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 511

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

293

20 May 1898

Henry James Dougherty
Laura Tomkys

Henry James Dougherty
Laura Tomkys
💍 1898/1011

Bachelor
Spinster

Surveyor's Assistant
Milliner

38
36

Auckland
Auckland

18 months
5 weeks

St. Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland

98/1217

20 May 1898

Rev. W.B. Purton, Roman Catholic

No	293
Date of Notice	20 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry James Dougherty	Laura Tomkys
	💍 1898/1011
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surveyor's Assistant	Milliner
Age	38	36
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	18 months	5 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland
Folio	98/1217
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W.B. Purton, Roman Catholic

294

20 May 1898

Francis Alexander Turname
Violet Nicholas Speight

Francis Alexander Twiname Jun
Violet Nicholas Speight
💍 1898/1096

Bachelor
Spinster

Managing Clerk

34
35

Auckland
Auckland

25 years
35 years

St. Paul's Church, Auckland

98/1283

20 May 1898

Rev. C.M. Nelson, Church of England

No	294
Date of Notice	20 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Alexander Turname	Violet Nicholas Speight
BDM Match (90%)	Francis Alexander Twiname Jun	Violet Nicholas Speight
	💍 1898/1096
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Managing Clerk
Age	34	35
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	25 years	35 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Auckland
Folio	98/1283
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. C.M. Nelson, Church of England

295

20 May 1898

James McDougall Gordon
Evelina Jeanetta Cantell

James McDougall Gordon
Evelina Jeanetta Cantell
💍 1898/2144

Bachelor
Spinster

Linotype Operator

24
21

Auckland
Auckland

24 years
21 years

St. David's Presbyterian Church, Symonds St.

98/2423

20 May 1898

Rev. R. Scott West, Presbyterian

No	295
Date of Notice	20 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James McDougall Gordon	Evelina Jeanetta Cantell
	💍 1898/2144
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Linotype Operator
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	24 years	21 years
Marriage Place	St. David's Presbyterian Church, Symonds St.
Folio	98/2423
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Scott West, Presbyterian

296

20 May 1898

Walter John James Taylor
Jemmie Boyd

Walter John James Taylor
Jennie Boyd
💍 1898/2408

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

27
21

Auckland
Auckland

3 years
4 years

Registrar's Office, Auckland

98/1194

20 May 1898

J. Culpan, Deputy Registrar

No	296
Date of Notice	20 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter John James Taylor	Jemmie Boyd
BDM Match (91%)	Walter John James Taylor	Jennie Boyd
	💍 1898/2408
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	98/1194
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 May 1898
Officiating Minister	J. Culpan, Deputy Registrar

297

20 May 1898

Thomas Elliott
Susanna Castle Newton

Thomas Elliott
Susanna Castle
💍 1898/1089

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

20
21

Auckland
Auckland

20 years
6 years

House of Mother of Bridegroom, Cross St.

98/1299

C. Mattison (formerly Elliott), mother

20 May 1898

Mr. G. Aldridge, Church of Christ

No	297
Date of Notice	20 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Elliott	Susanna Castle Newton
BDM Match (83%)	Thomas Elliott	Susanna Castle
	💍 1898/1089
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	20	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	20 years	6 years
Marriage Place	House of Mother of Bridegroom, Cross St.
Folio	98/1299
Consent	C. Mattison (formerly Elliott), mother
Date of Certificate	20 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Mr. G. Aldridge, Church of Christ

298

20 May 1898

Constantine Melville
Clara Elizabeth Forbes

Constantine Melville
Clara Elizabeth Forbes
💍 1898/2156

Bachelor
Spinster

Restaurant Keeper

31
22

Auckland
Auckland

2 years
15 months

St. Matthew's Church, Auckland

98/2434

20 May 1898

Rev. L. Fitzgerald, Church of England

No	298
Date of Notice	20 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Constantine Melville	Clara Elizabeth Forbes
	💍 1898/2156
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Restaurant Keeper
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 years	15 months
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, Auckland
Folio	98/2434
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Fitzgerald, Church of England

299

20 May 1898

Walter Henry Selby Neale
Mary Ann Hemming

Walter Henry Selby Neale
Mary Ann Hemming
💍 1898/1080

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23
24

East Tamaki
East Tamaki

4 years
24 years

Church of England, East Tamaki

98/1290

20 May 1898

Rev. R.G. Boler, Church of England

No	299
Date of Notice	20 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Henry Selby Neale	Mary Ann Hemming
	💍 1898/1080
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	East Tamaki	East Tamaki
Length of Residence	4 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, East Tamaki
Folio	98/1290
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. R.G. Boler, 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).