Intentions to Marry, 1890

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840402, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, May 23 2025

Page 194

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 March 1890 Registrar Robert Hinton

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 January 1890

Charles Lyddon Lucas
Bessie Freeman

Charles Lyddon Lucas
Bessie Freeman
💍 1890/248

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Nil

24
25

Stepneyville Nelson
Russell Street Nelson

20 years
25 years

All Saints Church, Nelson

90/400

14 January 1890

Revd. Fred. W. Chatterton, Church of England

No	1
Date of Notice	14 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Lyddon Lucas	Bessie Freeman
	💍 1890/248
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Nil
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Stepneyville Nelson	Russell Street Nelson
Length of Residence	20 years	25 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Nelson
Folio	90/400
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd. Fred. W. Chatterton, Church of England

25 January 1890

James Wilsden Newport
Sarah Ann Simms

James Wilsden Newport
Sarah Ann Ernest
💍 1890/2091

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Nil

26
22

Brook Street Nelson
Beachville Nelson

26 years
3 years

Christchurch

90/1921

25 January 1890

R. Revd. A. B. Tutes, Church of England

No	2
Date of Notice	25 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Wilsden Newport	Sarah Ann Simms
BDM Match (84%)	James Wilsden Newport	Sarah Ann Ernest
	💍 1890/2091
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Nil
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Brook Street Nelson	Beachville Nelson
Length of Residence	26 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Christchurch
Folio	90/1921
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1890
Officiating Minister	R. Revd. A. B. Tutes, Church of England

27 January 1890

William James Fly
Adelaide Lewin

William James Fly
Adelaide Lewin
💍 1890/246

Bachelor
Spinster

Coach Driver
Nil

24
22

Wakapuaka Nelson
Nelson

5 days
7 years

Baptist Church

90/398

27 January 1890

Revd. Thos. Bray, Baptist Church

No	3
Date of Notice	27 January 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Fly	Adelaide Lewin
	💍 1890/246
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coach Driver	Nil
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Wakapuaka Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	5 days	7 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church
Folio	90/398
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd. Thos. Bray, Baptist Church

17 February 1890

Cecil Herbert Edward Sweet
Mary Eliza Edwards

Cecil Herbert Edward Sweet
Mary Eliza Edwards
💍 1890/250

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Nil

29
25

Nelson
Nelson

4 days
25 years

All Saints Church

90/401

17 February 1890

Revd. F. W. Chatterton, Church of England

No	4
Date of Notice	17 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cecil Herbert Edward Sweet	Mary Eliza Edwards
	💍 1890/250
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nil
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Nelson	Nelson
Length of Residence	4 days	25 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church
Folio	90/401
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd. F. W. Chatterton, Church of England

22 February 1890

Ralph Reid Fraser
Jane Mumford

Ralph Reid Prater
Jane Mumford
💍 1890/247

Widower
Widow

Contractor
Nil

67
39

Hardy Street Nelson
Hardy Street Nelson

16 years
12 years

Residence of Ralph Reid Fraser

90/399

22 February 1890

Revd. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church

No	5
Date of Notice	22 February 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ralph Reid Fraser	Jane Mumford
BDM Match (94%)	Ralph Reid Prater	Jane Mumford
	💍 1890/247
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Contractor	Nil
Age	67	39
Dwelling Place	Hardy Street Nelson	Hardy Street Nelson
Length of Residence	16 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Ralph Reid Fraser
Folio	90/399
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church

10 March 1890

Henry Wastney
Katherine Emma Axup

Henry Wastney
Katherine Emma Axup
💍 1890/434

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Servant

24
30

Wakapuaka
Alton Street Nelson

24 years
2 years

All Saints Church

90/402

10 March 1890

Revd. Fred. W. Chatterton, Church of England

No	6
Date of Notice	10 March 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Wastney	Katherine Emma Axup
	💍 1890/434
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Servant
Age	24	30
Dwelling Place	Wakapuaka	Alton Street Nelson
Length of Residence	24 years	2 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church
Folio	90/402
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 March 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd. Fred. W. Chatterton, Church of England

31 March 1890

Henry Walker
Bessie Roberts

Henry Walker
Bessie Roberts
💍 1890/3536

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

31
23

Vincent Street Nelson
Brook Street Nelson

31 years
15 years

Residence of Thomas Roberts

90/1401

Thomas Roberts

31 March 1890

Revd. William Oliver, Wesleyan Church

No	7
Date of Notice	31 March 1890
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Walker	Bessie Roberts
	💍 1890/3536
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Vincent Street Nelson	Brook Street Nelson
Length of Residence	31 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Thomas Roberts
Folio	90/1401
Consent	Thomas Roberts
Date of Certificate	31 March 1890
Officiating Minister	Revd. 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 1903. More registers are being added almost every week.

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).