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 307

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1898 Registrar J. M. Williamson

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 February 1898

Francis Henry Carr Hebden
Grace Somersett Meares

Francis Henry Carr Hebden
Grace Somerville Manks
💍 1898/665

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor
Dressmaker

25
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

15 years
12 years

St. Andrews Church

98/757

5 February 1898

Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

No	47
Date of Notice	5 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Henry Carr Hebden	Grace Somersett Meares
BDM Match (82%)	Francis Henry Carr Hebden	Grace Somerville Manks
	💍 1898/665
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor	Dressmaker
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	15 years	12 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church
Folio	98/757
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

5 February 1898

Alexander Burns
Agnes Mary Watts

Alexander Burns
Agnes Mary Watts
💍 1898/2348

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

31
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
25 years

House of Mr. G. Watts, Hereford St., Christchurch

98/799

5 February 1898

Rev. F. M. Leslie, Presbyterian

No	48
Date of Notice	5 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Burns	Agnes Mary Watts
	💍 1898/2348
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	31	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	25 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. G. Watts, Hereford St., Christchurch
Folio	98/799
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. M. Leslie, Presbyterian

7 February 1898

Denis Mahar
Annie Rodgers

Denis Mahar
Annie Rodgers
💍 1898/2367

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

29
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
10 years

Roman Catholic Church, Barbadoes St. Christchurch

98/794

7 February 1898

Very Rev. J. Cummings

No	49
Date of Notice	7 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Denis Mahar	Annie Rodgers
	💍 1898/2367
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Barbadoes St. Christchurch
Folio	98/794
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. J. Cummings

7 February 1898

Harold Verney Hargreaves
Elizabeth Cowles Cunningham

Harold Verney Hargreaves
Elizabeth Combe Cunningham
💍 1898/2271

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman

27
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

27 years
20 years

St. Mary's Church

98/2536

7 February 1898

Rev. H. A. Watson, Church of England

No	50
Date of Notice	7 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Verney Hargreaves	Elizabeth Cowles Cunningham
BDM Match (94%)	Harold Verney Hargreaves	Elizabeth Combe Cunningham
	💍 1898/2271
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	27 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church
Folio	98/2536
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. A. Watson, Church of England

7 February 1898

Alexander Stephen Bennett
Anastasia Mary O'Hara

Alexander Stephen Bennett
Anastasia Margaret O'Hara
💍 1898/2366

Bachelor
Spinster

Stonemason

36
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
4 years

Roman Catholic Church, Barbadoes St.

98/793

7 February 1898

Rev. J. Cummings, Roman Catholic

No	51
Date of Notice	7 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Stephen Bennett	Anastasia Mary O'Hara
BDM Match (90%)	Alexander Stephen Bennett	Anastasia Margaret O'Hara
	💍 1898/2366
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stonemason
Age	36	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	4 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Barbadoes St.
Folio	98/793
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Cummings, Roman Catholic

8 February 1898

Harry Cooper Holcroft
Harriet Emily Soames

Harry Cooper Holcroft
Harriet Emily Soanes
💍 1898/2278

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Dressmaker

30
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
25 years

Merivale Church

98/2537

8 February 1898

Rev. H. A. Watson, Church of England

No	52
Date of Notice	8 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Cooper Holcroft	Harriet Emily Soames
BDM Match (98%)	Harry Cooper Holcroft	Harriet Emily Soanes
	💍 1898/2278
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Dressmaker
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	25 years
Marriage Place	Merivale Church
Folio	98/2537
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. A. Watson, Church of England

8 February 1898

Stephen James Kraol
Elena Jane McMeekan

Stephen James Keast
Eliza Jane McMeekan
💍 1898/2385

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

26 years
28 years

Wesleyan Church Springston

98/835

8 February 1898

Rev. C. Griffin, Wesleyan

No	53
Date of Notice	8 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stephen James Kraol	Elena Jane McMeekan
BDM Match (87%)	Stephen James Keast	Eliza Jane McMeekan
	💍 1898/2385
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	26 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church Springston
Folio	98/835
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Griffin, 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 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).