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 1011

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 June 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
14	06 April 1892	William Peter Simpson Isabella Muslaw Anderson	William Peter Simpson Isabella Whitlaw Anderson 💍 1892/1296	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	28 28	Stoke Wakapuaka Road	4 days 4 days	Residence of Geo Ledger Esq. Wakapuaka North	92/1428		06 April 1892	Rev James Hutton McGregor
15	11 April 1892	Fred Tyree Grace Beveridge Scott	Fred Tyree Grace Beveridge Scott 💍 1892/1297	Bachelor Spinster	Photographer Nil	25 19	Mary Ann Street Nelson Harper Street Nelson	4 years 3 days	Presbyterian Church Nelson	92/1429	David Beveridge Scott, father	11 April 1892	Rev James Hutton McGregor
16	12 April 1892	William Thompson Elizabeth Coote	William Thompson Elizabeth Cooke 💍 1892/1291	Bachelor Spinster	Salesman Nil	24 24	Cambria Street Nelson Examiner Street Nelson	7 years 24 years	All Saints Church Nelson	92/1424		12 April 1892	Frederick Wm Chatterton
17	14 April 1892	Thomas Burkin Chisnall Adaline Sarah Smith	Thomas Buxton Chisnall Adaline Sarah Smith 💍 1892/1289	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	27 21	Hope Hope	3 years 21 years	Wesleyan Church Hope	92/1422		14 April 1892	Rev John Crump
18	27 April 1892	William McGregor Satina Rosetta Wells	William McConchie Sabina Rosella Wells 💍 1892/1298	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Servant	23 31	Collingwood Street Nelson Russell Street Nelson	23 years 10 years	Presbyterian Church Nelson	92/1430		27 April 1892	Rev James Hutton McGregor
19	02 May 1892	Cyril Norman Palmer Raine Alice Maude Everett	Cyril Norman Palmer Raine Alice Maude Everett 💍 1892/1290	Bachelor Spinster	Bank Clerk Nil	24 25	Tasman Street Nelson Wakefield Quay Nelson	18 years 25 years	Christ Church Nelson	92/1423		02 May 1892	Rev John Pratt Kempton
20	16 May 1892	Alexander Grant Johanna Levy	Alexander Grant Johanna Lery 💍 1892/1299	Bachelor Spinster	Express Driver Nil	23 24	Vanguard Street Nelson Halifax Street Nelson	23 years 24 years	Residence of Alex Grant, Halifax Street Nelson	92/1431		16 May 1892	Rev William Joseph Mahoney
21	20 May 1892	Edward George Neville Smith Ann Palmer	Edward George Neville Smith Ann Palmer 💍 1892/1295	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nil	23 22	Hope Hope	23 years 22 years	Residence of Williams Palmer Hope	92/1427		21 May 1892	Rev William George Baker
22	20 May 1892	Joseph Henry Fuller Mary Elizabeth Downes	Joseph Henry Fuller Mary Elizabeth Downes 💍 1892/1307	Bachelor Spinster	Confectioner Dressmaker	24 22	Alton Street Nelson Washington Valley Nelson	2 years 22 years	St Mary's Catholic Church Nelson	92/1432		21 May 1892	Rev William Joseph Mahoney
23	06 June 1892	John Henry Ocaife Beatrice Emma Pike	John Henry Scaife Beatrice Emma Pike 💍 1892/1292	Bachelor Spinster	Miner Servant	27 19	Perera Street Nelson Grove Street Nelson	5 days 14 days	Residence of Paul Pike Grove Street Nelson	92/1425	Paul Pike, father	06 June 1892	Rev Francis Whitmore Isitt
24	13 June 1892	George Louisson Escourt Frances Mary Anning	George Louisson Estcourt Frances Mary Anning 💍 1892/1293	Bachelor Spinster	Haymill Manager Music Teacher	35 22	Collingwood Street Nelson Bridge Street Nelson	35 years 8 years	Residence of Capt. J. Humphrey Bridge Street Nelson	92/1426		13 June 1892	Rev Francis Whitmore Isitt
25	21 June 1892	Alexander Mowat Gilbertson Caroline Liley	Alexander Mouat Gilbertson Caroline Liley 💍 1892/1318	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Servant	21 19	Wakefield Quay Nelson Waimea Road Nelson	4 days 18 years	Office of the Registrar of Marriages Nelson	92/1433	Frederick Liley, father	21 June 1892	Robert Kirton, Registrar

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).