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 975

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 September 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	Consent	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
50	2 July 1888	William Deckson Harkeep Mary Ann Harriet O'Loughlen	William Dickson Harkness Mary Ann Harriet O'Loughlen 💍 1888/2321	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	35 31	Richmond Richmond	35 years 31 years	Holy Trinity Church, Richmond	88/2317		2 July 1888	Revd John Leathley Nightingale MA, Church of England
51	16 July 1888	Henry Robinson Annie Lurch	George Robinson Annie Levick 💍 1888/2313	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	23 23	Hardy Street Nelson Milton Street Nelson	4 days 23 years	Residence of Mrs E. Lurch, Milton Street Nelson	88/2310		16 July 1888	Revd William C. Oliver, Wesleyan Church
52	17 July 1888	Henry James Lines Ellen Selve Wilson	Henry James Lines Ellen Silvie Skelton 💍 1888/2312	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	23 20	Bridge Street Nelson Milton Street Nelson	3 days 8 years	Residence of Francis Wilson, Milton Street Nelson	88/2309	Francis Wilson, Father	17 July 1888	Revd William C. Oliver, Wesleyan Church
53	21 July 1888	George Edward Chapman Mary Edelsten	George Edward Chapman Mary Edelsten 💍 1888/2323	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor Servant	27 19	Vanguard Street Nelson Trafalgar Street Nelson	3 months 3 months	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	88/2319	James Samuel Edelsten, Father	21 July 1888	Robert Horton, Registrar
54	26 July 1888	Edward Dutton Ann Ross	Edward Sutton Ann Ross 💍 1888/2317	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	26 26	Hope Richmond	3 years 3 years	Residence of Mr G. Woodcock, Richmond	88/2314		26 July 1888	Revd John Crouch, Wesleyan Church
55	31 July 1888	Richard Higgs Agnes Dutton	Richard Higgs Agnes Sutton 💍 1888/2314	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	30 22	Richmond Richmond	30 years 22 years	Wesleyan Parsonage	88/2311		31 July 1888	Revd William C. Oliver, Wesleyan Church
56	1 August 1888	Hubert Burnett Edith Johnston Boor	Hubert Burnett Edith Johnston Boor 💍 1888/2734	Bachelor Spinster	Solicitor Nil	26 23	Woodville Waimea Road Nelson	3 years 17 years	All Saints' Church	88/2699		1 August 1888	Revd Alfred Weight, Church of England
57	4 August 1888	Dennis Frost Mary Ann Andrews	Dennes Frost Mary Ann Andrews 💍 1888/2324	Widower Widow	Farmer Nurse	55 52	Wakapuaka Grove Street Nelson	40 years 8 years	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	88/2320		4 August 1888	Robert Horton, Registrar
58	9 August 1888	John Hamilton Oliver Mary Ann Elizabeth Bremner	John Hamilton Oliver Mary Ann Elizabeth Bremmer 💍 1888/2325	Bachelor Widow	Gardener Nil	45 49	Stoke Stoke	1 year 2 months	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	88/2321		9 August 1888	Robert Horton, Registrar
59	20 August 1888	Alfred George Gill Elizabeth Ann Donald	Alfred George Gill Elizabeth Ann Donald 💍 1888/2318	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	24 20	Wakapuaka Wakapuaka	24 years 8 months	Residence of William Taylor, Washington Valley, Nelson	88/2315	Annie Donald, Mother	20 August 1888	Revd Richard James Williams, Congregational Church
60	28 August 1888	Henry Neale Kate Bethwaite	Henry Neal Kate Bithwaite 💍 1888/2315	Bachelor Spinster	Carter Nil	23 22	Waimea Road Nelson Vanguard Street Nelson	23 years 22 years	Residence of Wm Bethwaite, Vanguard Street Nelson	88/2312		28 August 1888	Revd William C. Oliver, Wesleyan Church
61	3 September 1888	Arthur Barker Ada Albrough	Arthur Barker Ada Alborough 💍 1888/2735	Bachelor Spinster	Cabinet Maker Nil	27 21	Wakapuaka Wakapuaka	7 months 18 years	All Saints' Church	88/2700		3 September 1888	Revd Alfred Wright MA, Church of England

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).