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 313

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

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 March 1898

William Henry Thiele
Eva Lydia Bean

William Henry Thiele
Eva Lydia Ann Hannah Dixon
💍 1898/2382

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

28
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

28 years
23 years

St. Johns Church

98/832

4 March 1898

Rev. J. A. Meyer, Church of England

No	92
Date of Notice	4 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Thiele	Eva Lydia Bean
BDM Match (73%)	William Henry Thiele	Eva Lydia Ann Hannah Dixon
	💍 1898/2382
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	28 years	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Johns Church
Folio	98/832
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Meyer, Church of England

4 March 1898

Henry Gamble
Emily Becker

Henry Gamble
Emily Becker
💍 1898/2349

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

35
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 weeks
3 days

House of Mrs. Tourles, Oxford Terrace, Chch

98/800

4 March 1898

Rev. D. Elmslie, Presbyterian

No	93
Date of Notice	4 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Gamble	Emily Becker
	💍 1898/2349
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	35	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 weeks	3 days
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Tourles, Oxford Terrace, Chch
Folio	98/800
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Elmslie, Presbyterian

5 March 1898

Girolamo Pierchati Ballati Pecci
Marie Cecilia Josephine Barron

Girolaus Pieri Nerli Ballati Pecci
Marie Cecilia Josephine Barron
💍 1898/651

Bachelor
Spinster

Artist

38
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 weeks
7 days

Registrars Office

98/742

5 March 1898

Registrar, Marriages, J. M. Warderson

No	94
Date of Notice	5 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Girolamo Pierchati Ballati Pecci	Marie Cecilia Josephine Barron
BDM Match (88%)	Girolaus Pieri Nerli Ballati Pecci	Marie Cecilia Josephine Barron
	💍 1898/651
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Artist
Age	38	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 weeks	7 days
Marriage Place	Registrars Office
Folio	98/742
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Registrar, Marriages, J. M. Warderson

5 March 1898

Ernest Ford
Martha Shields Pattrick

Ernest Ford
Martha Shields Pattrick
💍 1898/709

Bachelor
Spinster

Plasterer
Domestic

24
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

24 years
3 years

House of Mr. David Pattrick, Montreal Street, Chch

98/854

5 March 1898

Rev. W. Lusley, Wesleyan

No	95
Date of Notice	5 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Ford	Martha Shields Pattrick
	💍 1898/709
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plasterer	Domestic
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	24 years	3 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. David Pattrick, Montreal Street, Chch
Folio	98/854
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Lusley, Wesleyan

5 March 1898

George Edwin Martell
Louisa Melrose Leigh

George Edwin Marfell
Louisa Melrose Leigh
💍 1898/2355

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

34
34

Christchurch
Christchurch

16 years
34 years

St. Davids Church

98/788

5 March 1898

Rev. F. A. Scott, Church of England

No	96
Date of Notice	5 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Edwin Martell	Louisa Melrose Leigh
BDM Match (98%)	George Edwin Marfell	Louisa Melrose Leigh
	💍 1898/2355
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	34	34
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	16 years	34 years
Marriage Place	St. Davids Church
Folio	98/788
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. A. Scott, Church of England

5 March 1898

Charles Thomas McMeekin
Eliza Jane Rosser

Charles Thomas McMeekin
Eliza Jane Rosser
💍 1898/4072

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

26
22

Prebbleton
Prebbleton

26 years
20 years

Presbyterian Church

98/3275

5 March 1898

Rev. H. W. Wright, Presbyterian

No	97
Date of Notice	5 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Thomas McMeekin	Eliza Jane Rosser
	💍 1898/4072
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Prebbleton	Prebbleton
Length of Residence	26 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	98/3275
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. W. Wright, Presbyterian

7 March 1898

Rosse Clayton Trevor
Gertrude Elizabeth Sharpe

Rosse Chaytor Trevor
Gertrude Elizabeth Sharpe
💍 1898/659

Bachelor
Female, Divorced

Accountant

34
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

9 months
9 months

Registrars Office

98/743

7 March 1898

Registrar, Marriages, J. M. Warderson

No	98
Date of Notice	7 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Rosse Clayton Trevor	Gertrude Elizabeth Sharpe
BDM Match (95%)	Rosse Chaytor Trevor	Gertrude Elizabeth Sharpe
	💍 1898/659
Condition	Bachelor	Female, Divorced
Profession	Accountant
Age	34	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	9 months	9 months
Marriage Place	Registrars Office
Folio	98/743
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Registrar, Marriages, J. M. Warderson

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).