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 588

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
39	14 May 1888	James Robert Sharp Rose Betts	James Robert Sharp Rose Catherine Betts 💍 1888/1454	Bachelor Nil	Expressman Nil	30 27	Gloucester Street Nelson Hardy Street Nelson	2 years 10 years	Residence of Mrs Betts, Hardy Street Nelson	88/1379	14 May 1888	Rev. A. C. Wright, Church of England
40	23 May 1888	Benjamin Bluck Jane Stewart	Benjamin Blick Jane Stewart 💍 1888/1443	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith Dressmaker	23 28	Broome Street Valley Nelson Broome Street Valley Nelson	5 days 28 years	Residence of Joseph Stewart, Broome Street Valley Nelson	88/1369	23 May 1888	Revd James Standing, Baptist Minister
41	28 May 1888	Herbert Ephraim Lonsdale Louise Mary Little	Herbert Ephraim Lonsdale Louise Mary Little 💍 1888/1382	Bachelor Spinster	Importer Nil	35 26	Trafalgar Street Nelson Haven Road Nelson	4 days 16 years	Christchurch	88/1357	28 May 1888	Revd John Pratt Kempthorne, Church of England.
42	28 May 1888	William Smith Smithin Frances Warren Mcgee	William Smith Simkin Frances Warren McGee 💍 1888/1441	Bachelor Spinster	Commercial Traveller Nil	34 27	Trafalgar Street Nelson Milton Street Nelson	3 days 27 years	Residence of Charles Mcgee, Milton Street Nelson	88/1367	28 May 1888	Revd William Joseph Mahoney, Roman Catholic Church
43	4 June 1888	Horace Wakefield Eliza Diana Cheel	Horace Wakefield Eliza Diana Cheel 💍 1888/1444	Bachelor Spinster	Lighthouse Keeper Nil	35 24	Boulder Bank Nelson Collingwood Street Nelson	2 years 10 years	Residence of Charles William Cheel, Collingwood Street Nelson	88/1370	4 June 1888	Revd James Standing, Baptist Church
44	5 June 1888	Arthur Kennedy Blundell Annie Mary Tweedie	Arthur Kennedy Blundell Anne Mary Tweedie 💍 1888/1440	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep Inspector Music	39 26	Hardy Street Nelson Nile Street East, Nelson	3 days 5 years	Christchurch	88/1358	5 June 1888	Revd Charles Oliver Mules MA, Church of England
45	6 June 1888	Thomas James Quick Sophia Busch	Thomas James Quirk Sophia Busch 💍 1888/1449	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	41 22	Gloucester Street Nelson Gloucester Street Nelson	2 years 22 years	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	88/1375	6 June 1888	Robert Kerton, Registrar
46	11 June 1888	George Elijah Nancarrow Ellen Allpress	George Elijah Nancarrow Ellen Allport 💍 1888/1455	Bachelor Spinster	Miner Servant	38 27	Collingwood Street Nelson Stoke	3 days 7 years	All Saints' Church	88/1380	11 June 1888	Revd Alfred Cecil Wright Smith, Church of England
47	19 June 1888	Walter Woolbrough Browning Emma Rosalie Mildred King	Walker Woolnough Browning Emma Rosalie Mildred Airey 💍 1888/1453	Bachelor Spinster	Telegraphist Nil	34 21	Wakapuaka Richmond	2 years 2 Weeks	Holy Trinity Church	88/1378	19 June 1888	Revd John Leashley Nightingale, Church of England
48	25 June 1888	Vernon Richard Hackworth Constance Fleetwood Sharp	Vernon Richard Hackworth Constance Fleetwood Sharp 💍 1888/1451	Bachelor Spinster	Bank Manager Nil	30 24	Bridge Street Nelson Milton Street Nelson	3 days 14 years	Christchurch	88/1359	25 June 1888	Revd John Pratt Kempthorne, Church of England
49	29 June 1888	James Marshall Clara Scoles	James Marshall Clara Scales 💍 1888/1450 David Marshall Mary Scott 💍 1888/1885	Widower Widow	Miner Nil	62 37	Vanguard Street Nelson Van Dieman Street Nelson	1 week 37 years	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	88/1376	29 June 1888	Robert Kerton, Registrar

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).