Intentions to Marry, 1891

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840403, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole and Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, May 28 2025

A few pages are missing due to focus issues.

The Archives NZ CSV index has recorded pages 765, 767 and 769 incorrectly as 795, 797 and 796.

Page 1013

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 June 1891

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
18	6 April 1891	Herbert Vercoe Laura Ellen King	Herbert Vercoe Laura Ellen King 💍 1891/627	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	22 29	Waimea Street Nelson Hardy Street Nelson	22 years 2 years	Office of Registrar	91/1447		8 April 1891	Robert Watson, Registrar
19	6 April 1891	Philip Chisnall Ellen Martha Best	Philip Ching Ellen Martha Best 💍 1891/623	Bachelor Spinster	Farm Labourer Nil	22 21	Moke Bishopdale	22 years 21 years	Office of Registrar	91/1443		8 April 1891	Revd. John Crump, Wesleyan Church
20	21 April 1891	William Murcott Alice Stratford	William Murcott Alice Stratford 💍 1891/628	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Nil	21 20	Annes Valley Annes Valley	3 days 20 years	Office of Registrar	91/1448	Frederick Stratford, father	21 April 1891	Robert Watson, Registrar
21	21 April 1891	Albert Edmund Pahl Alice Lillian Coles	Albert Edmund Patrick Alice Lillian Coles 💍 1891/629	Bachelor Spinster	Teacher Nil	24 17	Body Street Nelson Waimea Street Nelson	3 days 17 years	Holy Trinity Church	91/1449	Elizabeth Coles, mother	21 April 1891	Revd. William George Batten, Church of England
22	21 April 1891	Harold Louis Ellis Grace Eliza Croucher	Harold Lewis Ellis Grace Eliza Croucher 💍 1891/692	Bachelor Spinster	Nil Nil	25 25	Richmond Richmond	3 weeks 3 weeks	Residence of James Croucher, Richmond	91/1436		21 April 1891	Revd. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
23	27 April 1891	Alexander McFarlane Isabella Brown	Alexander McFarlane Isabella Brown 💍 1891/694	Widower Widow	Farmer Dressmaker	63 50	Bridge Street Nelson Haven Road Nelson	5 days 5 days	Presbyterian Church	91/1438		27 April 1891	Revd. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
24	27 April 1891	Henry William Bethwaite Christina Catherine Nuttall	Henry William Bethwaite Christina Catherine Nuttall 💍 1891/691	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Nil	26 24	Vanguard Street Nelson Tasman Street Nelson	26 years 24 years	Wesleyan Church, Nelson	91/1435		27 April 1891	Revd. Francis Whitmore Isitt, Wesleyan Church
25	4 May 1891	Robert Regards Gelson Elizabeth Grace Gelson	Robert Alexander Gibson Elizabeth Mace Gibson 💍 1891/625 Robert George Petre Elizabeth Grace Ferguson 💍 1892/562	Bachelor Spinster	Baker Servant	40 20	Wakefield Quay Nelson Wakefield Quay Nelson	5 days 6 years	All Saints Church, Nelson	91/1445	Emily Isabel Osborne, mother	4 May 1891	Revd. Francis Whitmore Isitt, Wesleyan Church
26	5 May 1891	John William Chisnall Emily Eliza Lusby	John William Ching Emily Eliza Lusty 💍 1891/696	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	23 25	Richmond Richmond	3 days 25 years	Residence of Benjamin Lusby, Richmond	91/1440		5 May 1891	Revd. Thomas Bray, Baptist Church
27	7 May 1891	John Jacques Lucy Williams	John Jacques Lucy Williams 💍 1891/626	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Nil	32 26	Brook Street Nelson Brook Street Nelson	10 days 26 years	Residence of Thomas Williams, Brook Street Nelson	91/1446		7 May 1891	Revd. Fredk. W. Chatterton, Church of England
28	11 May 1891	Walter Read Robina Mary Mackes	Walter Read Robina Mary Raikes 💍 1891/693	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep Farmer Nil	30 25	Nelson Kawai Street Nelson	1 week 10 years	Christchurch	91/1437		11 May 1891	Revd. John Pratt Kempthorne, Church of England
29	20 May 1891	Charles Caldwell Wells Minnie Lammas	Charles Caleb Eden Wells Minnie Lammas 💍 1891/606	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	28 20	Washbourn Bay, French Pass Richmond	13 years 20 years	Residence of Maria Williams, Richmond	91/1441	Maria Lammas, mother	20 May 1891	Revd. Thomas Bray, Baptist Church
30	29 May 1891	Jonah Okrumpton Fanny Lodder	Jonah Shrimpton Fanny Lodder 💍 1891/617	Widower Spinster	Farmer Farmer	50 35	Nile Street East Nelson Waimea Street Nelson	5 weeks 4 days	The Baptist Church, Nelson	91/1442		29 May 1891	Revd. Thomas Bray, Baptist Church
31	5 June 1891	Edmund Cresswell Eleanor Adelaide Flett	Edmund Chisnall Eleanor Adelaide Flett 💍 1891/695	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	26 22	Stoke Trafalgar Street Nelson	26 years 22 years	Residence of William Flett, Trafalgar Street Nelson	91/1439		5 June 1891	Revd. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
32	9 June 1891	Frank Cresswell Maria Best	Frank Cresswell Maria Best 💍 1891/624	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	23 23	Stoke Stoke	4 days 23 years	Residence of George Best, Stoke	91/1444		9 June 1891	Revd. John Crump, 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).