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 326

District of Geraldine Quarter ending 31 March 1898 Registrar Agnes Andrews

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

506

13 January 1898

Oliver Scott Kerr Thomson
Lucy Mary Dyke Acland

Oliver Scott Kerr Thomson
Lucy Alice Dyke Acland
💍 1898/747

Bachelor
Spinster

Station Manager

41
28

Mount Peel
Mount Peel

4 years
28 years

Church of the Holy Innocents, Mount Peel

98/870

13 January 1898

Right Rev. Churchill Julius (Church of England)

No	506
Date of Notice	13 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Oliver Scott Kerr Thomson	Lucy Mary Dyke Acland
BDM Match (89%)	Oliver Scott Kerr Thomson	Lucy Alice Dyke Acland
	💍 1898/747
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Station Manager
Age	41	28
Dwelling Place	Mount Peel	Mount Peel
Length of Residence	4 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Church of the Holy Innocents, Mount Peel
Folio	98/870
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Right Rev. Churchill Julius (Church of England)

507

17 January 1898

Frederick James Prouting
Matilda Billings

Frederick James Prouting
Matilda Billings
💍 1898/746

Bachelor
Spinster

Coach Builder

27
18

Orari
Geraldine

6 months
18 years

The House of Mr Peter Billings, Geraldine

98/869

Peter Billings, father

17 January 1898

Rev. Henry Williams (Primitive Methodist)

No	507
Date of Notice	17 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick James Prouting	Matilda Billings
	💍 1898/746
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coach Builder
Age	27	18
Dwelling Place	Orari	Geraldine
Length of Residence	6 months	18 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr Peter Billings, Geraldine
Folio	98/869
Consent	Peter Billings, father
Date of Certificate	17 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Williams (Primitive Methodist)

508

19 January 1898

William Frederick Hawke
Charlotte Eliza Wooding

William Frederick Hawke
Charlotte Eliza Wooding
💍 1898/724

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

29
26

Lingodelle Farm, Geraldine Road
Woodland Grange, Woodbury

6 years
16 years

St. Mary's Church, Geraldine

98/871

19 January 1898

Rev. James Preston (Church of England)

No	508
Date of Notice	19 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Frederick Hawke	Charlotte Eliza Wooding
	💍 1898/724
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Lingodelle Farm, Geraldine Road	Woodland Grange, Woodbury
Length of Residence	6 years	16 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Geraldine
Folio	98/871
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Preston (Church of England)

509

10 February 1898

Arthur George Nalder
Edith Mary Preston

Arthur George Nalder
Edith Mary Preston
💍 1898/725

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer

26
27

Woodside, Gapes's Valley
Geraldine

4 years
26 years

St. Mary's Church, Geraldine

98/872

10 February 1898

Rev. James Preston (Church of England)

No	509
Date of Notice	10 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur George Nalder	Edith Mary Preston
	💍 1898/725
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Woodside, Gapes's Valley	Geraldine
Length of Residence	4 years	26 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Geraldine
Folio	98/872
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Preston (Church of England)

510

15 March 1898

Richard Coombs
Naomi Stringer

Richard Coombs
Naomi Stringer
💍 1898/726

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Domestic Duties

23
19

Geraldine
Geraldine

20 years
19 years

The House of Mr Edwin Stringer, Geraldine

98/873

Edwin Stringer, father

15 March 1898

Rev. Henry Williams (Primitive Methodist)

No	510
Date of Notice	15 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Coombs	Naomi Stringer
	💍 1898/726
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Domestic Duties
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	20 years	19 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr Edwin Stringer, Geraldine
Folio	98/873
Consent	Edwin Stringer, father
Date of Certificate	15 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Williams (Primitive Methodist)

511

26 March 1898

George Whittaker
Alice Alexandra Fleming

George Whittaker
Alice Alexandra Fleming
💍 1898/727

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic Duties

25
22

Orari
Geraldine

8 months
22 years

The House of Mrs Jane Fleming, Geraldine

98/874

26 March 1898

Rev. Henry Williams (Primitive Methodist)

No	511
Date of Notice	26 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Whittaker	Alice Alexandra Fleming
	💍 1898/727
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Duties
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Orari	Geraldine
Length of Residence	8 months	22 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mrs Jane Fleming, Geraldine
Folio	98/874
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Williams (Primitive Methodist)

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).