Intentions to Marry, 1892

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840404, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, May 28 2025

Page 197

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 December 1892

No	Date of Notice	Names and Surnames of Parties	BDM Match	Condition	Calling or Profession	Age	Dwelling Place	Length of Residence	Marriage Place	Folio	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
49	8 December 1892	John Simpson Mary Ann Mills	John Simpson Mary Ann Mills 💍 1892/3268	Bachelor Spinster	Carter Nil	30 23	Washington Valley Nelson Brook Street Nelson	30 years 23 years	All Saints Church Nelson	92/3479	8 December 1892	Rev Fredk W Chatterton, Church of England Minister, Nelson
50	9 December 1892	Michael Ching Lucy Emma Lovell	Michael Ching Lucy Emma Lovell 💍 1892/3216	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic Servant	33 28	Stoke Nelson Manukau Street Nelson	33 years 28 years	House of Mr Richard Ching, Stoke Nelson	92/3470	9 December 1892	Rev John S Rishworth, Wesleyan Minister, Richmond
51	14 December 1892	William Edward Wilkes Edith Amelia Sutton	William Edward Wilkes Edith Amelia Sutton 💍 1892/3213	Bachelor Spinster	Builder	25 25	Richmond Nelson Richmond Nelson	15 years 25 years	Wesleyan Parsonage Nelson	92/3467	14 December 1892	Rev Francis Whitman Smith, Wesleyan Minister Nelson
52	22 December 1892	William Thomas Barry Agnes Lydia Harford	William Thomas Barry Agnes Lydia Harford 💍 1892/4005	Bachelor Spinster	Shearer Servant	24 21	Bridge Street Nelson Brook Street Nelson	24 years 21 years	St Marys Catholic Church Nelson	92/3476	22 December 1892	Rev Father Mahoney, Catholic Priest Nelson
53	23 December 1892	James Laird Sarah Catherine Ward	James Laird Sarah Catherine Ward 💍 1892/3210	Bachelor Spinster	Storeman	26 25	Bridge Street Nelson Brook Street Nelson	21 years 25 years	Residence of John Ward, Brook Street Nelson	92/3464	23 December 1892	Rev JR Kempthorne, Church of England Minister Nelson
54	24 December 1892	Stephen Vosper Jane Eatwell	Stephen Vosper Jane Eatwell 💍 1892/3269	Bachelor Spinster	Wood Turner	30 24	Vanguard Street Nelson Maitai Valley Nelson	13 years 17 years	All Saints Church Nelson	92/3480	24 December 1892	Rev FW Chatterton, Church of England Minister Nelson
55	28 December 1892	John Johnson Margaret Ross	John Johnson Margaret Ross 💍 1892/3215 John Munro Margaret Ross 💍 1892/1689	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	24 22	Hope Nelson (formerly Levin) Bridge Street Nelson	4 days 10 months	Office of the Registrar, Nelson	92/3469	28 December 1892	H Alders, Registrar
56	28 December 1892	William Smyth Ellen Jane Warner	William Smyth Ellen Jane Warner 💍 1892/3214	Widower Spinster	Mines Owner Milliner	47 33	Gympie Queensland Hardy Street Nelson	24 years 13 years	St Johns Wesleyan Church, Hardy Street Nelson	92/3468	28 December 1892	Rev William Lee, Wesleyan Minister Nelson
57	29 December 1892	Alexander Whitelaw Newton Lucy Emma Hastney	Alexander Whitelaw Martin Lucy Emma Wastney 💍 1893/1253	Bachelor Spinster	Soap Manufacturer	25 25	Takaka Takaka	4 days 25 years	Office of the Registrar, Nelson	93/4940	29 December 1892	H Alders, Registrar
58	31 December 1892	William Frederick Peller Priscilla Remnant	William Frederick Pellew Priscilla Remnant 💍 1893/1053	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Servant	25 24	St Vincent Street Nelson Mr Lightband's Nile Street Nelson	25 years 4 years	Residence of Mrs Martha Taylor, Waimea Road Nelson	93/482	31 December 1892	Rev F Whitmore Chatterton, Church of England Minister Nelson

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).