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 043

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 31 March 1898 Registrar William Alfred Barton

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

979

3 January 1898

Charles Barclay Innes
Mary Florence Scott

Charles Barclay Innes
Mary Florence Scott
💍 1898/319

Bachelor
Spinster

Surgeon
None

37 years
25 years

Wanganui
Ormond

8 years
24 years

The Church of England Wanganui, Cathedral Napier

98/332

3 January 1898

De Berdt Hovell, Church of England

No	979
Date of Notice	3 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Barclay Innes	Mary Florence Scott
	💍 1898/319
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surgeon	None
Age	37 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Ormond
Length of Residence	8 years	24 years
Marriage Place	The Church of England Wanganui, Cathedral Napier
Folio	98/332
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1898
Officiating Minister	De Berdt Hovell, Church of England

980

20 January 1898

Henry Colin Dunlop
Gwendoline Sergeant

Henry Colin Dunlop
Gwendoline Sargeant
💍 1898/162

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
None

23 years
19 years

Gisborne
Gisborne

23 years
11 months

Office of Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

98/179

20 January 1898

W. A. Barlow, Registrar of Marriages

No	980
Date of Notice	20 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Colin Dunlop	Gwendoline Sergeant
BDM Match (97%)	Henry Colin Dunlop	Gwendoline Sargeant
	💍 1898/162
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	None
Age	23 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	23 years	11 months
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages Gisborne
Folio	98/179
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1898
Officiating Minister	W. A. Barlow, Registrar of Marriages

981

10 January 1898

Michael Brown Hickey
Mary Jane Sherriff

Michael Brown Hickey
Mary Jane Sheriff
💍 1898/577

Bachelor
Spinster

Stove Mason
None

30 years
24 years

Maharua
Kaite

5 years
2 years

Church of England Gisborne

98/615

10 January 1898

Rev. A. S. Webb, Church of England

No	981
Date of Notice	10 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Brown Hickey	Mary Jane Sherriff
BDM Match (97%)	Michael Brown Hickey	Mary Jane Sheriff
	💍 1898/577
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stove Mason	None
Age	30 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Maharua	Kaite
Length of Residence	5 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Gisborne
Folio	98/615
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. S. Webb, Church of England

982

19 January 1898

James Campbell
Eliza Deary

James Campbell
Eliza Feary
💍 1898/5037

Bachelor
Spinster

Station Hand
Domestic Servant

19 years
22 years

Waimata
Waimata

19 years
2 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

98/5102

Certificate not applied for

No	982
Date of Notice	19 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Campbell	Eliza Deary
BDM Match (95%)	James Campbell	Eliza Feary
	💍 1898/5037
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Station Hand	Domestic Servant
Age	19 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Waimata	Waimata
Length of Residence	19 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages Gisborne
Folio	98/5102
Consent	Certificate not applied for
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister

983

31 January 1898

James Aitkins
Anne Hansen

James Atkins
Annie Hansen
💍 1898/163

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
None

21 years
20 years

Patutahi
Motu

21 years
20 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

98/180

31 January 1898

W. A. Barlow, Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

No	983
Date of Notice	31 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Aitkins	Anne Hansen
BDM Match (92%)	James Atkins	Annie Hansen
	💍 1898/163
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	None
Age	21 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Patutahi	Motu
Length of Residence	21 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages Gisborne
Folio	98/180
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1898
Officiating Minister	W. A. Barlow, Registrar of Marriages Gisborne

984

5 February 1898

Henry Rougher
Christina Jessie Northe

Henry John Lougher
Christina Jessie Northe
💍 1898/165

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
None

24 years
21 years

Maerengaat
Te Kora

24 years
21 years

at the residence of David Longher Patutahi

98/182

5 February 1898

Rev. John Elliot Jose, Church of England

No	984
Date of Notice	5 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Rougher	Christina Jessie Northe
BDM Match (83%)	Henry John Lougher	Christina Jessie Northe
	💍 1898/165
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	None
Age	24 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Maerengaat	Te Kora
Length of Residence	24 years	21 years
Marriage Place	at the residence of David Longher Patutahi
Folio	98/182
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Elliot Jose, 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 1908. 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).