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 1402

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 March 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	Consent	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
1	19 January 1892	William David Eyles Alice Rebecca Cobb	William Daniel Eyles Alice Rebecca Cobb 💍 1892/490	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	26 21	Richmond Richmond	2 years 2 years	Office of the Registrar	92/511		19 January 1892	Robert Hutson, Registrar
2	27 January 1892	John Henry Christian Fanselow Minnie Martha Hunter	John Henry Christian Fanselow Minnie Martha Hunter 💍 1892/501	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	21 22	Hope Waimea West	21 years 22 years	St Michael's Church, Waimea West	92/514		27 January 1892	Rev. William George Barker, Church of England
3	30 January 1892	Thomas More Murray Mary Longney Fowler	Thomas Moore Murray Mary Longney Fowler 💍 1892/557	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer Nil	27 23	Washington Valley, Nelson Washington Valley, Nelson	27 years 2 weeks	Presbyterian Church	92/499		30 January 1892	Rev. James Paterson, Presbyterian Church
4	10 February 1892	Patrick Nelson Sophia Brooks	Patrick Nelson Sophia Brooks 💍 1892/497	Bachelor Spinster	Fireman Servant	31 23	Nile Street, Nelson Nile Street, Nelson	3 days 3 days	Roman Catholic Church	92/505		10 February 1892	Rev. William Joseph Mahoney, Roman Catholic Church
5	15 February 1892	James Bernard Rochard Rollason Amelia Jane Gillingham	James Bernard Richard Rollason Amelia June Gillingham 💍 1892/495	Widower Widow	Cook Seamstress	35 32	Hardy Street, Nelson Hardy Street, Nelson	5 weeks 7 years	All Saints Church	92/503		15 February 1892	Rev. Frederick George Chatham, Church of England
6	16 February 1892	Robert William Stiles Elizabeth Jane Bell	Robert William Stiles Jane Elizabeth Bell 💍 1892/488	Bachelor Spinster	Printer Servant	21 21	Harley Street, Nelson Harley Street, Nelson	1 year 21 years	Residence of Mr. N. Eure, Harley Street, Nelson	92/509		16 February 1892	Rev. Francis Whitmore Isitt, Wesleyan Church
7	22 February 1892	John Andrew McArtney Laura Beatrice Westley	John Andrew McCartney Laura Beatrice Westley 💍 1892/487	Bachelor Spinster	Ironmonger [illegible]	30 20	Bridge Street, Nelson Hardy Street, Nelson	20 years 1 month	At the residence of Mr. McArtney, Bridge Street, Nelson	92/500	William Westley, father	22 February 1892	Rev. William Light, Presbyterian Church
8	26 February 1892	Thomas Lewis Broad Eliza Mary Jennings	Thomas Muir Brown Maud Mary Jennings 💍 1892/493	Bachelor Spinster	Jeweller [illegible]	29 26	Hardy Street, Nelson Waimea Street, Nelson	9 years 5 years	At the residence of Mr. Broad, Hardy Street, Nelson	92/501		26 February 1892	Rev. Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church
9	2 March 1892	Herbert Charles Constable Sarah Emily Talbot	Herbert Charles Constable Sarah Emily Talbot 💍 1892/489	Bachelor Spinster	Soapmaker Servant	24 24	Waimea Street, Nelson Hardy Street, Nelson	6 years 4 years	Wesleyan Church	92/510		2 March 1892	Rev. W. S. Soliff, Wesleyan Church
10	8 March 1892	George Woodward Emmeline Wise	George Woodward Emma Wise 💍 1892/498	Bachelor Spinster	Barrister Servant	26 25	Trafalgar Street, Nelson Trafalgar Street, Nelson	8 years 8 years	Roman Catholic Church	92/506		8 March 1892	Rev. J. J. McManaway, Roman Catholic Church
11	9 March 1892	William James Stuart Eleanor Elizabeth Weaver	William James Stuart Eleanor Elizabeth Beaver 💍 1892/496	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer [illegible]	26 17	The Port, Nelson The Port, Nelson	4 days 4 days	All Saints Church	92/504	Mary Weaver, mother	9 March 1892	Rev. S. W. Chatterton, Church of England
12	16 March 1892	Ernest Spence Hodderway Edaline Jane Weatherall	Ernest Spence Holdaway Edaline Jane Beattie 💍 1892/499	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer [illegible]	21 20	Stoke, Nelson Stoke, Nelson	60 years 60 years	Wesleyan Church	92/507	John Weatherall, father	16 March 1892	Rev. J. S. Rishworth, Wesleyan Church
13	29 March 1892	Joseph David Robertson Jane Hockey	Joseph David Robertson Jane Hockey 💍 1892/494	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Dressmaker	26 26	Manuka Street, Nelson Brook Street, Nelson	5 days 3 years	Baptist Church	92/502		29 March 1892	Rev. Thomas Boag, Baptist Church

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).