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 536

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 30 June 1898 Registrar William Alfred Barton

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

1000

31 May 1898

William Henry Dorrington
Marion Harris

William Henry Dorrington
Marion Harris
💍 1898/1187

Bachelor
Spinster

Waggoner
None

20
21

Matawhero
Makauri

20 years
3 years

at the Church of England, Gisborne

98/1378

31 May 1898

Rev. A. S. Webb, Church of England minister

No	1000
Date of Notice	31 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Dorrington	Marion Harris
	💍 1898/1187
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Waggoner	None
Age	20	21
Dwelling Place	Matawhero	Makauri
Length of Residence	20 years	3 years
Marriage Place	at the Church of England, Gisborne
Folio	98/1378
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. S. Webb, Church of England minister

1001

3 June 1898

James Drennan McCredie
Susan Elizabeth Berryman Chellard

James Drennan McCredie
Susan Elizabeth Berryman Chellew
💍 1898/1188

Bachelor
Spinster

Station Hand
None

25
32

Waihuka
Waihuka

6 years
4 years

at the residence of Hutchison Brothers, Waihuka

98/1979

3 June 1898

Rev. J. E. Jose, Church of England minister

No	1001
Date of Notice	3 June 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Drennan McCredie	Susan Elizabeth Berryman Chellard
BDM Match (95%)	James Drennan McCredie	Susan Elizabeth Berryman Chellew
	💍 1898/1188
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Station Hand	None
Age	25	32
Dwelling Place	Waihuka	Waihuka
Length of Residence	6 years	4 years
Marriage Place	at the residence of Hutchison Brothers, Waihuka
Folio	98/1979
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 June 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. E. Jose, Church of England minister

1002

3 June 1898

John Burgess
Barbara Milne

John Burgess
Barbara Milne
💍 1898/2623

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Cook

31
26

Gisborne
Gisborne

5 years
3 years

Salvation Army Barracks, Gladstone Road, Gisborne

98/1319

3 June 1898

Major Albert Arthur Ernest Holdaway of Salvation Army

No	1002
Date of Notice	3 June 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Burgess	Barbara Milne
	💍 1898/2623
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Cook
Age	31	26
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	5 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Salvation Army Barracks, Gladstone Road, Gisborne
Folio	98/1319
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 June 1898
Officiating Minister	Major Albert Arthur Ernest Holdaway of Salvation Army

1003

4 June 1898

Albert Henry Hacche
Maria Wallen

Albert Henry Hacche
Maria Wallen
💍 1898/1152

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
None

23
22

Gisborne
Gisborne

23 years
4 years

at the residence of Hannah Hacche, Gladstone Road, Gisborne

98/1367

4 June 1898

Rev. Joseph Blight, Wesleyan minister

No	1003
Date of Notice	4 June 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Henry Hacche	Maria Wallen
	💍 1898/1152
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	None
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	23 years	4 years
Marriage Place	at the residence of Hannah Hacche, Gladstone Road, Gisborne
Folio	98/1367
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Joseph Blight, Wesleyan minister

1004

14 June 1898

Samuel Gaslow
Ada Fisher

Samuel Gaston
Ada Fisher
💍 1898/4510

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Servant

31
22

Ormond
Ormond

14 days
2 years

at the Presbyterian Church, Gisborne

98/3917

14 June 1898

Rev. J. Patterson, Presbyterian

No	1004
Date of Notice	14 June 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Gaslow	Ada Fisher
BDM Match (92%)	Samuel Gaston	Ada Fisher
	💍 1898/4510
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Servant
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Ormond	Ormond
Length of Residence	14 days	2 years
Marriage Place	at the Presbyterian Church, Gisborne
Folio	98/3917
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 June 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Patterson, Presbyterian

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).