Intentions to Marry, 1899 July-December

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840416, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole 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 294

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 September 1899 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	Consent	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
30	6 July 1899	Russell Martin Lightham Eliza Harriett Sadd	Russell Martin Lightbond Eliza Harriett Sadd 💍 1899/3484	Bachelor Spinster	Insurance Agent Domestic duties	23 28	Nile Street, Nelson Tory Street	3 days 10 days	All Saints Church	99/3428		6 July 1899	Rev. F. W. Chatterton, Church of England Minister
31	24 July 1899	Charles William McKee Catherine Mary Satherley	Charles William McGee Catherine Mary Satherley 💍 1899/3789	Bachelor Spinster	Horse Trainer Domestic duties	29 26	Gloucester Street Selwyn Place	3 days 3 days	St. Mary's Church	99/3936		24 July 1899	Rev. H. J. Mahoney, Roman Catholic Priest
32	29 July 1899	James William Branford Mary Ann Josephine Clamyer	James William Bramford Mary Ann Josephine O'Dwyer 💍 1899/3800	Bachelor Spinster	Bricklayer Domestic Servant	22 19	Bronte Street Selwyn Place	22 years 1 month	Catholic Station	99/3937		29 July 1899	Rev. H. J. Mahoney, Roman Catholic Priest
33	7 August 1899	Conrad Christopher Heinrich Benkeman Hilda Gertrude Cross	Conrad Christopher Heinrick Bensemann Hilda Gertrude Cross 💍 1899/3491	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic duties	27 20	Gloucester Street Washington Road	4 days 6 years	All Saints Church	99/3429		7 August 1899	Rev. F. W. Chatterton, Church of England Minister
34	15 August 1899	William Robbins Louisa Alice Smith	William Robbins Louisa Alice Smith 💍 1899/4918	Bachelor Spinster	Gentleman Domestic duties	41 35	Hope Hope	30 years 35 years	Wesleyan Church	99/4681		15 August 1899	Rev. Thos. G. Carr, Wesleyan Minister
35	21 August 1899	George Weldon Emma Josephine Frank	George Weldon Emma Josephine Frank 💍 1899/3806	Bachelor Spinster	Bank Clerk Home duties	31 26	Nile Street, Nelson Tasman Street	7 days 26 years	The residence of Peter Frank	99/3938		21 August 1899	Rev. H. J. Mahoney, Roman Catholic Priest
36	23 August 1899	George Allen Amelia Henrietta Allen	George Allen Amelia Henrietta Allen 💍 1899/3492	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Domestic duties	25 19	Russell Street Russell Street	3 months 19 years	The residence of Mrs. Mary Ann Allen	99/3430	George Allen, father	23 August 1899	Rev. F. W. Chatterton, Church of England Minister
37	24 August 1899	Andrew Emil Hackell Lydia Rose Garland	Andrew Emil Mackell Lydia Rose Garland 💍 1899/4320	Bachelor Spinster	Gold Miner Domestic Servant	29 24	Gloucester Street Van Dieman Street	3 days 2 years	Salvation Army Barracks	99/3838		24 August 1899	Adjutant John Ward, of the Salvation Army
38	11 September 1899	William Whitehorn Eveline Brickell	William Whitehorn Eveline Mickell 💍 1899/3493	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic duties	35 29	Milton Street Milton Street	4 days 15 days	All Saints Church	99/3431		11 September 1899	Rev. F. W. Chatterton, Church of England Minister
39	21 September 1899	James Anstice Minnie Lucy Kingett	James Anstice Minnie Lucy Kinzett 💍 1899/4234	Bachelor Spinster	Baker Domestic duties	20 23	Hardy Street Wakefield	19 years 3 days	The residence of Thomas Kingett	99/5301	John S. Anstice, father	21 September 1899	Rev. C. W. Jennings, Church of England Minister
40	23 September 1899	William Edward Wahlstrom Ethel Reeves	William Edward Whalstrom Ethel Reeves 💍 1899/3494	Bachelor Spinster	Seaman Domestic duties	21 21	Wakefield Quay, Nelson Washington Road	21 years 21 years	The residence of Mrs. Sarah Ann Reeves	99/3432		23 September 1899	Rev. F. W. Chatterton, Church of England 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).