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 287

District of Hokitika Quarter ending 31 March 1898 Registrar William George Douglas

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

Henry Heber
Amelia Isabel Isaacs Pollock

Henry Weber
Amelia Isabela Isaacs Pollock
💍 1898/610

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Domestic

33
24

Hokitika
Hokitika

4 days
4 years

Residence of W. M. Pollock, Bealey Street, Hokitika

98/701

5 January 1898

Rev. A. Finger, Hebrew

No	1
Date of Notice	5 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Heber	Amelia Isabel Isaacs Pollock
BDM Match (94%)	Henry Weber	Amelia Isabela Isaacs Pollock
	💍 1898/610
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Domestic
Age	33	24
Dwelling Place	Hokitika	Hokitika
Length of Residence	4 days	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of W. M. Pollock, Bealey Street, Hokitika
Folio	98/701
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Finger, Hebrew

10 January 1898

Patrick Douglas
Annie Hartkey

Patrick Douglas
Annie Hartkey
💍 1898/628

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic

25
24

Woodstock
Woodstock

25 years
4 years

English Church, Rimu

98/695

Mother

11 January 1898

Rev. W. Char. Wood

No	2
Date of Notice	10 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Douglas	Annie Hartkey
	💍 1898/628
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Woodstock	Woodstock
Length of Residence	25 years	4 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Rimu
Folio	98/695
Consent	Mother
Date of Certificate	11 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Char. Wood

14 January 1898

Joseph Arthur Gavill
Ellen Eale

Joseph Arthur Havill
Ellen Gale
💍 1898/627

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic

24
19

Callaghans
Arahura

24 years
10 years

All Saints Anglican Church, Hokitika

98/694

James Eale, Father

14 January 1898

Rev. Staples Hamilton

No	3
Date of Notice	14 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Arthur Gavill	Ellen Eale
BDM Match (93%)	Joseph Arthur Havill	Ellen Gale
	💍 1898/627
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Callaghans	Arahura
Length of Residence	24 years	10 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Anglican Church, Hokitika
Folio	98/694
Consent	James Eale, Father
Date of Certificate	14 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton

19 January 1898

Arthur George Debenham
Elizabeth Low

Arthur George Debenham
Elizabeth Low
💍 1898/611

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic

31
24

Stafford Town
Stafford Town

3 years
2 years

Residence of Mr. Thos. Low, Stafford

98/702

19 January 1898

Rev. E. Whitehouse

No	4
Date of Notice	19 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur George Debenham	Elizabeth Low
	💍 1898/611
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Stafford Town	Stafford Town
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Thos. Low, Stafford
Folio	98/702
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Whitehouse

24 January 1898

William McKay
Ada Matilda Perry

William McKay
Ada Matilda Perry
💍 1898/606

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Domestic

24
25

Hokitika
Hokitika

24 years
25 years

Residence of William Perry, Hall Street, Hokitika

98/697

24 January 1898

Rev. A. E. Finger

No	5
Date of Notice	24 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McKay	Ada Matilda Perry
	💍 1898/606
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Domestic
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Hokitika	Hokitika
Length of Residence	24 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Residence of William Perry, Hall Street, Hokitika
Folio	98/697
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. E. Finger

25 January 1898

Chas. Peter Glass
Elizabeth Cook

Charles Peter Glass
Elizabeth Cook
💍 1898/609

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

23
25

Kokatahi
Hokitika

16 years
10 months

Residence of Miss Elizth. Cook, Revell Street, Hokitika

98/700

25 January 1898

Rev. Wm. Douglas

No	6
Date of Notice	25 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Chas. Peter Glass	Elizabeth Cook
BDM Match (89%)	Charles Peter Glass	Elizabeth Cook
	💍 1898/609
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Kokatahi	Hokitika
Length of Residence	16 years	10 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Miss Elizth. Cook, Revell Street, Hokitika
Folio	98/700
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. Douglas

4 February 1898

Edward Augustus Bayfield
Susan McGovern

Edward Augustus Haylock
Susan McGoveran
💍 1898/607

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic

22
21

Hokitika
Hokitika

3 days
21 years

Roman Catholic Church, Hokitika

98/698

4 February 1898

Rev. A. Lepetit

No	7
Date of Notice	4 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Augustus Bayfield	Susan McGovern
BDM Match (84%)	Edward Augustus Haylock	Susan McGoveran
	💍 1898/607
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Hokitika	Hokitika
Length of Residence	3 days	21 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Hokitika
Folio	98/698
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Lepetit

14 February 1898

James Patrick Griffin
Harriette Croft

James Patrick Griffin
Harriette Croft
💍 1898/612

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic

29
23

Stafford
Arahura

24 years
23 years

Roman Catholic Church, Stafford

98/703

14 February 1898

Rev. D. F. O'Callaghan

No	8
Date of Notice	14 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Patrick Griffin	Harriette Croft
	💍 1898/612
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Stafford	Arahura
Length of Residence	24 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Stafford
Folio	98/703
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. F. O'Callaghan

16 February 1898

Samuel Osborne
Augusta Haigs

Samuel Osborne
Augusta Haizo
💍 1898/608

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

32
20

Hokitika
Hokitika

18 years
20 years

Roman Catholic Church, Hokitika

98/699

Joseph Haigs, Father

16 February 1898

Rev. A. Lepetit

No	9
Date of Notice	16 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Osborne	Augusta Haigs
BDM Match (92%)	Samuel Osborne	Augusta Haizo
	💍 1898/608
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	32	20
Dwelling Place	Hokitika	Hokitika
Length of Residence	18 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Hokitika
Folio	98/699
Consent	Joseph Haigs, Father
Date of Certificate	16 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Lepetit

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).