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 582

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 June 1890 Registrar Robert Nelson

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
8	1 April 1890	Robert Samuel Millard Ann Tatherley	Robert Samuel Millard Anne Satherley 💍 1890/967	Bachelor Spinster	Brewer Nil	28 22	Waimea West Waimea West	28 years 22 years	At the residence of John Tatherley, Waimea West	90/1405		1 April 1890	Ven. Arch. Chas. O. Mules, Church of England
9	3 April 1890	Alexander McFarlane Katherine Windle	Alexander McFarlane Katherine Windle 💍 1890/1836	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	33 22	Bridge Street Nelson Hardy Street Nelson	4 days 1 week	The Catholic Station, Nelson	90/1413		3 April 1890	Revd. Wm. J. Mahony, Roman Catholic Church
10	9 April 1890	Henry Fowler Maria Henrietta Maley	Henry Fowler Maria Henrietta Morley 💍 1890/3695	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Nil	31 19	Tasman Street Nelson Tasman Street Nelson	2 Weeks 2 Weeks	Residence of John Lewis Maley, Tasman Street Nelson	90/1402	John Lewis Maley, father	9 April 1890	Revd. William C. Lewis, Wesleyan Church
11	14 April 1890	John William Tatherley Celestine Teresa Mercer	John William Satherly Celestine Teresa Mercer 💍 1890/1840	Bachelor Spinster	Brewer Nil	26 22	Waimea West Richmond	26 years 9 months	Roman Catholic Church, Waimea West	90/1417		15 April 1890	Revd. Wm. J. Mahony, Roman Catholic Church
12	15 April 1890	George Henry Bennett Emily Amos	George Henry Bennett Emily Amos 💍 1890/3711	Bachelor Spinster	Book Importer Nil	23 23	New Street Nelson Trafalgar Square Nelson	3 days 23 years	All Saints Church, Nelson	90/1406		15 April 1890	Revd. Fredk. Wm. Chatterton, Church of England
13	24 April 1890	Jesse Ernest Hounsell Alice Bertha Sherwood	Jesse Ernest Hounsell Alice Bertha Sherwood 💍 1890/3706	Bachelor Spinster	Bookseller Dressmaker	32 21	Nile Street East Nelson Nile Street East Nelson	15 years 21 years	Residence of Mr. Sherwood, Nile Street East Nelson	90/1403		24 April 1890	Revd. Francis W. Isitt, Wesleyan Church
14	29 April 1890	Robert Ross Fellowes Emma Adolphina Keoghan	Robert Ross Fellowes Emma Adolphine Keoghan 💍 1890/1835	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Nil	22 26	Hardy Street Nelson Hardy Street Nelson	4 days 4 days	St. Mary's Catholic Church, Nelson	90/1412		29 April 1890	Revd. William J. Mahony, Roman Catholic Church
15	16 May 1890	George Oxley Bessie Louise Kierman	George Oxley Bessie Louise Kiernan 💍 1890/966	Bachelor Spinster	Watchmaker Nil	22 22	Brook Street Nelson Brook Street Nelson	12 years 6 years	Presbyterian Church, Nelson	90/1400		16 May 1890	Revd. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
16	20 May 1890	Walter Lane Bertha East	Walter Lane Bertha East 💍 1890/968	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher Nil	26 25	Trafalgar Street Nelson Cambria Street Nelson	26 years 25 years	All Saints Church, Nelson	90/1407		20 May 1890	Revd. Wm. Chatterton, Church of England
17	29 May 1890	Frederick Henry Hounsell Emma Fieldes	Frederick Henry Hounsell Emma Fieldes 💍 1890/3712	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Nil	28 19	Mary Ann Street Nelson Cambria Street Nelson	28 years 19 years	All Saints Church, Nelson	90/1408	Walter Fieldes, father	29 May 1890	Revd. Fredk. Wm. Chatterton, Church of England
18	4 June 1890	George Harvey Eleonora Dora Margaret Brunning	George Harvey Elenora Dora Margaret Brunning 💍 1890/1839	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	27 23	Upper Moutere Upper Moutere	7 years 3 years	Office of Registrar, Nelson	90/1416		4 June 1890	Robert Nelson, Registrar
19	5 June 1890	William James Funnell Elizabeth Manning	William James Funnell Elizabeth Manning 💍 1890/969	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	28 24	Tipahi Street Nelson Waimea Road Nelson	3 days 24 years	Residence of E. Manning, Waimea Road Nelson	90/1409		5 June 1890	Revd. Fredk. Wm. Chatterton, Church of England
20	9 June 1890	William Dolbey Askew Isabella Grant	William Dolbey Aitken Isabella Grant 💍 1890/1817	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Dressmaker	23 20	Hardy Street Nelson Vanguard Street Nelson	4 days 20 years	All Saints Church, Nelson	90/1410	Susannah Grant, mother	9 June 1890	Revd. Fredk. Wm. Chatterton, Church of England
21	10 June 1890	Ralph Benjamin Jackson Grace Whitwell	Ralph Benjamin Jackson Grace Whitwell 💍 1890/1828	Bachelor Spinster	Bookseller Nil	27 24	Examiner Street Nelson Cambria Street Nelson	27 years 24 years	All Saints Church, Nelson	90/1411		10 June 1890	Revd. Fredk. Wm. Chatterton, Church of England
22	19 June 1890	James Wigzell Frances Elizabeth Marris	James Wigzell Frances Elizabeth Marris 💍 1890/3710	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Teacher	31 24	Kawai Street Nelson Nelson	31 years 24 years	Wesleyan Church, Nelson	90/1404		19 June 1890	Revd. Francis Whiteman Isitt, 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 1899. 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).