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 196

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 December 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
49	12 October 1891	Samuel Hill Martha Galbraith	Samuel Hill Martha Galbraith 💍 1891/2385	Bachelor Spinster	Musician Nil	33 20	Trafalgar Street Nelson Hardy Street Nelson	3 weeks 3 weeks	Presbyterian Church	91/3296	William Galbraith, Father	12 October 1891	Rev. Bruce Todd BA
50	20 October 1891	Henry Davidson Eaton Jane Kitchener Maria Shrimpton	Henry Davidson Paton Jane Kitchener Mary Shrimpton 💍 1891/2394	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	28 21	Hope Harper Street Nelson	28 years 3 months	Baptist Church, Nelson	91/3299		20 October 1891	Rev. Thomas Bray, Baptist Church
51	22 October 1891	James Martin Kerr Elizabeth Annie Andrew	James Martin Kerr Elizabeth Annie Anderson 💍 1891/2774	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Teacher	30 31	Brook Street Nelson Wakapuaka	3 days 2 weeks	Church of England	91/3704		22 October 1891	Rev. John Pratt Hempthorn
52	22 October 1891	George Howard Maggie Martin	George Howard Maggie Martin 💍 1891/2359	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Dressmaker	25 22	Waimea West Waimea West	3 years 3 years	Roman Catholic Church	91/3288		22 October 1891	Rev. William Joseph Mahony
53	23 October 1891	James Richardson Brunn Katherine Raymond	James Richardson Brimer Catherine Raymond 💍 1891/2375	Bachelor Spinster	Miner Nil	23 21	Collingwood Street Nelson Washington Valley Nelson	9 months 21 years	Congregational Church	91/3374		23 October 1891	Rev. W. A. Evans
54	4 November 1891	Frederick Albert Atkinson Mary Agnes O'Shea	Frederick Albert Atkinson Mary Agnes O'Shea 💍 1891/2362	Bachelor Spinster	Baker Servant	29 22	Beachville Nelson Trafalgar Street Nelson	21 years 4 years	Roman Catholic Church	91/3290		4 November 1891	Rev. William Joseph Mahony
55	5 November 1891	John Henry Charles Schroder Charlotte Matilda Tanner	John Henry Charles Schroder Charlotte Matilda Farmer 💍 1891/2393	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	23 17	Hope Richmond	23 years 12 years	Wesleyan Church	91/3298	Jonas Tanner, Father	5 November 1891	Rev. John Crump
56	5 November 1891	George Albert Dove Digby Ada Elizabeth Lovell		Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Servant	23 20	Haven Road Nelson Grove Street Nelson	2 years 2 weeks	Wesleyan Church	91/3293	Benjamin Lovell, Father	5 November 1891	Rev. Francis Whitmore Scott
57	5 November 1891	Patrick Downes Virginia Roche Grange	Patrick Downes Virginia Rochi Grainge 💍 1891/2361	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Nil	28 23	Washington Valley Nelson Washington Valley Nelson	27 years 6 weeks	Roman Catholic Church	91/3289		5 November 1891	Rev. William Joseph Mahony
58	11 November 1891	John Salwell Mary Ann Jane Sincock	John Eatwell Mary-Ann Jessie Veres 💍 1891/2395	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Dressmaker	31 25	Maitai Valley Nelson Russell Street Nelson	12 years 20 years	Baptist Church	91/3300		11 November 1891	Rev. Thomas Bray
59	11 November 1891	Charles Michael Hoult Clara Pratt	Charles Michael Hoult Maria Pratt 💍 1891/2363	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Nil	28 28	Trafalgar Street Nelson Hardy Street Nelson	3 days 28 years	Roman Catholic Church	91/3291		11 November 1891	Rev. William Joseph Mahony
60	12 November 1891	William Woodward Emma Hammond Beaumont	William Wordward Emma Hammond 💍 1891/2364	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	25 23	Hardy Street Nelson Hardy Street Nelson	25 years 6 months	Roman Catholic Church	91/3292		12 November 1891	Rev. William Joseph Mahony
61	16 November 1891	Howard Percival Cox Helen Hammond Beaumont	Howard Percival Cowx Helen Hammond Branfill 💍 1891/2940	Bachelor Spinster	Nil Nil	25 28	Trafalgar Street Nelson Brook Street Nelson	3 days 3 years	Church of England	91/3754		16 November 1891	Rev. Fred W. Challerton
62	23 November 1891	Russell Hubert Tanner Leila Sheppard	Russell Hubert Turner Leila Sheppard 💍 1891/2392	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	38 25	Dovedale Dovedale	3 days 18 years	Church of England	91/3297		23 November 1891	Rev. William Ling Baker
63	7 December 1891	John Corder Sarah Jane Wells	John Corder Sarah Jane Wells 💍 1891/2397	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith Nil	22 24	Waimai Street Nelson Hardy Street Nelson	3 years 24 years	Church of England	91/3302		7 December 1891	Rev. Fred W. Challerton

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).