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 334

District of Lyttelton Quarter ending 31 March 1898 Registrar William Shanaghan

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

1 February 1898

William Cottee
Annie Avery

William Cottee
Annie Avery
💍 1898/735

Widower
Spinster

Brickmaker

43 years
32 years

Waimate but now of Lyttelton
Waimate but now of Lyttelton

5 days
5 days

House of Rev. F. Murray, Lyttelton

98/881

1 February 1898

Rev. F. Murray, Wesleyan Minister

No	1
Date of Notice	1 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Cottee	Annie Avery
	💍 1898/735
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Brickmaker
Age	43 years	32 years
Dwelling Place	Waimate but now of Lyttelton	Waimate but now of Lyttelton
Length of Residence	5 days	5 days
Marriage Place	House of Rev. F. Murray, Lyttelton
Folio	98/881
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Murray, Wesleyan Minister

5 February 1898

Gavin Andrew Sneddon
Cora Jean McLellan

Gavin Andrew Sneddon
Cora Jean McLellan
💍 1898/736

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Machinist

30 years
26 years

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

2 1/2 years
26 years

House of Hugh McLellan, Bride's father, Lyttelton

98/882

5 February 1898

Rev. F. Murray, Wesleyan Minister

No	2
Date of Notice	5 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gavin Andrew Sneddon	Cora Jean McLellan
	💍 1898/736
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Machinist
Age	30 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	26 years
Marriage Place	House of Hugh McLellan, Bride's father, Lyttelton
Folio	98/882
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Murray, Wesleyan Minister

9 February 1898

Robert John Brown
Louisa Chilman

Robert John Brown
Louisa Chilman
💍 1898/737

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

22 years
23 years

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

21 days
3 months

House of John Dempsie, Jackson, Road, Lyttelton

98/883

9 February 1898

Rev. F. Murray, Wesleyan Minister

No	3
Date of Notice	9 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert John Brown	Louisa Chilman
	💍 1898/737
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	22 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	21 days	3 months
Marriage Place	House of John Dempsie, Jackson, Road, Lyttelton
Folio	98/883
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Murray, Wesleyan Minister

28 February 1898

Samuel Kida
Ellen Hunt

Samuel Kidd
Ellen Hunt
💍 1898/732

Bachelor
Spinster

Constable

29 years
24 years

Timaru but now of Lyttelton
Lyttelton

10 days
10 days

St. Saviours, Anglican Church, Lyttelton West

98/879

28 February 1898

Rev. E. E. Chambers, Anglican Minister

No	4
Date of Notice	28 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Kida	Ellen Hunt
BDM Match (95%)	Samuel Kidd	Ellen Hunt
	💍 1898/732
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Constable
Age	29 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru but now of Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	10 days	10 days
Marriage Place	St. Saviours, Anglican Church, Lyttelton West
Folio	98/879
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. E. Chambers, Anglican Minister

28 February 1898

Donald Joseph Comer
Louisa Mary Cook

Donald Joseph Comer
Louisa Mary Cook
💍 1898/733

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

26 years
18 years

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

2 1/2 years
18 years

St. Saviours, Anglican Church, Lyttelton West

98/880

Colin Cook, father

28 February 1898

Rev. E. E. Chambers, Anglican Minister

No	5
Date of Notice	28 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald Joseph Comer	Louisa Mary Cook
	💍 1898/733
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	26 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	18 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviours, Anglican Church, Lyttelton West
Folio	98/880
Consent	Colin Cook, father
Date of Certificate	28 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. E. Chambers, Anglican Minister

10 March 1898

Ebenezer Sinclair
Grace Frederick

Ebenezer Sinclair
Grace Tredinnick
💍 1898/738

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23 years
21 years

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

23 years
2 years

House of Stephen Frederick, Lyttelton West

98/884

10 March 1898

Rev. F. Murray, Wesleyan Minister

No	6
Date of Notice	10 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ebenezer Sinclair	Grace Frederick
BDM Match (88%)	Ebenezer Sinclair	Grace Tredinnick
	💍 1898/738
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	23 years	2 years
Marriage Place	House of Stephen Frederick, Lyttelton West
Folio	98/884
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Murray, Wesleyan Minister

12 March 1898

Harold Gardiner
Christina Mayoral Henderson

Harold Gardiner
Christina Margaret Henderson
💍 1898/739

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

33 years
24 years

Pukerau
Diamond Harbour

17 years
20 years

House of Gideon Henderson, Diamond Harbour

98/885

12 March 1898

Rev. F. Murray, Wesleyan Minister

No	7
Date of Notice	12 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Gardiner	Christina Mayoral Henderson
BDM Match (91%)	Harold Gardiner	Christina Margaret Henderson
	💍 1898/739
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	33 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Pukerau	Diamond Harbour
Length of Residence	17 years	20 years
Marriage Place	House of Gideon Henderson, Diamond Harbour
Folio	98/885
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Murray, Wesleyan Minister

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).