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 015

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

11 February 1898

James Edward Wheeler
Daisy Ann Spragg

James Edward Wheeler
Daisy Annie Spragg
💍 1898/53

Bachelor
Spinster

Grain Merchant

23
20

Auckland
Auckland

23 years
20 years

Congregational Church, Newton

98/62

Elijah Spragg, father

11 February 1898

Rev. F. Warner, Congregational Ind.

No	71
Date of Notice	11 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Edward Wheeler	Daisy Ann Spragg
BDM Match (94%)	James Edward Wheeler	Daisy Annie Spragg
	💍 1898/53
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grain Merchant
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	23 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Newton
Folio	98/62
Consent	Elijah Spragg, father
Date of Certificate	11 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Warner, Congregational Ind.

12 February 1898

William Thomas Craigie
Martha Brown

William Thomas Craigie
Martha Brown
💍 1898/2304

William Pierce Smith
Marion Brown
💍 1898/2582

William Arthur Dee
Sarah Brown
💍 1898/3928

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
22

Auckland
Auckland

20 years
10 years

Registrar's Office, Auckland

98/15

12 February 1898

E. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	72
Date of Notice	12 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Thomas Craigie	Martha Brown
	💍 1898/2304
BDM Match (60%)	William Pierce Smith	Marion Brown
	💍 1898/2582
BDM Match (60%)	William Arthur Dee	Sarah Brown
	💍 1898/3928
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	20 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	98/15
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1898
Officiating Minister	E. H. Lyons, Registrar

12 February 1898

Henry Mercer Matthews
Jane Carrigan

Henry Mercer Matthews
Jane Carrigan
💍 1898/96

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller

26
27

Auckland
Auckland

26 years
27 years

Sacred Heart Church, Ponsonby

98/83

12 February 1898

Rev. G. H. Gillan, Roman Catholic

No	73
Date of Notice	12 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Mercer Matthews	Jane Carrigan
	💍 1898/96
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	26 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Sacred Heart Church, Ponsonby
Folio	98/83
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. H. Gillan, Roman Catholic

14 February 1898

Robert Mann Williamson Leathart
Alice Elizabeth Goodall

Robert Mann Williamson Leathart
Alice Elizabeth Goodall
💍 1898/137

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman

23
24

Onehunga
Onehunga

15 years
15 years

House of Father of Bride, Onehunga

98/153

14 February 1898

Rev. B. Rhodes, Cong. Independent

No	74
Date of Notice	14 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Mann Williamson Leathart	Alice Elizabeth Goodall
	💍 1898/137
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Onehunga	Onehunga
Length of Residence	15 years	15 years
Marriage Place	House of Father of Bride, Onehunga
Folio	98/153
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Rhodes, Cong. Independent

14 February 1898

William Richardson
Lillias Fraser

William Richardson
Lilia Fraser
💍 1898/52

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

30
28

Auckland
Auckland

6 weeks
3 days

Wesleyan Parsonage, Pitt Street, Auckland

98/61

14 February 1898

Rev. W. J. Williams, Wesleyan

No	75
Date of Notice	14 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Richardson	Lillias Fraser
BDM Match (93%)	William Richardson	Lilia Fraser
	💍 1898/52
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	6 weeks	3 days
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Parsonage, Pitt Street, Auckland
Folio	98/61
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Williams, Wesleyan

14 February 1898

William Hamilton Alexander
Ethel Patience Alexander

William Hamilton
Ethel Patience Alexander
💍 1898/554

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30
19

Mercury Bay
Auckland

30 years
15 years

House of Mr. John Lock, Arch Hill

98/611

Sophia Barnes, Mother

14 February 1898

Rev. R. Scott West, Presbyterian

No	76
Date of Notice	14 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hamilton Alexander	Ethel Patience Alexander
BDM Match (81%)	William Hamilton	Ethel Patience Alexander
	💍 1898/554
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30	19
Dwelling Place	Mercury Bay	Auckland
Length of Residence	30 years	15 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. John Lock, Arch Hill
Folio	98/611
Consent	Sophia Barnes, Mother
Date of Certificate	14 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Scott West, Presbyterian

14 February 1898

Albert Charles Hill
Ellen Kay

Albert Charles Hill
Ellen Kay
💍 1898/41

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

25
22

Auckland
Auckland

25 years
22 years

Church of England, Panmure

98/49

14 February 1898

Rev. F. Gould, Church of England

No	77
Date of Notice	14 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Charles Hill	Ellen Kay
	💍 1898/41
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	25 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Panmure
Folio	98/49
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Gould, Church of England

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 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).