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 813

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 December 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
41	4 October 1899	Noble Coleman Louisa Smith	Noble Coleman Louisa Smith 💍 1899/4906 Robert Brain Louise Smith 💍 1899/5040	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher Domestic Servant	38 24	Hope, N.Z. Hope, N.Z.	30 years 3 months	Office of Registrar, Nelson	99/4667		4 October 1899	Hugh Calders, Registrar
42	17 October 1899	Arthur Bird Florence Marion McDonald	Arthur Bird Florence Marion McDonald 💍 1899/4936	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Domestic duties	21 21	Trafalgar St., Nelson Waimea St., Nelson	21 years 8 years	Residence of Arthur Bird, Hardy St., Nelson	99/4676		19 October 1899	Rev. J. H. Mackenzie, Presbyterian Minister
43	18 October 1899	Percy James Best Mary Louisa Schwass	Percy James Best Mary Louisa Schwass 💍 1899/4914	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic duties	22 20	Wakapuaka Hope, N.Z.	3 weeks 2 years	Office of Registrar, Nelson	99/4668	Christian Frederick Schwass, Father	18 October 1899	Hugh Calders, Registrar
44	26 October 1899	Edward Colton Sarah Jane Frater	Edward Colton Sarah Jane Frater 💍 1899/4931	Widower Widow	Bootmaker Domestic duties	55 47	Hardy St., Nelson Waimea St., Nelson	11 years 5 years	Church of Christ, Waimea Street, Nelson	99/4671		26 October 1899	Rev. Edward Lewis, Church of Christ
45	10 November 1899	William George Baker Sarah Miriam Packer	William George Baker Sarah Miriana Packer 💍 1899/4933	Bachelor Spinster	Chemist's Assistant Domestic duties	30 27	South St., Nelson South St., Nelson	3 days 3 months	Salvation Army Barracks, Bridge St., Nelson	99/4673		10 November 1899	Adjutant John Ward, Salvation Army
46	30 November 1899	William Jenkins Ann Rickley	William Jenkins Ann Rekley 💍 1899/4934 William Jenkins Mary Anne Macnab 💍 1900/1024	Widower Widow	Farmer Domestic duties	66 58	Bridge St., Nelson Bridge St., Nelson	3 days 3 days	Wesleyan Church, Hardy St., Nelson	99/4674		30 November 1899	Rev. J. B. Smalley, Wesleyan Minister
47	30 November 1899	James Henry Rankin Maude Josephine Kerr	James Henry Rankin Maude Josephine Kerr 💍 1899/4915	Bachelor Spinster	Merchant Domestic duties	33 23	Motueka Trafalgar St., Nelson	4 years 12 months	Trinity Presbyterian Church, Nile St., Nelson	99/4677		30 November 1899	Rev. J. H. Mackenzie, Presbyterian Minister
48	4 December 1899	Walter Ambrose Kitchener Alice May Gledhill	Walter Ambrose Mitchener Alice May Gledhill 💍 1899/4932	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Domestic duties	21 21	Waimea Road, Nelson Wellington St., Nelson	7 years 21 years	Residence of George Gledhill, Wellington St., Nelson	99/4672		4 December 1899	Rev. Edward Lewis, Church of Christ
49	12 December 1899	Harry Green Elfrida Hargreaves	Harry Green Elfrieda Hargreaves 💍 1899/4925	Bachelor Spinster	Carter Office Cleaner	26 29	Washington Road, Nelson Waimea St., Nelson	2 years 9 years	All Saints Church, Vanguard St., Nelson	99/4669		12 December 1899	Rev. F. W. Chatterton, Church of England Minister
50	13 December 1899	William Webb Lizzie Crease	William Webb Lizzie Crease 💍 1899/4935	Bachelor Spinster	Monument Manufacturer Domestic Servant	32 23	Gloucester St., Nelson Trafalgar Square, Nelson	8 weeks 3 days	St. John's Wesleyan Church, Hardy St., Nelson	99/4675		15 December 1899	Rev. J. B. Smalley, Wesleyan Minister
51	18 December 1899	Richard Twort Millie Elliott	Richard Twort Nellie Elliott 💍 1899/4917	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer Domestic duties	36 21	Waimea St., Nelson Brook St., Nelson	4 months 21 years	Residence of Sarah Elliott, Brook St., Nelson	99/4679		18 December 1899	Rev. J. H. Mackenzie, Presbyterian Minister
52	21 December 1899	Harold McCartney Louisa O'Brien	Harold McArtney Louisa O'Brien 💍 1899/4916	Bachelor Spinster	Plumber Domestic duties	23 24	Bridge St., Nelson Bridge St., Nelson	18 months 20 years	Residence of Susan Scott, Bridge St., Nelson	99/4678		21 December 1899	Rev. J. H. Mackenzie, Presbyterian Minister
53	28 December 1899	Archibald McLaren Margaret Lake	Archibald McLaren Margaret Lake 💍 1899/4930	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith Domestic duties	32 27	Wakefield Quay, Nelson Wakefield Quay, Nelson	4 days 27 years	All Saints Church, Vanguard St., Nelson	99/4670		28 December 1899	Rev. F. W. Chatterton, Church of England Minister
54	29 December 1899	Alexander Bartrop Charlotte Smith Neve	Alexander Barltrop Charlotte Smith Neve 💍 1900/664	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith Domestic duties	23 23	Nile St., Nelson Waimea Road, Nelson	4 days 23 years	Congregational Church, Hardy St., Nelson	00/717		29 December 1899	Rev. E. C. Isaac, Congregational Minister
55	29 December 1899	Frederick Joseph Playford Stone Ella Fanny Smith	Frederick Joseph Playford Stone Ella Fanny Smith 💍 1900/663	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer Domestic duties	22 22	Richmond Hope	8 months 22 years	Residence of William Pare Smith, Hope	00/716		29 December 1899	Rev. J. G. Carr, Wesleyan 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).