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 275

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 March 1898

No	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
1	11 January 1898	Frederick Graham Alice Sheather	Frederick Graham Alice Sheather 💍 1898/2334	Bachelor Spinster	Compositor Domestic Duties	23 24	Collingwood Street, Nelson Brook Street, Nelson	10 Months 24 Years	St. Johns Wesleyan Church, Hardy Street, Nelson	98/664		11 January 1898	S. F. Prior, Wesleyan Minister
2	13 January 1898	Francis James Jeffreys Eugenie Margaret Smith	Francis James Jeffreys Eugenie Margaret Smith 💍 1898/2325	Widower Spinster	Accountant Domestic Duties	52 29	Brougham Street, Nelson Barley Street, Nelson	11 Years 3 Days	Baptist Church, Green Street, Richmond	98/663		13 January 1898	R. S. Gray, Baptist Minister
3	14 January 1898	Joseph Edward Clear Maud Bertha King	Joseph Edward Clear Maud Bertha King 💍 1898/2337	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor Musician	25 25	Bridge Street, Nelson Cambria Street, Nelson	15 Years 25 Years	Residence of Charles King, Cambria Street, Nelson	98/665		14 January 1898	J. H. Mackenzie, Presbyterian Minister
4	19 January 1898	John Earll Sherwood Martha Henrietta Johanna Bosselmann	John Earll Sherwood Martha Henrietta Johanna Bosselmann 💍 1898/2338	Bachelor Spinster	Shot Caster Domestic Servant	24 24	Waimea Road, Nelson Waimea Road, Nelson	24 Years 4 Years	Residence of John Earll Sherwood, Waimea Road, Nelson	98/666		19 January 1898	J. H. Mackenzie, Presbyterian Minister
5	26 January 1898	Clifford Large Mary Jane Day	Clifford Large Mary Jane Day 💍 1898/2343	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic	23 31	Totara Street, Nelson Grove Street, Nelson	4 Years 10 Years	All Saints Church, Vanguard Street, Nelson	98/671		26 January 1898	F. W. Chatterton, Church of England Minister
6	10 February 1898	Frederick Cummings Catherine Williams	Frederick Cummings Catherine Williams 💍 1898/2327 Robert Sullivan Catherine Williams 💍 1898/326	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Waitress	23 21	Wakapuaka Collingwood Street, Nelson	23 Years 7 Years	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	98/675		10 February 1898	Robert Kaye, Deputy Registrar
7	14 February 1898	Joseph Wolfe Bridget O'Sullivan	Joseph Wolfe Bridget O'Sullivan 💍 1898/2328	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic	29 29	Bridge Street, Nelson Bridge Street, Nelson	10 Days 14 Days	Catholic Station, Manuka Street, Nelson	98/676		14 February 1898	W. J. Mahony, Roman Catholic Minister
8	21 February 1898	Charles Henry Forder Annie McIlroy	Charles Henry Fowler Annie McIlroy 💍 1898/2329	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic	24 26	Stoke Bridge Street, Nelson	2 Years 1 Year	St. Mary's Church, Manuka Street, Nelson	98/677		21 February 1898	W. J. Mahony, Roman Catholic Minister
9	28 February 1898	Joseph Arch Elliott Amy Ellen Mason	Joseph Arch Elliott Amy Ellen Mason 💍 1898/2339	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic	24 30	Gloucester Street, Nelson Shakspeare Walk, Nelson	23 Years 30 Years	Residence of Thomas Mason, Waimea Street, Nelson	98/667		28 February 1898	J. H. Mackenzie, Presbyterian Minister
10	1 March 1898	George Malcolm Simpson Frances Annie Andrews	George Malcolm Simpson Frances Annie Andrews 💍 1898/2340	Bachelor Spinster	Monumental Mason Dressmaker	32 22	Collingwood Street, Nelson Nile Street East, Nelson	26 Years 21 Years	Presbyterian Church, Nile Street East, Nelson	98/668		1 March 1898	J. H. Mackenzie, Presbyterian Minister
11	2 March 1898	Claude Pettigrew Graham Margaret Laird	Claude Pettigrew Graham Margaret Laird 💍 1898/2341	Bachelor Spinster	Tinsmith Teacher	29 22	Bridge Street, Nelson Russell Street, Nelson	29 Years 22 Years	Residence of Abraham Laird, Russell Street, Nelson	98/669		2 March 1898	J. H. Mackenzie, Presbyterian Minister
12	14 March 1898	Alfred Hogg Sarah Jane Scott	Alfred Hogg Sarah Jane Scott 💍 1898/2324	Bachelor Spinster	Maltster Assistant in Jam Factory	29 20	New Street, Nelson New Street, Nelson	4 Years 20 Years	Residence of William Ralph Scott, New Street, Nelson	98/672	William Ralph Scott, Father	14 March 1898	F. W. Chatterton, Church of England Minister
13	23 March 1898	Percy Alfred Fabian Annie Carmichael Hood	Percy Alfred Fabian Annie Carmichael Hood 💍 1898/2342	Bachelor Spinster	Storekeeper Domestic Duties	22 29	Franklyn Street, Nelson Franklyn Street, Nelson	3 Days 3 Months	Residence of James Moncrieff Hood, Franklyn Street, Nelson	98/670		23 March 1898	J. H. Mackenzie, Presbyterian Minister

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 1898. More registers will be added when the Archives NZ Wellington reading room re-opens in September 2025.

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).