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 356

District of Timaru Quarter ending 31 March 1898 Registrar Alexander Montgomery

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

6 January 1898

Joseph Ellis
Lillian Dale

Joseph Ellis
Lillian Dale
💍 1898/765

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier

33
22

Timaru
Timaru

3 years
22 years

Philip Dales Dwelling house Arthur Street Timaru

98/916

6 January 1898

Rev. Charles E. Beecroft, Wesleyan Minister

No	1
Date of Notice	6 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Ellis	Lillian Dale
	💍 1898/765
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier
Age	33	22
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Philip Dales Dwelling house Arthur Street Timaru
Folio	98/916
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Charles E. Beecroft, Wesleyan Minister

7 January 1898

John Swan Watson
Isabella Thomson

John Swan Watson
Isabella Thomson
💍 1898/783

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

40
30

Timaru
Timaru

4 weeks
1 month

Registrar's Office Timaru

98/909

7 January 1898

Alexander Montgomery, Registrar

No	2
Date of Notice	7 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Swan Watson	Isabella Thomson
	💍 1898/783
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	40	30
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	4 weeks	1 month
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Timaru
Folio	98/909
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Alexander Montgomery, Registrar

15 January 1898

Frank Newman
Maud McKenzie

Frank Newman
Maud Mary McKenzie
💍 1898/768

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

24
22

Timaru
Timaru

18 years
10 years

Frank Newman's Dwelling-house Le Cren Street Timaru

98/919

15 January 1898

Rev. P.W. Jones, Primitive Methodist Minister

No	3
Date of Notice	15 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Newman	Maud McKenzie
BDM Match (86%)	Frank Newman	Maud Mary McKenzie
	💍 1898/768
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	18 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Frank Newman's Dwelling-house Le Cren Street Timaru
Folio	98/919
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. P.W. Jones, Primitive Methodist Minister

2 February 1898

Frederick Crowle
Kate Conley

Frederick Crowle
Kate Conley
💍 1898/784

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

38
28

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office Timaru

98/910

2 February 1898

Alexander Montgomery, Registrar

No	4
Date of Notice	2 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Crowle	Kate Conley
	💍 1898/784
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	38	28
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Timaru
Folio	98/910
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Alexander Montgomery, Registrar

3 February 1898

Frederick William Hill
Ellen Isabella Rogers

Frederick William Hill
Ellen Isabella Rogers
💍 1898/2836

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

22
20

Timaru
Timaru

22 years
3 days

Mrs. Powells Dwelling house Brown Street Timaru

98/920

J. E. Hessell, Father of Bride

3 February 1898

Rev. P.W. Jones, Primitive Methodist Minister

No	5
Date of Notice	3 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Hill	Ellen Isabella Rogers
	💍 1898/2836
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	22 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Mrs. Powells Dwelling house Brown Street Timaru
Folio	98/920
Consent	J. E. Hessell, Father of Bride
Date of Certificate	3 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. P.W. Jones, Primitive Methodist Minister

9 February 1898

Walter Benjamin Oborn
Elizabeth Buchanan

Walter Benjamin Oborn
Elizabeth Buchanan
💍 1898/769

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

24
20

Timaru
Timaru

18 years
6 years

Mrs. Buchanan's Dwelling-house North Street Timaru

98/921

James Buchanan, Father of Bride

9 February 1898

Rev. P.W. Jones, Primitive Methodist Minister

No	6
Date of Notice	9 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Benjamin Oborn	Elizabeth Buchanan
	💍 1898/769
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	18 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Mrs. Buchanan's Dwelling-house North Street Timaru
Folio	98/921
Consent	James Buchanan, Father of Bride
Date of Certificate	9 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. P.W. Jones, Primitive Methodist Minister

11 February 1898

John Gordon Bain
Jessie Hendry

John Gordon Bain
Jessie Hendry
💍 1898/762

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd

30
27

Timaru
Blue Cliffs

10 years
25 years

St. Mary's Church Upper Otaio

98/913

11 February 1898

Rev. L.C. Brady, Church of England Clergyman

No	7
Date of Notice	11 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Gordon Bain	Jessie Hendry
	💍 1898/762
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Blue Cliffs
Length of Residence	10 years	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church Upper Otaio
Folio	98/913
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. L.C. Brady, Church of England Clergyman

16 February 1898

James Creighton
Annie O'Connell

James Creighton
Annie OConnell
💍 1898/763

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic Servant

35
27

Timaru
Timaru

4 days
5 days

Catholic Church Timaru

98/913

16 February 1898

Rev. John Tulman, Roman Catholic Priest

No	8
Date of Notice	16 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Creighton	Annie O'Connell
BDM Match (97%)	James Creighton	Annie OConnell
	💍 1898/763
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic Servant
Age	35	27
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	4 days	5 days
Marriage Place	Catholic Church Timaru
Folio	98/913
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Tulman, Roman Catholic Priest

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).