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 386

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1898 Registrar William Joseph Hall

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

25 January 1898

Francis McDiarmid
Margaret Reade Hislop

Francis McDiarmid
Margaret Reade Hislop
💍 1898/866

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

41 years
25 years

Dunedin
North East Valley

3 days
15 years

In the house of John Hislop, North East Valley

98/1024

25 January 1898

Revd C. Watt, Church of Christ

No	15
Date of Notice	25 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis McDiarmid	Margaret Reade Hislop
	💍 1898/866
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	41 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	North East Valley
Length of Residence	3 days	15 years
Marriage Place	In the house of John Hislop, North East Valley
Folio	98/1024
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Revd C. Watt, Church of Christ

25 January 1898

William Ernest Richardson
Elsie Dyack Meston

William Ernest Richardson
Elsie Dyack Merton
💍 1898/857

Bachelor
Spinster

Miller

41 years
29 years

Dunedin
South Dunedin

3 days
6 months

In the Presbyterian Church, South Dunedin

98/1015

25 January 1898

Revd Isaac Jolly, Presbyterian Minister

No	16
Date of Notice	25 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Ernest Richardson	Elsie Dyack Meston
BDM Match (97%)	William Ernest Richardson	Elsie Dyack Merton
	💍 1898/857
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miller
Age	41 years	29 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	6 months
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church, South Dunedin
Folio	98/1015
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Revd Isaac Jolly, Presbyterian Minister

26 January 1898

John Bell Blair
Florence Anderson

John Bell Blair
Florence Anderson
💍 1898/2449

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26 years
24 years

Caversham
Caversham

3 days
24 years

In the house of Mrs Maria Anderson, Caversham

98/1006

26 January 1898

Revd Isaac Jolly, Presbyterian Minister

No	17
Date of Notice	26 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Bell Blair	Florence Anderson
	💍 1898/2449
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Caversham
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Maria Anderson, Caversham
Folio	98/1006
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Revd Isaac Jolly, Presbyterian Minister

27 January 1898

Hugh Francis Wright
Isabella Mary Harlow

Hugh Francis Wright
Isabella Mary Harlon
💍 1898/837

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller

31 years
28 years

Dunedin
Newington

15 years
4 months

In the house of William Bridgeman, Harlow

98/995

27 January 1898

Revd W. Hewitson, Presbyterian Minister

No	18
Date of Notice	27 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Francis Wright	Isabella Mary Harlow
BDM Match (98%)	Hugh Francis Wright	Isabella Mary Harlon
	💍 1898/837
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller
Age	31 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Newington
Length of Residence	15 years	4 months
Marriage Place	In the house of William Bridgeman, Harlow
Folio	98/995
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Revd W. Hewitson, Presbyterian Minister

1 February 1898

George Robertson
Cecilia Leonard

George Robertson
Cecilia Leonard
💍 1898/827

Bachelor
Spinster

Horse Trainer

36 years
35 years

South Dunedin
Caversham

3 days
6 months

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages

98/959

1 February 1898

W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

No	19
Date of Notice	1 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Robertson	Cecilia Leonard
	💍 1898/827
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Horse Trainer
Age	36 years	35 years
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	Caversham
Length of Residence	3 days	6 months
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	98/959
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1898
Officiating Minister	W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

5 February 1898

Robert Alexander Carr
Jane Mason

Robert Alexander Carr
Jane Mason
💍 1898/828

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

22 years
21 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

1 week
3 days

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages

98/960

5 February 1898

W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

No	20
Date of Notice	5 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Alexander Carr	Jane Mason
	💍 1898/828
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	22 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	1 week	3 days
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	98/960
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1898
Officiating Minister	W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

5 February 1898

Henry William Major
Daisy Evans

Henry William Major
Daisy Evans
💍 1898/829

Bachelor
Spinster

Gas Stoker

23 years
21 years

Caversham
Caversham

1 year
5 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages

98/961

5 February 1898

W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

No	21
Date of Notice	5 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry William Major	Daisy Evans
	💍 1898/829
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gas Stoker
Age	23 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Caversham
Length of Residence	1 year	5 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	98/961
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1898
Officiating Minister	W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

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).