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 481

District of Winton Quarter ending 31 March 1898 Registrar William Russell

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

134

3 January 1898

John Galt
Margaret McPherson

John Wharton
Catherine McPherson
💍 1898/2453

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Teacher

26
26

Hokounui
Hokounui

3 days
16 years

House of Mr. Alex McPherson, Hokounui

98/1160

3 January 1898

Rev. James Baird, Presbyterian

No	134
Date of Notice	3 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Galt	Margaret McPherson
BDM Match (61%)	John Wharton	Catherine McPherson
	💍 1898/2453
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Teacher
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Hokounui	Hokounui
Length of Residence	3 days	16 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Alex McPherson, Hokounui
Folio	98/1160
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Baird, Presbyterian

135

26 January 1898

John Hagerty
Susan McInerney

John Hagerty
Susan McInerney
💍 1898/2743

John Gorton
Jane McInerney
💍 1898/902

Bachelor
Spinster

Hair Dresser

29
21

Winton
Winton

25 years
6 years

Roman Catholic Church, Winton

98/2587

27 January 1898

Rev. Nicholas Vereker, Roman Catholic

No	135
Date of Notice	26 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hagerty	Susan McInerney
	💍 1898/2743
BDM Match (62%)	John Gorton	Jane McInerney
	💍 1898/902
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hair Dresser
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Winton	Winton
Length of Residence	25 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Winton
Folio	98/2587
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Nicholas Vereker, Roman Catholic

136

27 January 1898

Joseph Sangford
Norah Carcaron

Joseph Langford
Norah Corcoran
💍 1898/2861

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

41
23

South Hill End
South Hill End

16 years
4 Months

Roman Catholic Church, Winton

98/2588

27 January 1898

Rev. Nicholas Vereker, Roman Catholic

No	136
Date of Notice	27 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Sangford	Norah Carcaron
BDM Match (86%)	Joseph Langford	Norah Corcoran
	💍 1898/2861
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	41	23
Dwelling Place	South Hill End	South Hill End
Length of Residence	16 years	4 Months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Winton
Folio	98/2588
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Nicholas Vereker, Roman Catholic

137

2 February 1898

Frederick White
Alice Butcher

Frederick White
Alice Butcher
💍 1898/989

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

30
20

Winton
Winton

10 years
12 years

The Registrar's Office

98/1161

Henry Butcher, Father

2 February 1898

William Russell, Registrar, Winton

No	137
Date of Notice	2 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick White	Alice Butcher
	💍 1898/989
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	30	20
Dwelling Place	Winton	Winton
Length of Residence	10 years	12 years
Marriage Place	The Registrar's Office
Folio	98/1161
Consent	Henry Butcher, Father
Date of Certificate	2 February 1898
Officiating Minister	William Russell, Registrar, Winton

138

25 February 1898

James Hommes
Jane Isabella Forbes

James Florence
Jane Isobella Forbes
💍 1898/924

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

34
23

Winton
Woodlands

14 years
23 years

House of Mr. John Forbes, Woodlands

98/1091

25 February 1898

Rev. Evan Bissett, Presbyterian

No	138
Date of Notice	25 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Hommes	Jane Isabella Forbes
BDM Match (73%)	James Florence	Jane Isobella Forbes
	💍 1898/924
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	34	23
Dwelling Place	Winton	Woodlands
Length of Residence	14 years	23 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. John Forbes, Woodlands
Folio	98/1091
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Evan Bissett, Presbyterian

139

7 March 1898

Francis Ledington
Elizabeth Ada Jefferies

Francis Ledington
Elizabeth Ada Jefferies
💍 1898/990

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

32
19

Winton District
Winton District

3 days
7 years

The Registrar's Office

98/1162

Lucy Rizzi, formerly Jefferies, Mother

7 March 1898

William Russell, Registrar, Winton

No	139
Date of Notice	7 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Ledington	Elizabeth Ada Jefferies
	💍 1898/990
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	32	19
Dwelling Place	Winton District	Winton District
Length of Residence	3 days	7 years
Marriage Place	The Registrar's Office
Folio	98/1162
Consent	Lucy Rizzi, formerly Jefferies, Mother
Date of Certificate	7 March 1898
Officiating Minister	William Russell, Registrar, Winton

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).