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 757

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 December 1896

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
47	5 October 1896	Frederick James Liley Bertha Page	Frederick James Liley Bertha Page 💍 1896/2722	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic service	26 20	Waimea Road, Nelson Wakapuaka	22 years 20 years	Residence of William Page, Wakapuaka	96/3622	William Page, Father	5 October 1896	F.W. Chatterton, Church of England Minister
48	13 October 1896	Graham Thomas Vaughan Agnes Phoebe Smith	Graham Thomas Vaughan Agnes Phoebe Smith 💍 1896/2730	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Domestic servant	36 30	Hope Hope	14 days 30 years	Wesleyan Church, Hope	96/3609		13 October 1896	G.T. Marshall, Wesleyan Minister
49	4 November 1896	Robert Edwin Jackson Alice May Boyce	Robert Edwin Jackson Alice May Boyce 💍 1896/3466	Bachelor Spinster	Cabdriver Domestic	21 19	Vanguard Street, Nelson Vanguard Street, Nelson	20 years 2 years	Residence, Haven Road	96/4562	George Boyer, Father	4 November 1896	F.W. Chatterton, Church of England Minister
50	14 November 1896	Milford Hill Eleanor Cooper	Midford Hill Eleanor Cooper 💍 1896/2637	Bachelor Widow	Surveyor	56 40	St Vincent Street, Nelson Wakefield Quay	8 months 16 days	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	96/3600		14 November 1896	H. Calders, Registrar
51	25 November 1896	Frank Challies Phyllis Emily Hunter	Frank Challies Phyllis Emily Hunter 💍 1896/2728	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	25 22	Appleby Waimea West	25 years 22 years	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	96/3607		25 November 1896	H. Calders, Registrar
52	30 November 1896	William Blick Caroline Sarah Stewart	William Blick Caroline Sarah Stewart 💍 1896/2729	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Dressmaker	29 28	Brook Street, Nelson Brook Street, Nelson	4 days 28 years	Residence of Mrs. Wack Hockey, Brook Street, Nelson	96/3608		30 November 1896	R.S. Gray, Baptist Minister
53	5 December 1896	John William Neale Augusta Ann Kenning	John William Neale Augusta Ann Kenning 💍 1896/2734	Bachelor Spinster	Storeman	25 23	Waimea Road, Nelson Waimea Road, Nelson	25 years 23 years	Trinity Presbyterian Church, Nile Street, East Nelson	96/3613		5 December 1896	J.H. Mackenzie, Presbyterian Minister
54	8 December 1896	Conrad George Palmer Phillis Hill Nalder	Conrad George Palmer Phillis Hill 💍 1896/4547	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 25	Waimea West Waimea West	26 years 25 years	St. Paul's Church, Brightwater	96/4445		8 December 1896	G.W. Baker, Church of England Minister
55	9 December 1896	Charles Edward Holder Annie Penney	Charles Edward Nalder Annie Penney 💍 1896/2715	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Dressmaker	27 24	Hardy Street, Nelson Wellington Terrace, Nelson	3 days 16 years	Congregational Church, Hardy Street, Nelson	96/3615		9 December 1896	S.C. Isaacs, Congregational Minister
56	12 December 1896	William Bain Anderson Eleanor Florence Croft	William Bain Anderson Eleanor Florence Crofts 💍 1896/2717	Widower Spinster	Wool & Grain Merchant Music Teacher	59 32	Waimea Street, Nelson Invercargill	3 days 18 years	Christchurch, Trafalgar Square, Nelson	96/3617		12 December 1896	J.P. Kempthorne, Church of England Minister
57	23 December 1896	Samuel Kirkpatrick Edith Collings	Samuel Kirkpatrick Edith Collings 💍 1896/2718	Bachelor Spinster	Manufacturer Housekeeper	42 26	Bridge Street, Nelson Bridge Street, Nelson	15 years 5 years	Christchurch, Trafalgar Square, Nelson	96/3618		23 December 1896	J.P. Kempthorne, Church of England Minister
58	24 December 1896	John McConchie Margaret Ruth Westrupp	John McConchie Margaret Ruth Westrupp 💍 1896/2714	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	27 20	Bridge Street, Nelson Haven Road, Nelson	27 years 20 years	Residence of William McConchie, Collingwood Street, Nelson	96/3614	William Westrupp, Father	24 December 1896	J.H. Mackenzie, Presbyterian Minister
59	30 December 1896	John Thorn Charlotte Martha Packer	John Thorn Charlotte Martha Packer 💍 1896/2720	Widower Spinster	Sheepfarmer Housekeeper	46 28	Mrs. Barnes, Haven Road, Nelson Haminer Street, Nelson	3 days 28 years	Residence of John Packer, Haminer Street, Nelson	96/3620		30 December 1896	R.S. Gray, Baptist Minister
60	31 December 1896	George Percival De Castro Gertrude Margaret Hyde	George Percival de Castro Gertrude Margaret Hyde 💍 1896/2719	Bachelor Spinster	Chemist	28 24	Hardy Street, Nelson Hardy Street, Nelson	3 days 5 years	Residence of Joseph Hyde, Hardy Street, Nelson	96/3619		31 December 1896	J.P. Kempthorne, Church of England Minister
61	31 December 1896	John William Henman Agnes Frances Powell	John William Henman Agnes Frances Perk 💍 1896/2721	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	26 21	Waimea Road, Nelson Hastings Street	14 days 3 years	Residence of Rev. R.S. Gray, Tasman Street	96/3621		31 December 1896	R.S. Gray, Baptist Minister

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).