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 598

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 June 1898 Registrar Edward Honiss

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

30 May 1898

Mority Bowron
Te Rena Te Juhi

Moritz Bowron
Te Rina Te Tuhi
💍 1898/1232

Bachelor
Spinster

Metallurgist
None

52
43

Thames
Thames

2½ years
43 years

St. George's Church Thames

98/1431

30 May 1898

Rev. T. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	44
Date of Notice	30 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Mority Bowron	Te Rena Te Juhi
BDM Match (90%)	Moritz Bowron	Te Rina Te Tuhi
	💍 1898/1232
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Metallurgist	None
Age	52	43
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	2½ years	43 years
Marriage Place	St. George's Church Thames
Folio	98/1431
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. O'Callaghan, Church of England

6 June 1898

Richard Francis Williams
Mildred Ethel Jane White

Richard Francis Williams
Mildred Ethel Jane White
💍 1898/2130

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Servant

31
19

Thames
Thames

10 months
19 years

The Office of the Registrar Thames

98/1444

William White, Grandfather

6 June 1898

Edward Honiss, Registrar

No	45
Date of Notice	6 June 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Francis Williams	Mildred Ethel Jane White
	💍 1898/2130
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Servant
Age	31	19
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	10 months	19 years
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar Thames
Folio	98/1444
Consent	William White, Grandfather
Date of Certificate	6 June 1898
Officiating Minister	Edward Honiss, Registrar

8 June 1898

William John Lowers
Louisa May Stevens

William John Towers
Louisa May Stevens
💍 1898/1233

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
School Teacher

30
22

Thames
Thames

3 days
1 week

St. George's Church Thames

98/1432

8 June 1898

Rev. T. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	46
Date of Notice	8 June 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Lowers	Louisa May Stevens
BDM Match (97%)	William John Towers	Louisa May Stevens
	💍 1898/1233
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	School Teacher
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	1 week
Marriage Place	St. George's Church Thames
Folio	98/1432
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 June 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. O'Callaghan, Church of England

7 June 1898

Ralph Donkin
Ethel Louisa Vowles

Ralph Donkin
Ethel Louisa Vowles
💍 1898/1204

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

29
21

Thames
Thames

27 years
2 years

The Dwelling of Giles Ardern, Pollen St., Thames

98/1423

7 June 1898

Rev. W. R. Moodley, Baptist

No	47
Date of Notice	7 June 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ralph Donkin	Ethel Louisa Vowles
	💍 1898/1204
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	27 years	2 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Giles Ardern, Pollen St., Thames
Folio	98/1423
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 June 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. R. Moodley, Baptist

7 June 1898

Edmand Alexander Robertson
Emma Jane Crawford

Edmond Alexander Robertson
Emma Jane Crawford
💍 1898/1238

Bachelor
Spinster

Customs Officer
None

25
28

Thames
Thames

3 days
3 days

The Dwelling of John Crawford, Karaka Road

98/1438

7 June 1898

Rev. Jas. Mackenzie, Presbyterian

No	48
Date of Notice	7 June 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edmand Alexander Robertson	Emma Jane Crawford
BDM Match (98%)	Edmond Alexander Robertson	Emma Jane Crawford
	💍 1898/1238
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Customs Officer	None
Age	25	28
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of John Crawford, Karaka Road
Folio	98/1438
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 June 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. Mackenzie, 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).