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 243

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 March 1898 Registrar Frederick William Mansfield

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

105

11 March 1898

James Muclachlow Navin
Ellen Smith

James Maclachlan Nairn
Ellen Smith
💍 1898/503

Bachelor
Spinster

Artist

34
19

Wellington
Greytown

6 years
19 years

Private house of Mr. William Gard, Silverstream

98/554

Thos. Henry Smith, father

16 March 1898

Rev. Andrew Gray

No	105
Date of Notice	11 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Muclachlow Navin	Ellen Smith
BDM Match (89%)	James Maclachlan Nairn	Ellen Smith
	💍 1898/503
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Artist
Age	34	19
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Greytown
Length of Residence	6 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Private house of Mr. William Gard, Silverstream
Folio	98/554
Consent	Thos. Henry Smith, father
Date of Certificate	16 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Andrew Gray

106

12 March 1898

Timothy Beggs
Modora Ferguson

Timothy Beggs
Medora Ferguson
💍 1898/464

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

24
28

Wellington
Wellington

6 years
28 years

Private house of Geo. Maslen, Taranaki Street, Wellington

98/509

12 March 1898

Rev. J. K. Elliott

No	106
Date of Notice	12 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Timothy Beggs	Modora Ferguson
BDM Match (97%)	Timothy Beggs	Medora Ferguson
	💍 1898/464
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	24	28
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	6 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Private house of Geo. Maslen, Taranaki Street, Wellington
Folio	98/509
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. K. Elliott

107

14 March 1898

Edward Thomas Warne
Ellen Elizabeth Frances Tolly

Edward Thomas Warne
Ellen Elizabeth Frances Tolley
💍 1898/543

Bachelor
Divorced

Painter

28
29

Wellington
Wellington

3 months
29 years

Registrar's Office

98/601

14 March 1898

F. W. Mansfield, Registrar

No	107
Date of Notice	14 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Thomas Warne	Ellen Elizabeth Frances Tolly
BDM Match (98%)	Edward Thomas Warne	Ellen Elizabeth Frances Tolley
	💍 1898/543
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced
Profession	Painter
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 months	29 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	98/601
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1898
Officiating Minister	F. W. Mansfield, Registrar

108

14 March 1898

Albert James Robinson
Corella Bertha Barton

Albert James Robinson
Corella Bertha Barton
💍 1898/545

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier

25
18

Foxton
Foxton

2 years
18 months

Registrar's Office

98/603

Alex. Barton, father

14 March 1898

F. W. Mansfield, Registrar

No	108
Date of Notice	14 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert James Robinson	Corella Bertha Barton
	💍 1898/545
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier
Age	25	18
Dwelling Place	Foxton	Foxton
Length of Residence	2 years	18 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	98/603
Consent	Alex. Barton, father
Date of Certificate	14 March 1898
Officiating Minister	F. W. Mansfield, Registrar

109

14 March 1898

Peter Ross
Marguerite Ann Forrest

Peter Ross
Marguerite Ann Forrest
💍 1898/463

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

25
21

Wellington
Wellington

25 years
21 years

Kent Terrace Presbyterian Church Manse, Wellington

98/508

14 March 1898

Rev. J. K. Elliott

No	109
Date of Notice	14 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Ross	Marguerite Ann Forrest
	💍 1898/463
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	25 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Kent Terrace Presbyterian Church Manse, Wellington
Folio	98/508
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. K. Elliott

110

14 March 1898

William Arthur Waddell
Harriet McGowan

William Arthur Waddell
Harriet McGowan
💍 1898/472

Widower
Spinster

Timber Merchant

55
44

Wellington
Wellington

30 years
17 years

Private house of Mrs. Jas. McGowan, Austin Street, Wellington

98/500

14 March 1898

Rev. James Paterson

No	110
Date of Notice	14 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Arthur Waddell	Harriet McGowan
	💍 1898/472
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Timber Merchant
Age	55	44
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	30 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Private house of Mrs. Jas. McGowan, Austin Street, Wellington
Folio	98/500
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Paterson

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).