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 1331

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 March 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
1	7 January 1891	Charles Cook Fanny Jane Good	Charles Cook Fanny Jane Good 💍 1891/3539	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher Nil	21 21	Nile Street, Nelson Nile Street, Nelson	3 years 3 years	Christchurch	91/486		7 January 1891	Revd John Pratt Kempthorne, Church of England
2	12 January 1891	Robert Perry Agnes Wellicombe	Robert Perry Agnes Willicombe 💍 1891/3519	Bachelor Widow	Music Nil	52 36	Wakefield Quay, Nelson Hardy Street, Nelson	10 days 1 week	Presbyterian Church	91/490		12 January 1891	Revd Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
3	14 January 1891	Edward Burgess Martin Jane Noble	Edward Burgess Martin Jane Noble 💍 1891/3525	Bachelor Spinster	Grocer Servant	22 22	Tasman Street, Nelson Brougham Street, Nelson	6 years 1 year	Wesleyan Church	91/496		14 January 1891	Revd Francis Whitmore Isitt, Wesleyan Church
4	16 January 1891	Joseph Benson Ellen Nelson Millar	Joseph Benson Ellen Nelson Millar 💍 1891/3520	Bachelor Spinster	Bootmaker Dressmaker	23 24	Haven Road, Nelson Examiner Street, Nelson	3 months 7 months	Presbyterian Church	91/491		16 January 1891	Revd Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
5	20 January 1891	Walter Ellis Bowden Clara Batcheler	Walter Ellis Bowden Clara Batchelor 💍 1891/3516	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Nil	24 30	Trafalgar Street, Nelson Trafalgar Street, Nelson	8 years 30 years	Church of England	91/487		20 January 1891	Revd John Pratt Kempthorne, Church of England
6	30 January 1891	Richard Huffans Sophia Perrin	Richard Huffam Sophia Perrin 💍 1891/3527	Bachelor Spinster	Boat Builder Nil	37 21	Victoria Road, Nelson Tasman Street, Nelson	5 years 13 years	At the residence of Mr C. J. Perrin	91/497		30 January 1891	Revd Francis Whitmore Isitt, Wesleyan Church
7	31 January 1891	Jacob Edwin Stevens Emily Elizabeth Turner	Jacob Edwin Stevens Emily Elizabeth Turner 💍 1891/3521	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Nil	27 19	93 Lady Barkly, Nelson Haven Road, Nelson	7 years 19 years	Residence of John Turner	91/492	John Turner, Father	31 January 1891	Revd Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
8	12 February 1891	George Newton Clemett Jessie Hunfort Smith	George Newton Clements Jessie Harford Smith 💍 1891/3517	Bachelor Spinster	Baker Nil	22 21	Bridge Street, Nelson Bridge Street, Nelson	22 years 21 years	Christchurch	91/488		12 February 1891	Revd John Pratt Kempthorne, Church of England
9	19 February 1891	Ernest George Gordon Stapp Norah Elizabeth Prebble	Ernest George Gordon Stapp Norah Elizabeth Prebble 💍 1891/3518	Bachelor Spinster	Telegraphist School Teacher	25 21	The Port, Nelson Tory Street, Nelson	7 weeks 17 years	Church of England	91/489		19 February 1891	Revd John Pratt Kempthorne, Church of England
10	23 February 1891	William Palmer Mary Grooty	William Palmer Mary Grooby 💍 1891/3528	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Servant	25 24	Hope Alton Street, Nelson	2 years 3 years	Wesleyan Church	91/498		23 February 1891	Revd Francis Whitmore Isitt, Wesleyan Church
11	24 February 1891	Lloyd Heber Chase Grace Nightingale	Lloyd Heber Chase Grace Nightingale 💍 1891/3524	Bachelor Spinster	Civil Engineer Nil	31 24	Richmond Richmond	3 days 2 months	Holy Trinity Church, Richmond	91/495		24 February 1891	Revd Charles Oliver Mules MA, Church of England
12	4 March 1891	Henry Harold Batchelor Margaret Kerr	Henry Harold Batchelor Margaret Kerr 💍 1891/3522	Bachelor Spinster	Storekeeper Nil	28 27	Grove Street, Nelson Grove Street, Nelson	4 years 1 month	Presbyterian Church	91/493		4 March 1891	Revd Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
13	9 March 1891	Robert Alexander Hopkins Susannah Elizabeth Burch	Robert Alexander Hopkirk Susannah Elizabeth Mary Burch 💍 1891/3523	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Nil	24 23	Bridge Street, Nelson Waimea Street, Nelson	4 days 3 years	Congregational Church	91/494		9 March 1891	Revd Wm. Evans, Congregational Church
14	14 March 1891	Henry Truefitt Horsley Mary Ann Ross	Henry Truefitt Flower Mary Ann Ross 💍 1891/3532	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	28 26	Wanapuana Wanapuana	28 years 21 years	All Saints Church	91/502		14 March 1891	Revd Alfred Ralph Watson, Church of England
55	22 December 1890	William Thomas Andrew Ida Cobb	William Thomas Andrew Ida Cobb 💍 1891/3530	Widower Spinster	Carrier Servant	38 19	Trafalgar Street, Nelson Stoke	3 days 3 weeks	Residence of Richard Andrew	91/500	No person resident in the Colony authority	8 January 1891	Revd Charles Oliver Mules, 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).