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 165

District of Waipawa Quarter ending 31 March 1898 Registrar Samuel Johnson

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

560

10 January 1898

James Matthews
Jane Holder Holden

James Mathews
Jane Holder Holden
💍 1898/358

Widower
Spinster

Storekeeper

52
37

Hampden
Springvale, Hampden

33 years
37 years

Bibby, Waipawa

98/366

10 January 1898

Rev. W. W. Johnston

No	560
Date of Notice	10 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Matthews	Jane Holder Holden
BDM Match (96%)	James Mathews	Jane Holder Holden
	💍 1898/358
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	52	37
Dwelling Place	Hampden	Springvale, Hampden
Length of Residence	33 years	37 years
Marriage Place	Bibby, Waipawa
Folio	98/366
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. W. Johnston

561

11 January 1898

William Markwick Fletcher
Maggie Arabella Cowper

William Markwick Fletcher
Maggie Arabella Cowper
💍 1898/331

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler

31
23

Waipawa
Waipawa

3 days
23 years

St. Peter's Church

98/357

11 January 1898

Rev. A. F. Williams

No	561
Date of Notice	11 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Markwick Fletcher	Maggie Arabella Cowper
	💍 1898/331
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Waipawa	Waipawa
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church
Folio	98/357
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. F. Williams

562

5 February 1898

David Stann Mill
Caroline Hannah Cot

David Steven Mill
Caroline Hannah Cox
💍 1898/359

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

26
24

Kaikoura
Kaikoura

8 years
4 years

St. John's Church, Waipawa

98/367

5 February 1898

Rev. H. W. Johnston

No	562
Date of Notice	5 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Stann Mill	Caroline Hannah Cot
BDM Match (89%)	David Steven Mill	Caroline Hannah Cox
	💍 1898/359
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Kaikoura	Kaikoura
Length of Residence	8 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Waipawa
Folio	98/367
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. W. Johnston

563

21 February 1898

Henry Horland Gore
Annie Elizabeth Miller

Henry Morland Gore
Annie Elizabeth Miller
💍 1898/332

Bachelor
Spinster

Reporter
Governess

33
24

Waipawa
Springhill, Ruataniwha

3 days
6 years

St. Peter's Church

98/358

21 February 1898

Rev. C. L. Tuke

No	563
Date of Notice	21 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Horland Gore	Annie Elizabeth Miller
BDM Match (97%)	Henry Morland Gore	Annie Elizabeth Miller
	💍 1898/332
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Reporter	Governess
Age	33	24
Dwelling Place	Waipawa	Springhill, Ruataniwha
Length of Residence	3 days	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church
Folio	98/358
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. L. Tuke

564

25 February 1898

William Frederick Watts
Florence May Cochrane

William Frederick Watts
Florence May Cochrane
💍 1898/1365

Bachelor
Spinster

Coachman

26
15

Waipawa
Waipawa

3 years
15 years

Residence Mrs. Cochrane, Waipawa

98/1594

25 February 1898

Rev. A. Grant

No	564
Date of Notice	25 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Frederick Watts	Florence May Cochrane
	💍 1898/1365
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coachman
Age	26	15
Dwelling Place	Waipawa	Waipawa
Length of Residence	3 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Residence Mrs. Cochrane, Waipawa
Folio	98/1594
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Grant

565

31 March 1898

John O'Sullivan
Mary Jane Peers

John Sullivan
Mary Jane Peers
💍 1898/4002

Widower
Widow

Farmer
Housekeeper

45
42

Blackburn
Hampden

22 years
16 years

St. Patrick's Church

98/3526

31 March 1898

Rev. P. J. Power

No	565
Date of Notice	31 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John O'Sullivan	Mary Jane Peers
BDM Match (93%)	John Sullivan	Mary Jane Peers
	💍 1898/4002
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Housekeeper
Age	45	42
Dwelling Place	Blackburn	Hampden
Length of Residence	22 years	16 years
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Church
Folio	98/3526
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Power

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).