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 653

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 June 1898

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

20 May 1898

Arthur Simmonds
Laura Robertson

Arthur Simmonds
Laura Robertson
💍 1898/2192

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

26
27

Napier
Napier

20 years
4 years

Cathedral at Napier

98/2473

20 May 1898

Dean Hovell, Church of England

No	56
Date of Notice	20 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Simmonds	Laura Robertson
	💍 1898/2192
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	20 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Cathedral at Napier
Folio	98/2473
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Dean Hovell, Church of England

25 May 1898

Charles Williams
Catherine Jane Millner

Charles Williams
Catherine Jane Millner
💍 1898/2193

Bachelor
Spinster

Signwriter

25
23

Napier
Napier

25 years
14 years

Cathedral at Napier

98/2474

25 May 1898

Dean Hovell, Church of England

No	57
Date of Notice	25 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Williams	Catherine Jane Millner
	💍 1898/2193
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Signwriter
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	25 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Cathedral at Napier
Folio	98/2474
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Dean Hovell, Church of England

30 May 1898

Harold William Frost
Florence Gruchy

Harold William Frost
Florence Gruchy
💍 1898/2194

Bachelor
Spinster

Dentist

25
22

Napier
Napier

2.5 years
20 years

Cathedral at Napier

98/2475

30 May 1898

Dean Hovell, Church of England

No	58
Date of Notice	30 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold William Frost	Florence Gruchy
	💍 1898/2194
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dentist
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	2.5 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Cathedral at Napier
Folio	98/2475
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Dean Hovell, Church of England

30 May 1898

Frederick John Sims
Alice Maud Shade

Frederick John Sims
Alice Maud Shade
💍 1898/2195

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

20
18

Western Spit
Western Spit

7 years
11 years

Cathedral at Napier

98/2476

Robert Sims, Father; Emma Shade, Mother

30 May 1898

Dean Hovell, Church of England

No	59
Date of Notice	30 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick John Sims	Alice Maud Shade
	💍 1898/2195
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	20	18
Dwelling Place	Western Spit	Western Spit
Length of Residence	7 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Cathedral at Napier
Folio	98/2476
Consent	Robert Sims, Father; Emma Shade, Mother
Date of Certificate	30 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Dean Hovell, Church of England

31 May 1898

Alfred Herbert Dillon
Adelaide D'Authreau

Alfred Herbert Dillow
Adelaide D'Authuran
💍 1898/1341

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer

26
22

Elsthorpe, Napier
Napier

2 years 3 days
13 years

St Pauls Church, Napier

98/1568

31 May 1898

Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	60
Date of Notice	31 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Herbert Dillon	Adelaide D'Authreau
BDM Match (90%)	Alfred Herbert Dillow	Adelaide D'Authuran
	💍 1898/1341
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Elsthorpe, Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	2 years 3 days	13 years
Marriage Place	St Pauls Church, Napier
Folio	98/1568
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

2 June 1898

David Patterson
Margaret Ann Patterson

David Patterson
Margaret Ann Patterson
💍 1898/1342

Bachelor
Spinster

Ploughman

26
24

Whana Whana
Napier

5 years
6 years

Residence of Mr. McRoberts, White Road, Napier

98/1569

2 June 1898

Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	61
Date of Notice	2 June 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Patterson	Margaret Ann Patterson
	💍 1898/1342
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ploughman
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Whana Whana	Napier
Length of Residence	5 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. McRoberts, White Road, Napier
Folio	98/1569
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

7 June 1898

Albert Ernest Pawson
Jennie McCullough

Albert Ernest Pawson
Jennie McCullough
💍 1898/1374

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer
Waitress

22
24

Dannevirke, Napier
Napier

11 years 3 days
5 weeks

Residence of Mr. Thos. Scott, Carlyle St, Napier

98/1580

7 June 1898

Rev. H. W. J. Miller, Congregationalist

No	62
Date of Notice	7 June 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Ernest Pawson	Jennie McCullough
	💍 1898/1374
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer	Waitress
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Dannevirke, Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	11 years 3 days	5 weeks
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Thos. Scott, Carlyle St, Napier
Folio	98/1580
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 June 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. W. J. Miller, Congregationalist

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).