Intentions to Marry, 1888

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840400, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Alexandra at Archives NZ Wellington, May 14 2025

Page 587

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 June 1888

No	Date of Notice	Names and Surnames of Parties	BDM Match	Condition	Calling or Profession	Age	Dwelling Place	Length of Residence	Marriage Place	Folio	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
27	7 April 1888	Richard Palmer Elizabeth Jane Brabant	Richard Palmer Elizabeth Jane Brabant 💍 1888/1380	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	25 25	Hope Hope	25 years 7 years	Christchurch	88/1355	7 April 1888	Revd John Pratt Kempthorne, Church of England
28	9 April 1888	Vincent Arthur Blayden Minnie Walker Webster	Vincent Arthur Clayden Maria Walker Webster 💍 1888/1456	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	30 28	Wakefield In-Toi Valley Nelson	9 years 28 years	Residence of Mr Webster	88/1381	9 April 1888	Revd Richard James Williams, Congregational Church
29	12 April 1888	James Newth Annie Andrew	James Newth Annie Andrew 💍 1888/1459	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Nil	31 22	Waimea West Waimea West	31 years 22 years	St Michael Church	88/1361	12 April 1888	Revd Charles O'Malley, Church of England
30	14 April 1888	Mark Newth Annie Martha Millard	Mark Newth Annie Martha Millard 💍 1888/1458	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Nil	33 23	Waimea West Waimea West	33 years 23 years	St Michael Church	88/1360	14 April 1888	Revd Charles O'Malley, Church of England
31	20 April 1888	John Fiven Margaret Johnstone Graham	John Fiven Margaret Johnstone Graham 💍 1888/1446	Widower Spinster	Coach Smith Nil	44 43	Tory Street Nelson Hardy Street Nelson	44 years 35 years	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	88/1372	20 April 1888	Robert Kilton, Registrar
32	26 April 1888	George Henry Sherwood Sarah Alice Oxley	George Henry Sherwood Sarah Alice Oxley 💍 1888/1447	Bachelor Spinster	Messenger Nil	29 24	New Street Nelson New Street Nelson	29 years 24 years	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	88/1373	26 April 1888	Robert Kilton, Registrar
33	30 April 1888	Frederick Dimmick Sarah Ann Cowley	Frederick Dimmick Sarah Ann Cowley 💍 1888/1452	Widower Widow	Farmer Dressmaker	52 34	Appleby Appleby	30 years 2 Weeks	St Albans Church, Appleby	88/1377	30 April 1888	Revd John Leathley Nightingale, Church of England
34	4 May 1888	Robert Robin Margaret Agnes Cadigan	Robert Robin Margaret Agnes Cadigan 💍 1888/1463	Bachelor Spinster	Sharebroker Nil	32 23	Trafalgar Street Nelson Stoke	3 days 6 months	The Catholic Mission, Nelson	88/1365	4 May 1888	Revd William Joseph Mahoney SM, Roman Catholic Church
35	4 May 1888	Edward Fraser Paton Ethel Malvina Morice	Edward Fraser Paton Ethel Malvina Morice 💍 1888/1448	Bachelor Widow	Farmer Nil	30 31	Hope Wakapuaka	3 days 3 months	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	88/1374	4 May 1888	Robert Kilton, Registrar
36	5 May 1888	Henry John Fanselow Mary Jane Moore	Henry John Fanselow Mary Jane Moore 💍 1888/1445	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	25 25	Hope Hope	25 years 1 year	Residence of William Eden, Farmer, Hope	88/1371	5 May 1888	Revd John Crump, Wesleyan Church
37	5 May 1888	George Henry Parmenter Clara Jane Cook	George Henry Parmeuter Clara Jane Cook 💍 1888/1381	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	22 21	Wakapuaka Tasman Street Nelson	22 years 21 years	Christchurch	88/1356	5 May 1888	Revd John Pratt Kempthorne, Church of England
38	7 May 1888	Horace Winsett Sarah Devaney	Horace Winsett Sarah Devanny 💍 1888/1464	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith Servant	27 23	Hardy Street Nelson South Street Nelson	27 years 23 years	Residence of Andrew Devaney, South Street Nelson	88/1366	7 May 1888	Revd William Joseph Mahoney SM, Roman Catholic 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).