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 102

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 March 1898 Registrar Edward Homiss

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

5 January 1898

Thomas William Hays
Matilda Paul

Thomas William Hays
Matilda Paul
💍 1898/2197

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
None

27
19

Thames
Thames

2 years
1 year

The Dwelling of Joseph Paul, Pollen St.

98/2460

Joseph Paul, Father

6 January 1898

Joseph Foster, Church of Christ

No	1
Date of Notice	5 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas William Hays	Matilda Paul
	💍 1898/2197
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	None
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	2 years	1 year
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Joseph Paul, Pollen St.
Folio	98/2460
Consent	Joseph Paul, Father
Date of Certificate	6 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Joseph Foster, Church of Christ

8 January 1898

Thomas Deenn
Alice Tierney

Thomas Dunn
Alice Tierney
💍 1898/2612

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
School Teacher

24
20

Thames
Thames

1 day
20 years

St. Francis Church, Willoughby St.

98/235

Christopher Tierney, Father

10 January 1898

Rev. Patrick O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

No	2
Date of Notice	8 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Deenn	Alice Tierney
BDM Match (92%)	Thomas Dunn	Alice Tierney
	💍 1898/2612
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	School Teacher
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	1 day	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Francis Church, Willoughby St.
Folio	98/235
Consent	Christopher Tierney, Father
Date of Certificate	10 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Patrick O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

15 January 1898

Robert James Gillies
Edith Maud Jourdain

Robert James Gillies
Edith Maud Jourdain
💍 1898/82

Widower
Spinster

Sergeant of Police
None

44
32

Thames
Thames

8 years
8 years

St. Barnabas Church, Mount Eden, Auckland

98/92

Edith Maud Jourdain at present at Auckland

15 January 1898

Rev. J. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	3
Date of Notice	15 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert James Gillies	Edith Maud Jourdain
	💍 1898/82
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Sergeant of Police	None
Age	44	32
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	8 years	8 years
Marriage Place	St. Barnabas Church, Mount Eden, Auckland
Folio	98/92
Consent	Edith Maud Jourdain at present at Auckland
Date of Certificate	15 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'Callaghan, Church of England

27 January 1898

James Frederick Peterson
Margaret Irwin

James Frederick Peterson
Margaret Irwin
💍 1898/2204

Bachelor
Widow

Carter
Seamstress

23
27

Thames
Thames

23 years
3 years

The Dwelling of James Peterson, Davy St.

98/2461

29 January 1898

Joseph Foster, Church of Christ

No	4
Date of Notice	27 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Frederick Peterson	Margaret Irwin
	💍 1898/2204
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Carter	Seamstress
Age	23	27
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	23 years	3 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of James Peterson, Davy St.
Folio	98/2461
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Joseph Foster, Church of Christ

27 January 1898

Andrew Manfred McMahon
Elizabeth Mary Buckham

Andrew Manfred McMahon
Elizabeth Mary Auckram
💍 1898/211

Bachelor
Spinster

Mine Owner
None

30
23

Upper Thames
Upper Thames

30 years
6 months

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Thames

98/220

27 January 1898

Edward Homiss, Registrar

No	5
Date of Notice	27 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Manfred McMahon	Elizabeth Mary Buckham
BDM Match (95%)	Andrew Manfred McMahon	Elizabeth Mary Auckram
	💍 1898/211
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mine Owner	None
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Upper Thames	Upper Thames
Length of Residence	30 years	6 months
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Thames
Folio	98/220
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Edward Homiss, Registrar

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).