Intentions to Marry, 1896 July-December

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840410, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, June 11 2025

1896 is bound in two volumes, January-June and July-December.

Page 262

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 September 1896 Registrar Hugh Calders

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
32	7 July 1896	James Gribble Elizabeth Ann Chrestall	James Gribble Elizabeth Ann Christall 💍 1896/2145	Bachelor Spinster	Miner Dressmaker	29 24	Waimea Street Ngatitama Street	8 days 3 years	All Saints' Church, Vanguard Street, Nelson	96/2968	7 July 1896	F. W. Chatterton, Church of England
33	16 July 1896	Charles Percival John Smith Blanche Isobel Tartakover	Charles Percival St John Smith Blanche Isobel Tartakover 💍 1896/2138	Bachelor Spinster	Theatrical Manager Actress	35 21	Hardy Street Collingwood Street	3 days 3 days	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	96/2962	16 July 1896	H. Calders, Registrar
34	21 July 1896	Thomas Doidge Amy Rodley	Thomas Doidge Amy Rodley 💍 1896/2147	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Dressmaker	43 30	Brougham Street Waimea Street	30 years 26 years	Church of the Holy Evangelists, Bishopsdale	96/2970	21 July 1896	F. W. Chatterton, Church of England
35	22 July 1896	Harry Friend Annie Eliza Jones	Harry Friend Annie Eliza Jones 💍 1896/4768	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic Servant	25 28	Ngatitama Street Ngatitama Street	2 years 6 months	Residence of Samuel James Friend, Alton Street, Nelson	96/3360	22 July 1896	B. C. Isaac, Congregational
36	24 July 1896	Charles Byles Louisa Margareta La-Prentz	Charles Eyles Louisa Margrater La Frentz 💍 1896/2139	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	29 22	Richmond Richmond	2 years 4 years	Registrar's Office, Nelson	96/2963	24 July 1896	H. Calders, Registrar
37	30 July 1896	Richard William Booth Florence Mabel Giblin	Richard William North Florence Mabel Giblin 💍 1896/2146	Bachelor Spinster	Sheepfarmer	34 26	Wakefield Quay Waimea Street	7 days 6 years	All Saints' Church, Vanguard Street, Nelson	96/2969	30 July 1896	F. W. Chatterton, Church of England
38	12 August 1896	Herbert James Newport Eunice Emily Trower	Herbert James Newport Eunice Emily Trower 💍 1896/2140	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic Duties	26 26	Appleby Appleby	26 years 14 days	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	96/2964	12 August 1896	Hugh Calders, Registrar
39	17 August 1896	Joseph Lewis Annie Donald nee Phillips	Joseph Lewis Annie Donald 💍 1896/2144	Bachelor Widow	Farmer Domestic Duties	48 48	Hardy Street Hardy Street	4 days 4 days	Residence of Rev. J. H. Mackenzie, Nile Street, Nelson	96/2967	17 August 1896	J. H. Mackenzie, Presbyterian
40	18 August 1896	John King Ada Annie Scott	John Ring Ada Annie Scott 💍 1896/2141	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic Duties	28 24	Cambria Street Cambria Street	14 days 3 days	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	96/2965	18 August 1896	H. Calders, Registrar
41	24 August 1896	Arthur Thomas McConchie Agnes Allison Maxwell	Arthur Thomas McConchie Agnes Allison Maxwell 💍 1896/55	Bachelor Spinster	Currier Machinist	23 21	Collingwood Street Haven Road	23 years 7 years	Residence of J. H. Mackenzie, Haven Road, Nelson	96/2971	24 August 1896	J. H. Mackenzie, Presbyterian
42	26 August 1896	George Henry Johnson Eliza Jane Pike	George Henry Johnson Eliza Jane Pike 💍 1896/3699	Bachelor Spinster	Saddler Domestic Servant	29 21	Grove Street Grove Street	29 years 21 years	Residence of Paul Pike, Grove Street, Nelson	96/4611	26 August 1896	R. S. Gray, Baptist
43	15 September 1896	George Alexander Smith Mary Maud McGlashan	George Alexander Smith Mary Maud McGlashen 💍 1896/65	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	26 23	Brightwater Brightwater	3 days 3 weeks	Residence of Mr. Mark North, Brightwater	96/2990	15 September 1896	W. J. Baker, Church of England
44	19 September 1896	Percy McArtney Marion Hatton	Percy McArtney Marion Hatton 💍 1896/66	Bachelor Spinster	Draper Domestic Servant	22 23	Bridge Street Grove Street	22 years 5 years	The residence of Percy McArtney, Brook Street	96/2992	19 September 1896	J. H. Mackenzie, Presbyterian Minister
45	28 September 1896	John Rees Margaret Graham	John Rees Margaret Graham 💍 1896/2143	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd Domestic Duties	32 27	Alma Lane Collingwood Street	6 months 27 years	Office of the Registrar of Marriages	96/2966	28 September 1896	H. Calders, Registrar
46	29 September 1896	Samuel Lewis Hadden Louisa Handcock	Samuel Levis Hadden Louisa Handcock 💍 1896/3465	Bachelor Spinster	Bank Official	40 35	Nile Street East Nile Street East	14 days 15 months	All Saints' Church, Vanguard Street, Nelson	96/4561	29 September 1896	F. W. Chatterton, 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 1901. More registers are being added almost every week.

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).