Intentions to Marry, 1898 January-June

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840413, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, June 27 2025

1898 is bound in two volumes, January-June and July-December.

Page 010

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 1898 Registrar E. H. Lyons

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

22 January 1898

James George Millar
Jane Sophia Lee

James George Millar
Jane Sophia Lee
💍 1898/2609

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

22
21

Auckland
Auckland

4 years
21 years

Salvation Army Barracks, Albert Street, Auckland

98/137

22 January 1898

Staff-Captain John Cain, Salvation Army

No	43
Date of Notice	22 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James George Millar	Jane Sophia Lee
	💍 1898/2609
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Salvation Army Barracks, Albert Street, Auckland
Folio	98/137
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Staff-Captain John Cain, Salvation Army

22 January 1898

James Gordon Mackenzie
Catherine Ann McLean

James Gordon Mackenzie
Catherine Anne McLean
💍 1898/238

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

30
25

Auckland
Waipu

15 years
25 years

Presbyterian Church, Waipu

98/262

24 January 1898

Rev. G. Jones, Presbyterian

No	44
Date of Notice	22 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Gordon Mackenzie	Catherine Ann McLean
BDM Match (98%)	James Gordon Mackenzie	Catherine Anne McLean
	💍 1898/238
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Waipu
Length of Residence	15 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Waipu
Folio	98/262
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Jones, Presbyterian

24 January 1898

Albert Bowden Williamson
Ethel Vera Dinnison

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

21
18

Auckland
Auckland

21 years
18 years

Registrar's Office, Auckland

98/180

Elizabeth Page, Mother

24 January 1898

E. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	45
Date of Notice	24 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Bowden Williamson	Ethel Vera Dinnison
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	21	18
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	21 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	98/180
Consent	Elizabeth Page, Mother
Date of Certificate	24 January 1898
Officiating Minister	E. H. Lyons, Registrar

24 January 1898

Arthur Joseph Godfrey
Elsie Hill

Arthur Joseph Godfrey
Elsie Hill
💍 1898/75

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer

25
21

Auckland
Auckland

8 months
8 months

St. Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland

98/76

24 January 1898

Rev. F. Buckley, Roman Catholic

No	46
Date of Notice	24 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Joseph Godfrey	Elsie Hill
	💍 1898/75
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	8 months	8 months
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland
Folio	98/76
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Buckley, Roman Catholic

26 January 1898

John McInnes
Anna Garlick

John McInnes
Ann Garlick
💍 1898/155

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

32
29

Whangarei
Auckland

32 years
15 years

St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral, Parnell

98/147

26 January 1898

Rev. G. MacMurray, Church of England

No	47
Date of Notice	26 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McInnes	Anna Garlick
BDM Match (96%)	John McInnes	Ann Garlick
	💍 1898/155
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Whangarei	Auckland
Length of Residence	32 years	15 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral, Parnell
Folio	98/147
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. MacMurray, Church of England

26 January 1898

James Jamieson
Harriett Alma Ritchie

James Jamieson
Harriett Alma Ritchie
💍 1898/2322

Widower
Widow

Tobacconist

46
43

Auckland
Auckland

46 years
23 years

Registrar's Office, Auckland

98/79

26 January 1898

E. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	48
Date of Notice	26 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Jamieson	Harriett Alma Ritchie
	💍 1898/2322
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Tobacconist
Age	46	43
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	46 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	98/79
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1898
Officiating Minister	E. H. Lyons, Registrar

27 January 1898

Edward Henry Alford
Florence Dickie

Edward Henry Alford
Florence Jane Dickie
💍 1898/54

Bachelor
Spinster

Science Demonstrator

30
20

Auckland
Devonport

2 years
2 1/2 years

House of Father of Bride, Devonport

98/763

27 January 1898

Rev. R. Ferguson, Presbyterian

No	49
Date of Notice	27 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Henry Alford	Florence Dickie
BDM Match (88%)	Edward Henry Alford	Florence Jane Dickie
	💍 1898/54
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Science Demonstrator
Age	30	20
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Devonport
Length of Residence	2 years	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	House of Father of Bride, Devonport
Folio	98/763
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson, Presbyterian

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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 1903. 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).