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 193

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 March 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
1	3 January 1888	Joseph Simmons Fanny Darby	Joseph Jennens Fanny Darby 💍 1888/39	Bachelor Spinster	Gas meter maker Nil	29 29	Wakefield Quay Nelson Mary Ann Street Nelson	8 days 29 years	All Saints Church	88/402		3 January 1888	Revd. Alfred Cecil Wright A.K.C., Church of England
2	5 January 1888	Nathaniel Lardner Jennings Frances Emma Whitehouse	Nathaniel Lardner Jennings Frances Emma Whitehorn 💍 1888/563	Bachelor Spinster	Schoolmaster School mistress	26 25	Washington Valley Nelson Wakefield	10 days 6 years	St John's Church	88/429		5 January 1888	Revd. William George Batty, Church of England
3	9 January 1888	William James Gorrie Annie Inkson McCulloch Cormack	William James Gorrie Annie Inkson McCulloch Cormack 💍 1888/554	Bachelor Spinster	Coach Builder Waitress	24 26	Bridge Street Nelson Bridge Street Nelson	7 years 10 months	Office of Registrar of Marriages	88/420		9 January 1888	Robert Kilton, Registrar
4	10 January 1888	Thomas Newton McCulloch Ann Mallinson	Thomas Newton McConchie Ann Mallinson 💍 1888/573	Bachelor Spinster	Cattle Dealer Housemaid	45 22	Collingwood Street Nelson Collingwood Street Nelson	3 days 3 days	Presbyterian Church	88/415		10 January 1888	Revd. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
5	16 January 1888	James Hart Ellen Kruse	James Hart Ellen Kruse 💍 1888/46	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	20 25	Haven Road Nelson Haven Road Nelson	10 years 1 week	Roman Catholic Oratory	88/408	James Hart, Father	16 January 1888	Revd. William Smith Maharey, Roman Catholic Church
6	19 January 1888	Edwin Smallbone Clarahnina Mundy	Edwin Smallbone Clara Louisa Muntz 💍 1888/572	Bachelor Spinster	Store Keeper Nil	26 23	Waimea Road Richmond	4 days 23 years	Holy Trinity Church	88/414		19 January 1888	Revd. Francis James Jones, Church of England
7	23 January 1888	Walter Pearse Eliza Hope Pritchard	Walter Pearse Eliza Hope Pritchard 💍 1888/555	Bachelor Spinster	Fireman Servant	24 20	Haven Road Nelson Wakefield Quay Nelson	3 years 2 years	Office of Registrar of Marriages	88/421	Henry Pritchard, Father	23 January 1888	Robert Kilton, Registrar
8	30 January 1888	Albert Arthur Ernest Holdaway Elizabeth Edward	Albert Arthur Ernest Holdaway Elizabeth Edward 💍 1888/43	Bachelor Spinster	Salvation Army Officer Salvation Army Officer	24 20	Hardy Street Nelson Collingwood Street Nelson	6 days 6 days	Salvation Army Barracks	88/405	Edwin Edward, Father	30 January 1888	Revd. Michael James William, Congregational Church
9	30 January 1888	Robert Deskford Pay Rose Cummin	Robert Deskford Gray Rose Currin 💍 1888/575	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Servant	24 21	Milton Street Nelson St Vincent Street Nelson	24 years 3 years	Residence of Revd. Galland St Vincent Street Nelson	88/417		30 January 1888	Revd. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
10	6 February 1888	August Schroder Amelia Taylor	August Schroder Amelia Taylor 💍 1888/557	Widower Widow	Farmer Nil	24 32	Hope Hope	34 years 32 years	Office of Registrar of Marriages	88/423		11 February 1888	Robert Kilton, Registrar
11	10 February 1888	John Alexander Broadage Mary Flower	John Alexander Beveridge Mary Flower 💍 1888/556	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Nil	26 19	Wakapuaka Wakapuaka	3 Weeks 19 years	Office of Registrar of Marriages	88/422	Henry Flower, Father	10 February 1888	Robert Kilton, Registrar
12	13 February 1888	George Walford Sare Georgiana Bertha Hill	George Watford Sare Georgiana Bertha Hill 💍 1888/40	Bachelor Spinster	Manager of Loan Company Nil	27 27	Hardy Street Nelson Waimea Street Nelson	2 years 27 years	All Saints Church	88/403		13 February 1888	Revd. Alfred Cecil Wright A.K.C., 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).