Intentions to Marry, 1889

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840401, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, May 23 2025

Page 579

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 June 1889

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
14	6 April 1889	George Archibald Surfam Isabella Stewart	George Archibald Simpson Isabella Stewart 💍 1889/1299 Samuel Macdonald Isabella Stewart 💍 1890/480	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Nil	27 20	Washington Valley, Nelson Victoria Road, Nelson	27 years 20 years	All Saints Church	89/1296	James Stewart, Father	6 April 1889	Rev. Fred W. Challerton, Church of England
15	25 April 1889	Walter James Bird Jane Windle	Walter James Bird Jane Windle 💍 1889/1313	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Teacher	33 29	Bridge Street, Nelson Bridge Street, Nelson	3 days 5 days	Catholic Station	89/1297		25 April 1889	Rev. William Joseph Mahoney, Roman Catholic Church
16	26 April 1889	Charles Robert Martin Agnes Pratt	Charles Robert Morton Agnes Pratt 💍 1889/1314	Bachelor Spinster	Draper Nil	26 28	Waimea Road, Nelson Tasman Street, Nelson	3 years 28 years	Chapel of Holy Evangelists, Bishopdale, Nelson	89/1288		26 April 1889	Rev. Fred W. Challerton, Church of England
17	30 April 1889	Thomas Carl George Thiel Martha Jane Sophia Elizabeth Heine	Johannes Earl Georg Thiel Martha Emma Sophie Elisabeth Heine 💍 1889/1292	Bachelor Spinster	Minister Nil	31 25	Upper Motueka Upper Motueka	10 months 25 years	St Pauls Church	89/1289		30 April 1889	Rev. J. W. Heine, Lutheran Church
18	13 May 1889	John Cox Alice Fort	John Cox Grace Fort 💍 1889/1293	Widower Widow	Gentleman Nil	65 65	Alton Street, Nelson Alton Street, Nelson	4 days 4 days	Residence of Mr. Garrett, Alton Street, Nelson	89/1290 (see below)		Certificate not granted
19	13 May 1889	James Hunt Marion Taylor Collard	James Hunt Marion Taylor Pollock 💍 1889/1297	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	21 26	Richmond Richmond	3 days 18 years	Residence of Mr. S. Avery	89/1294		13 May 1889	Rev. Samuel Porteley, Church of England
20	13 May 1889	John Cox Grace Fort	John Cox Grace Fort 💍 1889/1293	Widower Widow	Gentleman Nil	65 65	Alton Street, Nelson Alton Street, Nelson	4 days 4 days	Residence of Mr. Garrett, Alton Street, Nelson	89/1290		13 May 1889	Rev. William Oliver, Wesleyan Church
21	27 May 1889	William Dron Elizabeth Drummond	William Dron Elizabeth Drummond 💍 1889/1301 William Brown Elizabeth Murtagh 💍 1889/3601 William Paterson Elizabeth Lermor 💍 1890/492 William Duncan Elizabeth Taylor 💍 1889/3005 William Pringle Elizabeth James 💍 1889/2837 William Kerr Elizabeth Mempes 💍 1889/887 William O'Connor Elizabeth H Kemp 💍 1889/1752 William White Elizabeth Coffey 💍 1889/3642	Widower Spinster	Farmer Nil	50 32	Waimea West Waimea West	39 years 32 years	Presbyterian Church, Nelson	89/1298		27 May 1889	Rev. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
22	4 June 1889	Charles Avery Ella Jane Delany	Charles Avery Ella Jane Delany 💍 1889/1294	Bachelor Spinster	Builder Servant	21 19	South Street, Nelson South Street, Nelson	9 years 3 days	Residence of Robert Avery, South Street, Nelson	89/1291	John Delany, Father	4 June 1889	Rev. William Oliver, Wesleyan Church
23	10 June 1889	Frederick William Manney Lillian Avery Beaths	Frederick William Starnes Lillian Amy Beattie 💍 1889/1304	Bachelor Nil	Labourer Nil	24 22	Richmond Stoke	3 days 22 years	Residence of Edward Cresswell, Farmer Stoke	89/1300		10 June 1889	Rev. John Crump, Wesleyan Church
24	14 June 1889	Arthur Ashton Scaife Maud Batley	Arthur Ashton Scaife Maud Catley 💍 1889/1300	Bachelor Nil	Accountant Nil	34 25	Melbourne Street, Nelson Manuka Street, Nelson	8 years 25 years	Christchurch	89/1297		14 June 1889	Rev. John Pratt Kemphorne, Church of England
25	15 June 1889	George Henry Bradley Maud Matilda Edwards	George Henry Bradly Maud Matilda Edwards 💍 1889/1295	Bachelor Spinster	Coach Painter Nil	20 19	Tasman Street, Nelson Bridge Street, Nelson	20 years 11 years	Wesleyan Church, Nelson	89/1292	Henry James Bradley, Father; Edward Hooker Edwards, Father	15 June 1889	Rev. William Oliver, Wesleyan 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).