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 1346

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 December 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
1559	October 1 1889	Robert Henry Leighton Charlotte Kidson	Robert Henry Leighton Charlotte Kidson 💍 1889/3006	Bachelor Spinster	Lighthouse Assistant Nil	30 19	Boulder Bank Nelson Boulder Bank Nelson	6 months 19 years	Residence of John Kidson, Boulder Bank Nelson	89/3066	John Kidson father	October 1 1889	Rev. William C. Oliver, Wesleyan Church
	October 18 1889	William Henry Berry Emma Bowles	William Henry Berry Emma Bowles 💍 1889/3007	Widower Widow	Shepherd Nurse	62 52	Wakapuaka Road Nelson Wakapuaka Road Nelson	21 years 3 days	Lemothey Lodge, Wakapuaka Road Nelson	89/3067		October 18 1889	Rev. William C. Oliver, Wesleyan Church
	October 21 1889	Alfred Lloyd Tarleton Jones Eva Mary Kingdom	Alfred Lloyd Tarleton Jones Eva Mary Kingdon 💍 1889/3017	Bachelor Spinster	Bank Clerk Nil	28 25	Brougham Street Nelson Halifax Street Nelson	8 years 25 years	Christchurch	89/3070		October 21 1889	Rev. John Pratt Kempshorne, Church of England
	October 30 1889	Henry Christian Jacob Springer Edith Mary Lammas	Henry Christian Jacob Springer Edith Mary Lammas 💍 1889/3035	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Nil	23 21	Hope Richmond	23 years 21 years	Residence of Miss E. M. Lammas, Richmond	89/3072		October 30 1889	Rev. John Crump, Wesleyan Church
	October 31 1889	Andreas Andersen Elizabeth Pollard Kessell	Andreas Andersen Elizabeth Pollard Kessell 💍 1889/3008	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Milliner	28 27	Wakefield Quay Nelson Shelbourne Street Nelson	4 years 18 years	Residence of John Kessell, Shelbourne Street Nelson	89/3068		October 31 1889	Rev. William C. Oliver, Wesleyan Church
	November 16 1889	David Livingston Florence May Palmer	David Livingston Florence Maud Mary Palmer 💍 1889/3041	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Nil	42 26	Warwick West Warwick West	4 days 26 years	St. Michael's Church	89/3078	see below	November 16 1889	Rev. Charles Oliver Mules, Church of England
	November 18 1889	William Robert Thomas Ancell Jessie Sophia Freeman	William Robert Thomas Ancell Jessie Sophia Freeman 💍 1889/3038	Bachelor Spinster	Chemist Milliner	23 23	Vanguard Street Nelson Russell Street Nelson	6 years 23 years	Presbyterian Church	89/3075		November 18 1889	Rev. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
	November 23 1889	David Livingston Florence Maude Mary Palmer	David Livingston Florence Maud Mary Palmer 💍 1889/3041	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Nil	42 26	Warwick West Warwick West	2 weeks 26 years	Office of the Registrar	89/3078		November 23 1889	Robert Ninton, Registrar
	November 26 1889	Foster James Jackabury Sarah Jane Fergus	Foster James Tackaberry Sarah Jane Fergus 💍 1889/3018	Bachelor Spinster	Seaman Dressmaker	24 22	Haven Road Nelson Haven Road Nelson	5 months 20 years	Office of the Registrar	89/3079		November 26 1889	Robert Ninton, Registrar
	November 28 1889	Michael Dunn Margaret Mason	Michael Dunn Margaret Mason 💍 1889/3039	Bachelor Spinster	Miner Nil	33 22	Bridge Street Nelson Bridge Street Nelson	3 days 3 days	St. Mary's Church	89/3076		November 28 1889	Rev. William J. Mahoney, Roman Catholic Church
	November 29 1889	George Ross Sarah Anna Dorothea Eggers	George Ross Sarah Ann Dorothea Eggers 💍 1889/3036	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	23 22	Upper Moutere Nelson Upper Moutere Nelson	22 years 1 year	Residence of Mr. L. Dutton, Hope	89/3073		November 29 1889	Rev. John Crump, Wesleyan Church
	December 2 1889	Arthur Henry Husband Emily Sarah Kinsman	Arthur Henry Husband Emily Sarah Kinsman 💍 1889/3037	Bachelor Spinster	Miner Servant	24 19	Trafalgar Square Nelson Halifax Street Nelson	5 days 16 months	Salvation Army Barracks, Nelson	89/3074	Richard Kinsman, father	December 2 1889	Rev. Thomas Bray, Baptist Church
	December 16 1889	Thomas Nyhaw Ellen Byrne	Thomas Nyhan Ellen Byrne 💍 1889/3040	Bachelor Spinster	Schoolmaster Cook	18 19	Collingwood Street Nelson Manuka Street Nelson	16 weeks 2 weeks	St. Mary's Catholic Church	89/3077	Patrick Byrnes, father	December 16 1889	Rev. William J. Mahoney, Roman Catholic Church
	December 17 1889	William Nelson Poole Emma Louisa Lloyd	William Nelson Poole Emma Louisa Lloyd 💍 1889/3009	Bachelor Spinster	Telegraphist Nil	28 19	Hardy Street Nelson Hardy Street Nelson	4 days 19 years	Residence of William Lloyd, Hardy Street Nelson	89/3069	William Lloyd, father	December 17 1889	Rev. William C. Oliver, Wesleyan Church
	December 18 1889	Charles Edward Dowsell Annie Weeks	Charles Edward Dowsett Annie Wilks 💍 1889/3019	Bachelor Spinster	Basket maker Nil	23 25	Brook Street Nelson Brook Street Nelson	10 weeks 25 years	Office of the Registrar	89/3080		December 18 1889	Robert Ninton, Registrar

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).