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 573

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 September 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
35	8 July 1891	George William Christian Gertrude Keed	George William Christian Lankow Gertrude Keen 💍 1891/1463	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Nil	26 24	Hope Richmond	9 years 14 years	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	91/2383		8 July 1891	Robert Kirton, Registrar
36	18 July 1891	George Bennett Beatrice Martha Ward	George Bennett Beatrice Martha Ward 💍 1891/1501	Bachelor Spinster	Carter Nil	33 20	Symonds Street Nelson Brook Street Nelson	6 years 10 years	Residence of John Ward, Brook Street Nelson	91/2370	John Ward, Father	18 July 1891	Revd. John Pratt Plumpton, Church of England
37	24 July 1891	George Henry Reeves Mabel Staines	George Henry Reeves Mabel Staines 💍 1891/1510	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Servant	23 20	Haven Road Nelson Halifax Street Nelson	1 year 2 months	Residence of Thomas Reeves, Nile Street West, Nelson	91/2378	Ann Woolf, Mother	24 July 1891	Revd. Fredk. Wm. Chatterton, Church of England
38	25 July 1891	George Thomas Murray Harriett Maria Hadfield	George Thomas Menary Harriett Maria Hadfield Goodwin 💍 1891/1511	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer Dressmaker	20 23	Bridge Street Nelson Bridge Street Nelson	26 years 23 years	Residence of Mr. Goodwin, Bridge Street Nelson	91/2379		25 July 1891	Revd. Thomas Bray, Baptist Church
39	29 July 1891	Edward Trimble Madigan Fanny Laving	Edward Kimble Madigan Fanny Laing 💍 1891/1503	Bachelor Spinster	Salesman Dressmaker	24 22	Grove Street Nelson Waimea Street Nelson	9 years 7 years	Residence of David Frank, Waimea Street Nelson	91/2372		29 July 1891	Revd. Wm. Joseph Mahoney, Roman Catholic Minister
40	30 July 1891	Thomas Francis Leonard Widney Mary Jane Allen	Thomas Francis Leonard Mary Jane Allen 💍 1891/1444	Widower Spinster	Upholsterer Nil	32 20	Russell Street Nelson Russell Street Nelson	7 years 20 years	Residence of Thomas Francis Russell Street	91/2380	Mary Ann Allen, Mother	30 July 1891	Revd. Thomas Bray, Baptist Church
41	1 August 1891	George Strathallan Hayes Margaret Ann Flower	George Strathallan Hayes Margaret Ann Flower 💍 1891/1464	Widower Spinster	Compositor Nil	31 19	Wakapuaka Wakapuaka	4 days 1 month	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	91/2384	Henry Flower, Father	1 August 1891	Robert Kirton, Registrar
42	4 August 1891	John Maxwell Hurley Bertha Lorimer	John Maxwell Sunley Bertha Lorimer 💍 1891/1508	Bachelor Spinster	Fruit Grower Nil	30 22	Waimea Road Nelson Hardy Street Nelson	20 years 7 years	Residence of George Lorimer, Hardy Street Nelson	91/2376		4 August 1891	Revd. W. Evans, Congregational Church
43	10 August 1891	Patrick Vaughan Lizzie Fergus	Patrick Vaughan Lizzie Fergus 💍 1891/1504	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher Nil	22 22	Nile Street Nelson Haven Road Nelson	5 years 12 years	Residence of John Vaughan, Haven Road Nelson	91/2373		10 August 1891	Revd. Wm. Joseph Mahoney, Roman Catholic Minister
44	19 August 1891	James Riley McCabe Annie Christine Miller	James OReilly McCabe Annie Christine Miller 💍 1891/1506	Bachelor Spinster	Surveyor Nil	29 25	Alton Street Nelson Alton Street Nelson	4 days 25 years	Residence of J. P. Miller, Alton Street Nelson	91/2374		19 August 1891	Revd. Wm. Joseph Mahoney, Roman Catholic Church
45	22 August 1891	Marcus Edward Frost Esther Jane Hohnwood	Marcus Edward Frost Esther Jane Holmwood 💍 1891/1455	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	29 21	Beachville Nelson Nelson	39 years 18 months	Residence of Mr. Frost, Trafalgar Street	91/2381		22 August 1891	Revd. Thomas Bray, Baptist Church
46	15 September 1891	George Daniel Moulden Mary Jane Baker Gill	George Daniel Moulder May Jane Baker Gill 💍 1891/1462	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Nil	27 25	Wakapuaka Nelson	1 year 25 years	Wesleyan Church	91/2382		15 September 1891	Revd. Francis Whitmore Isitt, Wesleyan Church
47	16 September 1891	Louis Herbert Palmer Alice Jane Green Bell	Louis Herbert Palmer Alziers Jane Grierson Bell 💍 1891/1500	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	25 21	Waimea West Richmond	25 years 21 years	St. Albans Church, Appleby	91/2369		16 September 1891	Revd. Charles Oliver Prules, Church of England
48	28 September 1891	Timothy McDonnell Bridget Monica Hyland	Timothy OConnell Bridget Monica Hyland 💍 1891/1507	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	26 25	Brook Street Nelson Waimea Street Nelson	1 year 4 days	St. Mary's Catholic Church, Nelson	91/2375		28 September 1891	Revd. William Joseph Mahoney, Roman Catholic Minister

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).