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 988

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 September 1890

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
25	1 July 1890	Neil Dickson Hood Anne Sarah Walsh	Neil Dickson Hood Anne Sarah Walsh 💍 1890/2434	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer Nil	31 23	Franklyn Street, Nelson Franklyn Street, Nelson	1 Week 1 Week	Presbyterian Church	90/2347		1 July 1890	Revd Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
26	14 July 1890	David Pattie Edith Lane	David Pattie Edith Lane 💍 1890/2435	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	29 25	Trafalgar Street, Nelson Manuka Street, Nelson	3 days 2 months	Residence of Mr. John Robertson Jnr., Trafalgar Street, Nelson	90/2348		14 July 1890	Revd Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
27	1 August 1890	Ernest Alfred Sherwood Isabella Scott	Ernest Alfred Sherwood Isabella Scott 💍 1890/2530	Bachelor Spinster	Storeman Servant	24 24	Manuka Street, Nelson Manuka Street, Nelson	24 years 5 years	Residence of Mr. A. Chalmers, Manuka Street, Nelson	90/2353		1 August 1890	Revd Francis Whitmore Isitt, Wesleyan Church
28	18 August 1890	Richard Arnold Jane Louisa Bringle Reeves	Richard Arnold Jane Louisa Bringle Reeves 💍 1890/3386	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	28 23	Motupiko Collingwood Street, Nelson	2 months 2 Weeks	Residence of Mr. W. Reeves, Nelson	90/2356		18 August 1890	Revd William Joseph Mahoney, Roman Catholic Church
29	20 August 1890	James Herbert Wells Rose Martin	James Herbert Wells Rose Martin 💍 1890/2531	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Servant	23 24	Russell Street, Nelson Tasman Street, Nelson	23 years 6 years	Wesleyan Parsonage	90/2354		20 August 1890	Revd Francis Whitmore Isitt, Wesleyan Church
30	25 August 1890	Charles Edward Roper Catherine Burns	Charles Edward Roper Catherine Burns 💍 1890/2519	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	22 23	Collingwood Street, Nelson Trafalgar Street, Nelson	20 years 23 years	Presbyterian Church	90/2349		25 August 1890	Revd Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
31	27 August 1890	William Score Saunders Elizabeth Allport	William Score Sanders Elizabeth Allpart 💍 1890/2532 William Henry Boyens Elizabeth Dermott 💍 1891/3116 William James Hoverd Elizabeth Clark 💍 1890/3404	Widower Spinster	Bank Manager Nil	50 47	Vincent Street, Nelson Collingwood Street, Nelson	30 years 7 months	Residence of Reuben Bird, Collingwood Street, Nelson	90/2355		27 August 1890	Revd Francis Whitmore Isitt, Wesleyan Church
32	6 September 1890	David Giblin Mary Phoebe Taylor	David Giblin Mary Phoebe Taylor 💍 1890/2529	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	27 20	Stoke Stoke	27 years 20 years	Holy Trinity Church	90/2352	James Taylor, father	6 September 1890	Revd William Henry Batler, Church of England
33	12 September 1890	Ernest William Neumann Caroline Dorothea Mary Kruse	Ernest William Neumann Caroline Dorothea Mary Kruse 💍 1890/2533	Bachelor Spinster	Sawyer Nil	37 23	Richmond Hope	1 Week 1 Month	Office of Registrar	90/2357		17 September 1890	Robert Kitford, Registrar
34	15 September 1890	Edgar Challies Helen Drummond	Edgar Challis Helen Drummond 💍 1890/2528	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	35 32	Waimea West Waimea West	35 years 1 year	Presbyterian Church	90/2351		15 September 1890	Revd Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
35	15 September 1890	Frederic William Scott Susannah McCormack	Frederic William Cox Susannah McCormack 💍 1890/2527	Bachelor Spinster	Married Nil	26 20	The Port, Nelson Hardy Street, Nelson	3 months 20 years	Residence of Robert McCormack	90/2350	Robert McCormack, father	15 September 1890	Revd Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
36	24 September 1890	John Lammas Wilhelmina Sophia Elizabeth Busch	John Lammas Wilhelmina Sophia Elizabeth Busch 💍 1890/2534	Widower Widow	Blacksmith Nil	51 37	Hope Hope	1 month 12 years	Office of the Registrar	90/2358		24 September 1890	Robert Kitford, Registrar
37	29 September 1890	Robert White Sarah Challies	Robert White Sarah Challies 💍 1890/3138	Bachelor Spinster	Tobacconist Nil	26 27	Bridge Street, Nelson Appleby	12 years 27 years	Residence of Mrs. Sarah Challies	90/3314		29 September 1890	Revd Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
38	29 September 1890	William Ashton Roughton Hannah Eliza Fraser	William Ashton Roughton Hannah Eliza Fraser 💍 1890/3127	Bachelor Spinster	Grocer Nil	28 21	Hardy Street, Nelson Harley Street, Nelson	3 years 9 years	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	90/3327		29 September 1890	Robert Kitford, Registrar
39	29 September 1890	Arthur Harold Glasgow Annie Gertrude Pitt	Arthur Harold Glasgow Annie Gertrude Pitt 💍 1890/3123	Bachelor Spinster	Bank Clerk Nil	21 24	Hardy Street, Nelson The Port, Nelson	11 years 11 years	Christchurch	90/3322		29 September 1890	Revd John Pratt Kempthorne, 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).