Intentions to Marry, 1899 January-June

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840415, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington (now located in the National Library reading room), September 5 2025

1899 is bound in two volumes, January-June and July-December.

Page 805

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 June 1899 Registrar Robert Kaye

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
13	4 April 1899	Ernest Herbert Donkin Beryl Moore	Ernest Herbert Donkin Beryl Moore 💍 1899/2697	Bachelor Spinster	Stationer Schoolteacher	26 24	Cambria Street, Nelson Tory Street, Nelson	4 days 3 weeks	The residence of Henry Moore, Tory Street, Nelson	99/2678		4 April 1899	J. P. Kempthorne, Church of England Minister
14	4 April 1899	Peter Clissold Charlotte Rachel Lawton	Peter Clissold Charlotte Rachel Lawton 💍 1899/2075	Widower Widow	Farmer Domestic Duties	71 50	Waimea Street, Nelson Waimea Street, Nelson	1 week 1 week	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	99/2022		4 April 1899	Robt. Kaye, Deputy Registrar
15	8 April 1899	Benjamin Lewis Eleanor Elizabeth Spinnell	Benjamin Lewis Eleanor Elizabeth Trimwell 💍 1899/2093	Bachelor Spinster	Warehouseman Domestic Duties	38 26	Hardy Street, Nelson Halifax Street, Nelson	3 days 3 days	Church of the Holy Evangelist, Bishopdale, Nelson	99/2025		8 April 1899	F. W. Chatterton, Church of England Minister
16	10 April 1899	Henry John Fagan Annie Matthews	Henry John Fagan Annie Matthews 💍 1899/2086	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic Duties	22 21	Bridge Street, Nelson Bridge Street, Nelson	3 days 3 days	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	99/2023		10 April 1899	Robt. Kaye, Deputy Registrar
17	12 April 1899	William Watson Edith Blincoe	William Watson Edith Blincoe 💍 1899/2096	Widower Spinster	Goldminer Domestic Duties	34 22	Bridge Street, Nelson Grove Street, Nelson	3 days 1 week	The residence of George Edgcourt, Grove Street, Nelson	99/2028		12 April 1899	F. W. Chatterton, Church of England Minister
18	17 April 1899	Arthur Collin Russ Elizabeth Constance Russ	Arthur Collin Russ Elizabeth Constance Russ 💍 1899/2105	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic Duties	19 21	Waimea West, Nelson Waimea West, Nelson	19 years 21 years	The residence of William Russ, Waimea West	99/2060	Thomas Russ, father	17 April 1899	Edward Lewis, Church of Christ Minister
19	18 April 1899	Charles Donald Ferdall Frances Harriet Bonnington	Charles Donald Fendall Frances Harriet Bonnington 💍 1899/2076	Widower Spinster	Station Overseer Domestic Duties	42 31	Manuka Street, Nelson Grove Street, Nelson	3 days 30 years	Presbyterian Church, Nile Street, Nelson	99/2031		18 April 1899	J. H. MacKenzie, Presbyterian Minister
20	19 April 1899	Philip Oswald Andrew Emily Lizzie Maud Wood	Philip Oswald Andrew Emily Lizzie Maud Wood 💍 1899/2708	Bachelor Spinster	Medical Practitioner Domestic Duties	27 31	Hardy Street, Nelson Wakapuaka Road, Nelson	3 weeks 6 months	Christchurch Cathedral Square, Nelson	99/2674		19 April 1899	J. P. Kempthorne, Church of England Minister
21	22 April 1899	Alfred Joseph Thomas Annie Jean McDonald	Alfred Joseph Thomas Annie Janet McDonald 💍 1899/2078	Bachelor Spinster	Cab Proprietor Domestic Duties	28 26	Vanguard Street, Nelson Waimea Street, Nelson	25 years 6 years	Presbyterian Church, Nile Street, East Nelson	99/2033		22 April 1899	J. H. MacKenzie, Presbyterian Minister
22	22 April 1899	Lewis Adams Mary Jane Palmer	Lewis Adams Mary Jane Palmer 💍 1899/2077	Bachelor Spinster	Maltster Domestic Duties	26 21	Collingwood Street, Nelson Collingwood Street, Nelson	3 weeks 1 month	The Presbyterian Manse, Nile Street, East Nelson	99/2032		22 April 1899	J. H. MacKenzie, Presbyterian Minister
23	15 May 1899	Christian John Charles Deneke Evelyn Cathleen Mary Weller	Christian John Charles Dencker Evelyn Cathleen Mary Weller 💍 1899/2098	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic Duties	40 29	Whangamoa Wakapuaka	9 years 20 years	St. Peter's on the Strand Church of England, Wakapuaka	99/2030		15 May 1899	Wm. Lambert, Church of England Minister
24	22 May 1899	Robert Kidd Eugenie Emily Isabel Leech	Robert Kidd Eugenie Emie Isabel Leech 💍 1899/5426	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic Duties	30 22	Hope Richmond	20 years 5 years	Holy Trinity Church, Richmond	99/4680		22 May 1899	Wm. Geo. Baker, Church of England Minister
25	29 May 1899	Samuel Norton Rose King	Samuel Horton Rose King 💍 1899/2079	Widower Widow	Laborer Domestic Duties	50 52	Washington Street, Nelson Washington Street, Nelson	4 weeks 3 days	Presbyterian Manse, Nile Street, Nelson	99/2034		29 May 1899	J. H. MacKenzie, Presbyterian Minister
26	3 June 1899	Sydney William Tebay Elizabeth Power Percival	Sydney William Tebay Elizabeth Bower Percival 💍 1899/2812	Bachelor Widow	Blacksmith Domestic Duties	20 33	Vanguard Street, Nelson Vanguard Street, Nelson	18 months 9 years	The residence of Elizabeth Power Percival, Vanguard Street, Nelson	99/2672	William Tebay, father	3 June 1899	S. C. Isaacs, Congregational Minister
27	5 June 1899	John Marwin Wedderburn Staines Charlotte Maud Bruce	John Marvin Wedderburn Staines Charlotte Maud Bruce 💍 1899/2080	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Dressmaker	23 21	New Street, Nelson Russell Street, Nelson	7 days 21 years	In the residence of Alfred Bruce, Russell Street, Nelson	99/2035		5 June 1899	J. H. MacKenzie, Presbyterian 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 1899. 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).