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 285

District of Greymouth Quarter ending 31 March 1898 Registrar Benjamin Harper

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

4 January 1898

James Hayden
Albertha Grace Pascoe

James Hayden
Albertha Grace Pascoe
💍 1898/623

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

40 years
27 years

Rutherglen
Rutherglen

17 years
13 years

at the private residence of Mr. John Pascoe Rutherglen

98/690

4 January 1898

Rev. George York

No	1
Date of Notice	4 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Hayden	Albertha Grace Pascoe
	💍 1898/623
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	40 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Rutherglen	Rutherglen
Length of Residence	17 years	13 years
Marriage Place	at the private residence of Mr. John Pascoe Rutherglen
Folio	98/690
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. George York

25 January 1898

Thomas Finn
Harriet Ries
Maiden name Hendersen

Thomas Finn
Harriet Rees
💍 1898/616

Bachelor
Widow

Miner

38 years
49 years

Ahaura
Ahaura

3 days in Greymouth
3 days in Greymouth

The Office of the Registrar of marriages Greymouth

98/689

25 January 1898

Benjamin Harper

No	2
Date of Notice	25 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Finn	Harriet Ries Maiden name Hendersen
BDM Match (96%)	Thomas Finn	Harriet Rees
	💍 1898/616
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Miner
Age	38 years	49 years
Dwelling Place	Ahaura	Ahaura
Length of Residence	3 days in Greymouth	3 days in Greymouth
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of marriages Greymouth
Folio	98/689
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Benjamin Harper

3 February 1898

Henry Nickell
Charlotte Elizabeth Herrick

Henry Wicken
Charlotte Elizabeth Herrick
💍 1898/624

Bachelor
Spinster

Restaurant Keeper

40 years
24 years

Reefton
Reefton

3 days in Greymouth
3 days in Greymouth

The Church of England Greymouth

98/691

3 February 1898

Rev. George York

No	3
Date of Notice	3 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Nickell	Charlotte Elizabeth Herrick
BDM Match (88%)	Henry Wicken	Charlotte Elizabeth Herrick
	💍 1898/624
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Restaurant Keeper
Age	40 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Reefton	Reefton
Length of Residence	3 days in Greymouth	3 days in Greymouth
Marriage Place	The Church of England Greymouth
Folio	98/691
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. George York

10 February 1898

John Collins McGain
Anastasia Davidson

John Collins McGain
Anastasia Davidson
💍 1898/625

Bachelor
Spinster

Cycle Engineer

25 years
26 years

Napier
Ballarat

3 days in Greymouth
3 months in Greymouth

Roman Catholic Church Greymouth

98/692

10 February 1898

Rev. Father Malone

No	4
Date of Notice	10 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Collins McGain	Anastasia Davidson
	💍 1898/625
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cycle Engineer
Age	25 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Napier	Ballarat
Length of Residence	3 days in Greymouth	3 months in Greymouth
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Greymouth
Folio	98/692
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Malone

16 March 1898

Hugh Hardie Guthrie
Annie Rowland

Hugh Hardie Guthrie
Annie Rowland
💍 1898/626

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Servant

29 years
25 years

Dunedin
Greymouth

2 weeks in Greymouth
2 years

Roman Catholic Church at Greymouth

98/693

16 March 1898

Rev. Father D. P. Laren

No	5
Date of Notice	16 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Hardie Guthrie	Annie Rowland
	💍 1898/626
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Servant
Age	29 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Greymouth
Length of Residence	2 weeks in Greymouth	2 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church at Greymouth
Folio	98/693
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father D. P. Laren

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).