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 499

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 June 1898 Registrar Thomas Culpan

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

248

26 April 1898

William Thomas Reach
Gertrude Inskip

William Thomas Reach
Gertrude Inskip
💍 1898/1024

Bachelor
Spinster

Maltster
Domestic duties

19
23

Newmarket
Newmarket

15 years
2 years

St. Mark's Church, Remuera

98/1208

William Reach, father

26 April 1898

Rev. H. D. A. Major, Church of England

No	248
Date of Notice	26 April 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Thomas Reach	Gertrude Inskip
	💍 1898/1024
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Maltster	Domestic duties
Age	19	23
Dwelling Place	Newmarket	Newmarket
Length of Residence	15 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Mark's Church, Remuera
Folio	98/1208
Consent	William Reach, father
Date of Certificate	26 April 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. D. A. Major, Church of England

249

27 April 1898

Henry Kneebone
Lucy Coupe

Henry Kneebone
Lucie Coupe
💍 1898/2422

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Tobacconist

24
28

Auckland
Auckland

2 years
2 1/2 years

Registrar's Office, Auckland

98/1184

27 April 1898

J. Culpan, Deputy Registrar

No	249
Date of Notice	27 April 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Kneebone	Lucy Coupe
BDM Match (91%)	Henry Kneebone	Lucie Coupe
	💍 1898/2422
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Tobacconist
Age	24	28
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 years	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	98/1184
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 April 1898
Officiating Minister	J. Culpan, Deputy Registrar

250

27 April 1898

Robert Wotherspoon
Mary Torrens

Robert Wotherspoon
Mary Torrens
💍 1898/1118

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Clerk

33
24

Auckland
Auckland

11 months
5 months

Congregational Church, Beresford Street

98/1306

27 April 1898

Rev. Joseph Parker, Congregationalist

No	250
Date of Notice	27 April 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Wotherspoon	Mary Torrens
	💍 1898/1118
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Clerk
Age	33	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	11 months	5 months
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Beresford Street
Folio	98/1306
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 April 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Joseph Parker, Congregationalist

251

27 April 1898

Edward Wood
Janet Muir Heron

Edward Wood
Janet Muir Heron
💍 1898/1038

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Domestic duties

26
21

Avondale
Avondale

6 years
17 years

Presbyterian Church, Avondale

98/1348

27 April 1898

Rev. Alex. MacLean, Presbyterian

No	251
Date of Notice	27 April 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Wood	Janet Muir Heron
	💍 1898/1038
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Domestic duties
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Avondale	Avondale
Length of Residence	6 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Avondale
Folio	98/1348
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 April 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alex. MacLean, Presbyterian

252

28 April 1898

Henry John Gentles
Catherine Anne Burns

Henry John Gentles
Catherine Anne Burns
💍 1898/2181

Widower
Widow

Mine Manager
Domestic duties

39
26

Auckland
Auckland

4 months
8 years

Epiphany Church, Newton

98/2440

28 April 1898

Rev. W. E. Lush, Church of England

No	252
Date of Notice	28 April 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry John Gentles	Catherine Anne Burns
	💍 1898/2181
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Mine Manager	Domestic duties
Age	39	26
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 months	8 years
Marriage Place	Epiphany Church, Newton
Folio	98/2440
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 April 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. E. Lush, Church of England

253

28 April 1898

Alfred Mason Speedy
Janie Wilson Smith

Alfred Mason Speedy
Janie Wilson Smith
💍 1898/1017

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

53
42

Waiuku
Auckland

9 years
42 years

Wesleyan Church, Grafton Road

98/1224

28 April 1898

Rev. F. J. Williams, Wesleyan

No	253
Date of Notice	28 April 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Mason Speedy	Janie Wilson Smith
	💍 1898/1017
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	53	42
Dwelling Place	Waiuku	Auckland
Length of Residence	9 years	42 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Grafton Road
Folio	98/1224
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 April 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. J. Williams, Wesleyan

254

28 April 1898

Gilbert Muir Heron
Mary Ellen McBurney

Gilbert Muir Heron
Mary Ellen McBurney
💍 1898/2423

Bachelor
Spinster

Brush maker
Domestic duties

22
23

Auckland
Auckland

16 years
23 years

Registrar's Office, Auckland

98/1185

28 April 1898

J. Culpan, Deputy Registrar

No	254
Date of Notice	28 April 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gilbert Muir Heron	Mary Ellen McBurney
	💍 1898/2423
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Brush maker	Domestic duties
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	16 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	98/1185
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 April 1898
Officiating Minister	J. Culpan, Deputy Registrar

255

29 April 1898

William Henry McKeown
Blanche Nicholas

William Henry McKewan
Blanche Nicholas
💍 1898/1758

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic duties

25
20

Mount Eden
Mount Eden

5 years
10 years

All Saints' Church, Ponsonby

98/4004

Joseph Nicholas, brother

29 April 1898

Rev. W. Calder, Church of England

No	255
Date of Notice	29 April 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry McKeown	Blanche Nicholas
BDM Match (95%)	William Henry McKewan	Blanche Nicholas
	💍 1898/1758
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic duties
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Mount Eden	Mount Eden
Length of Residence	5 years	10 years
Marriage Place	All Saints' Church, Ponsonby
Folio	98/4004
Consent	Joseph Nicholas, brother
Date of Certificate	29 April 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Calder, Church of England

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).