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 311

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1898 Registrar M. Mackerson

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

23 February 1898

Owen John Gardiner Humphriss
Ella Alice Forsey

Owen John Gardiner Humphriss
Ella Alice Forsey
💍 1898/647

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Tailoress

25
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 Years
20 Years

Registrar Office

98/738

Robert Forsey, Father

23 February 1898

Registrar of Marriages, M. Mackerson

No	77
Date of Notice	23 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Owen John Gardiner Humphriss	Ella Alice Forsey
	💍 1898/647
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Tailoress
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 Years	20 Years
Marriage Place	Registrar Office
Folio	98/738
Consent	Robert Forsey, Father
Date of Certificate	23 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, M. Mackerson

23 February 1898

Hugh Thomas
Ivy Dendy

Hugh Thomas
Ivy Dendy
💍 1898/701

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Domestic

29
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

21 Years
6 Years

House of Mr. S. H. Husband, Colombo Street, Sydenham

98/837

23 February 1898

Rev. B. McNicoll, Wesleyan

No	78
Date of Notice	23 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Thomas	Ivy Dendy
	💍 1898/701
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Domestic
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	21 Years	6 Years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. S. H. Husband, Colombo Street, Sydenham
Folio	98/837
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. McNicoll, Wesleyan

23 February 1898

Francis Edward John Hiddlestone
Mary Ann Wray

Francis Edward John Hiddlestone
Mary Ann Wray
💍 1898/2381

Bachelor
Spinster

Porter

24
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
20 Years

St. Pauls Church

98/831

Walter Wray, Father

23 February 1898

Rev. H. J. Purchas, Church of England

No	79
Date of Notice	23 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Edward John Hiddlestone	Mary Ann Wray
	💍 1898/2381
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Porter
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	20 Years
Marriage Place	St. Pauls Church
Folio	98/831
Consent	Walter Wray, Father
Date of Certificate	23 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. J. Purchas, Church of England

23 February 1898

Harry Miles
Margaret Lyons

Harry Mills
Margaret Lyons
💍 1898/673

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

20
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

20 Years
21 Years

Wesleyan Church, East Belt

98/104

Frederic Miles, Father

23 February 1898

Rev. I. Orchard, Wesleyan

No	80
Date of Notice	23 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Miles	Margaret Lyons
BDM Match (95%)	Harry Mills	Margaret Lyons
	💍 1898/673
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	20	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 Years	21 Years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, East Belt
Folio	98/104
Consent	Frederic Miles, Father
Date of Certificate	23 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. Orchard, Wesleyan

23 February 1898

James Ferguson
Marjory Cameron

John Ferguson
Margory Cameron
💍 1898/1731

Bachelor
Spinster

Millwright

30
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

19 months
19 months

Barbadoes St. Roman Catholic Church

98/1966

23 February 1898

Very Rev. S. Cummings, Roman Catholic

No	81
Date of Notice	23 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Ferguson	Marjory Cameron
BDM Match (82%)	John Ferguson	Margory Cameron
	💍 1898/1731
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Millwright
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	19 months	19 months
Marriage Place	Barbadoes St. Roman Catholic Church
Folio	98/1966
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. S. Cummings, Roman Catholic

24 February 1898

James Thomas Gamblin
Kate Philomena Cassin

James Thomas Gamblin
Kate Philomena Cassin
💍 1898/648

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Domestic

26
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

26 Years
27 Years

Registrar Office Christchurch

98/739

24 February 1898

Registrar of Marriages, J.M. Patterson

No	82
Date of Notice	24 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Thomas Gamblin	Kate Philomena Cassin
	💍 1898/648
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Domestic
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	26 Years	27 Years
Marriage Place	Registrar Office Christchurch
Folio	98/739
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J.M. Patterson

24 February 1898

Herbert Joseph Weeks
Elizabeth Jane Carpenter

Herbert Joseph Wicks
Elizabeth Jane Carpenter
💍 1898/712

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

27
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

27 Years
14 Years

House of Rev. I. J. Bode, Worcester Street

98/838

24 February 1898

Rev. I. J. Bode, Baptist

No	83
Date of Notice	24 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Joseph Weeks	Elizabeth Jane Carpenter
BDM Match (95%)	Herbert Joseph Wicks	Elizabeth Jane Carpenter
	💍 1898/712
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	27 Years	14 Years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. I. J. Bode, Worcester Street
Folio	98/838
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. J. Bode, Baptist

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).