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 489

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 June 1898 Registrar Thomas Culpan, Deputy Registrar

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

176

1 April 1898

Thomas Lace Caley
Josephine Spence

Thomas Lace Caley
Josephine Spence
💍 1898/1123

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler
Domestic duties

33
27

Auckland
Auckland

33 years
15 years

House of Father of Bride, Pollen Street, Auckland

98/1312

1 April 1898

Rev. H. H. Lawry, Wesleyan

No	176
Date of Notice	1 April 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Lace Caley	Josephine Spence
	💍 1898/1123
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler	Domestic duties
Age	33	27
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	33 years	15 years
Marriage Place	House of Father of Bride, Pollen Street, Auckland
Folio	98/1312
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 April 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. H. Lawry, Wesleyan

177

1 April 1898

Robert Johnston
Emily Hope Hesketh

Robert Johnston
Emily Hope Hesketh
💍 1898/1023

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller
Domestic duties

28
26

Auckland
Remuera

15 years
26 years

St. Mark's Church, Remuera

98/1207

1 April 1898

Rev. W. Beatty, M.A., Church of England

No	177
Date of Notice	1 April 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Johnston	Emily Hope Hesketh
	💍 1898/1023
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Domestic duties
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Remuera
Length of Residence	15 years	26 years
Marriage Place	St. Mark's Church, Remuera
Folio	98/1207
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 April 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Beatty, M.A., Church of England

178

2 April 1898

Henry Martin
Katherine Isabella Shepherd

Henry Martin
Katherine Isabella Shepherd
💍 1898/1034

Bachelor
Widow

Upholsterer
Domestic duties

22
30

Auckland
Auckland

12 months
2 years

House of the Bride, Melrose, Devonport

98/1244

2 April 1898

Rev. R. Ferguson, Presbyterian

No	178
Date of Notice	2 April 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Martin	Katherine Isabella Shepherd
	💍 1898/1034
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Upholsterer	Domestic duties
Age	22	30
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	12 months	2 years
Marriage Place	House of the Bride, Melrose, Devonport
Folio	98/1244
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson, Presbyterian

179

2 April 1898

Charles Holland
Fanny Marsh

Bachelor
Spinster

Gum-digger
Domestic duties

29
23

Ararimu
Ararimu

8 months
8 months

Registrar's Office, Auckland

98/1171

2 April 1898

J. Culpan, Deputy Registrar

No	179
Date of Notice	2 April 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Holland	Fanny Marsh
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gum-digger	Domestic duties
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Ararimu	Ararimu
Length of Residence	8 months	8 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	98/1171
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1898
Officiating Minister	J. Culpan, Deputy Registrar

180

2 April 1898

John Alfred McDell
Bertha Emily Colbourne

John Alfred McDell
Bertha Emily Colbourne
💍 1898/1048

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler
Domestic duties

27
19

Parnell
Remuera

9 years
19 years

Presbyterian Church, Remuera

98/1236

Mr. Colbourne, Mother

2 April 1898

Rev. G. B. Monro, Presbyterian

No	180
Date of Notice	2 April 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Alfred McDell	Bertha Emily Colbourne
	💍 1898/1048
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler	Domestic duties
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	Parnell	Remuera
Length of Residence	9 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Remuera
Folio	98/1236
Consent	Mr. Colbourne, Mother
Date of Certificate	2 April 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Monro, Presbyterian

181

4 April 1898

Samuel Rout
Mary Shanning

Samuel Rout
Mary Shanning
💍 1898/2810

Widower
Spinster

Agent
Domestic duties

62
35

Auckland
Auckland

50 years
9 years

House of Bride, Nugent Street, Kyber Pass

98/1309

4 April 1898

Rev. Joseph Clark, Baptist

No	181
Date of Notice	4 April 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Rout	Mary Shanning
	💍 1898/2810
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Agent	Domestic duties
Age	62	35
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	50 years	9 years
Marriage Place	House of Bride, Nugent Street, Kyber Pass
Folio	98/1309
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 April 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Joseph Clark, Baptist

182

4 April 1898

Stephen Henry Bray
Jessie Morley

Stephen Henry Bray
Jessie Mason Morley
💍 1898/1031

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic duties

27
25

Auckland
Auckland

27 years
25 years

St. Luke's Church, Mount Albert

98/1340

4 April 1898

Rev. F. Larkins, Church of England

No	182
Date of Notice	4 April 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stephen Henry Bray	Jessie Morley
BDM Match (84%)	Stephen Henry Bray	Jessie Mason Morley
	💍 1898/1031
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic duties
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	27 years	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Mount Albert
Folio	98/1340
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 April 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Larkins, Church of England

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).