeth Bonnington	Charles Donald Fendall Georgina Elizabeth Bonnington 💍 1887/522	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	30 22	Wakapuaka Grove Street, Nelson	2 years 22 years	All Saints Church	87/2151		23 August 1887	Rev. Arthur Ralph Watson, 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).