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 303

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1898 Registrar J. S. Macfarlane

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

11 January 1898

Laurence Howard
Catherine Gongan

Lawrence Howard
Catherine Gargan
💍 1898/2363

Bachelor
Spinster

Cab owner

26
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

26 years
1 year

Roman Catholic Church, Barbadoes St.

98/790

11 January 1898

Very Rev. Father Cummings, Roman Catholic

No	16
Date of Notice	11 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Laurence Howard	Catherine Gongan
BDM Match (90%)	Lawrence Howard	Catherine Gargan
	💍 1898/2363
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cab owner
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	26 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Barbadoes St.
Folio	98/790
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Father Cummings, Roman Catholic

13 January 1898

David Craig
Sarah Glimmie

David Craig
Sarah Glennie
💍 1898/2389

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic

37
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
5 days

Anne St. Presbyterian, Sydenham

98/876

13 January 1898

Rev. R. Scott Allan, Presbyterian

No	17
Date of Notice	13 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Craig	Sarah Glimmie
BDM Match (88%)	David Craig	Sarah Glennie
	💍 1898/2389
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic
Age	37	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	5 days
Marriage Place	Anne St. Presbyterian, Sydenham
Folio	98/876
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Scott Allan, Presbyterian

14 January 1898

Joseph Messina
Bella Morse

Joseph Messina
Bella Morse
💍 1898/2393

Widower
Spinster

Lumper

46
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
24 years

Methodist Church, Lower High St.

98/820

14 January 1898

Rev. W. Tinsley, Wesleyan

No	18
Date of Notice	14 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Messina	Bella Morse
	💍 1898/2393
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Lumper
Age	46	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Lower High St.
Folio	98/820
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Tinsley, Wesleyan

14 January 1898

James Winfield Jordan
Ellen Elizabeth Shackel

James Winfield Jordan
Ellen Elizabeth Shackel
💍 1898/635

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic

21
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

19 years
24 years

Registrar's Office

98/826

14 January 1898

Registrar of Marriages, J. S. Macfarlane

No	19
Date of Notice	14 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Winfield Jordan	Ellen Elizabeth Shackel
	💍 1898/635
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic
Age	21	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	19 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	98/826
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. S. Macfarlane

15 January 1898

George Davidson
Mary Ida Otway

George Davidson
Mary Ida Otway
💍 1898/705

Widower
Spinster

School Master

38
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
1 year

Beach Church, New Brighton

98/850

15 January 1898

Rev. F. K. Inwood, Church of England

No	20
Date of Notice	15 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Davidson	Mary Ida Otway
	💍 1898/705
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	School Master
Age	38	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Beach Church, New Brighton
Folio	98/850
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. K. Inwood, Church of England

15 January 1898

Frank Burley Card
Leah Rachel Smith

Frank Burley Curd
Lena Rachel Smith
💍 1898/2371

Bachelor
Spinster

School Master
Teacher

25
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 weeks
4 years

St. Michaels Church

98/822

15 January 1898

Rev. A. W. Averill, Church of England

No	21
Date of Notice	15 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Burley Card	Leah Rachel Smith
BDM Match (91%)	Frank Burley Curd	Lena Rachel Smith
	💍 1898/2371
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	School Master	Teacher
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 weeks	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Michaels Church
Folio	98/822
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Averill, Church of England

17 January 1898

Frederic Horton Bright
Mary Ann Fielding

Frederic Horton Bright
Mary Ann Fielding
💍 1898/636

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
3 years

Registrar's Office

98/721

17 January 1898

Registrar of Marriages, J. S. Macfarlane

No	22
Date of Notice	17 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederic Horton Bright	Mary Ann Fielding
	💍 1898/636
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	98/721
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. S. Macfarlane

17 January 1898

Ernest William Jordan
Alice Jenny Fowler

Ernest William Jordan
Alice Jenny Fowler
💍 1898/703

Bachelor
Spinster

Packer
Domestic

21
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

24 years
24 years

Wesleyan Church, St. Albans

98/848

17 January 1898

Rev. W. Lee, Wesleyan

No	23
Date of Notice	17 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest William Jordan	Alice Jenny Fowler
	💍 1898/703
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Packer	Domestic
Age	21	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	24 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, St. Albans
Folio	98/848
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Lee, Wesleyan

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).