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 423

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 March 1898 Registrar John Logan Bush

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

12 February 1898

John Joseph Crengle
Delia Josephine Kilkely

John Joseph Crengle
Delia Josephine Kilkelly
💍 1898/930

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

28
27

Wairaniwa
Grove Bush

3 years
27 years

St Mary Church, Clyde Street, Invercargill

98/1015

14 February 1898

Rev Wm Burke

No	13
Date of Notice	12 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Joseph Crengle	Delia Josephine Kilkely
BDM Match (98%)	John Joseph Crengle	Delia Josephine Kilkelly
	💍 1898/930
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Wairaniwa	Grove Bush
Length of Residence	3 years	27 years
Marriage Place	St Mary Church, Clyde Street, Invercargill
Folio	98/1015
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev Wm Burke

14 February 1898

George Bartholomew Purdue
Amelia Matilda Everett

George Bartholomew Purdue
Amelia Matilda Everett
💍 1898/2688

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

25
22

Invercargill
Invercargill

18 years
12 years

Baptist Church, Esk Street, Invercargill

98/1092

14 February 1898

Rev Allan Poole

No	14
Date of Notice	14 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Bartholomew Purdue	Amelia Matilda Everett
	💍 1898/2688
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	18 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Esk Street, Invercargill
Folio	98/1092
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev Allan Poole

15 February 1898

Arthur John James Lister
Mary Josephine Culling

Arthur John James Lister
Mary Josephine Culling
💍 1898/931

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

22
20

Invercargill
Invercargill

18 years
14 years

St Mary Church, Clyde Street, Invercargill

98/1076

Hugh Culling, Father

15 February 1898

Rev Wm Burke

No	15
Date of Notice	15 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur John James Lister	Mary Josephine Culling
	💍 1898/931
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	18 years	14 years
Marriage Place	St Mary Church, Clyde Street, Invercargill
Folio	98/1076
Consent	Hugh Culling, Father
Date of Certificate	15 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev Wm Burke

15 February 1898

John Gorton
Jane McSweney

John Gorton
Jane McInerney
💍 1898/902

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

23
21

Makarewa
Wallacetown

23 years
8 years

Office of the Registrar, Invercargill

98/1067

15 February 1898

J. L. Bush, Registrar

No	16
Date of Notice	15 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Gorton	Jane McSweney
BDM Match (89%)	John Gorton	Jane McInerney
	💍 1898/902
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Makarewa	Wallacetown
Length of Residence	23 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar, Invercargill
Folio	98/1067
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1898
Officiating Minister	J. L. Bush, Registrar

15 February 1898

William Jas Brown
Elizabeth Rae

William James Brown
Elizabeth Rae
💍 1898/932

Walter Brown
Elizabeth Hewer
💍 1898/1324

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber

26
25

Gladstone
Myross Bush

2 years
3 weeks

House of Mrs J. Rae, Myross Bush, Invercargill

98/1077

15 February 1898

Rev J. Gibson Smith

No	17
Date of Notice	15 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Jas Brown	Elizabeth Rae
BDM Match (95%)	William James Brown	Elizabeth Rae
	💍 1898/932
BDM Match (60%)	Walter Brown	Elizabeth Hewer
	💍 1898/1324
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Gladstone	Myross Bush
Length of Residence	2 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	House of Mrs J. Rae, Myross Bush, Invercargill
Folio	98/1077
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Gibson Smith

19 February 1898

Alexander McConnell
Annie Keating

Alexander McConnell
Maine Keating
💍 1898/903

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

24
24

Invercargill
Invercargill

7 months
6 months

Office of the Registrar, Invercargill

98/1068

19 February 1898

J. L. Bush, Registrar

No	18
Date of Notice	19 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander McConnell	Annie Keating
BDM Match (85%)	Alexander McConnell	Maine Keating
	💍 1898/903
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	7 months	6 months
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar, Invercargill
Folio	98/1068
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1898
Officiating Minister	J. L. Bush, Registrar

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).