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 782

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 June 1898

No	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
14	4 April 1898	John Walker Robinson Emma Gertrude Karley	John Walker Robinson Emma Gertrude Harley 💍 1898/1658	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic duties	32 24	Trafalgar Street N. Nelson Halifax Street	3 days 24 years	All Saints Church	98/1875		4 April 1898	Reverend F. W. Chatterton
15	6 April 1898	Robert Wilks Adelaide Mary Best	Robert Wilks Adelaide Mary Best 💍 1898/1626	Bachelor Spinster	Carter Domestic Servant	26 24	Brook Street Brook Street	21 days 3 months	Office of Registrar of Marriages Nelson	98/1865		6 April 1898	Hugh Calders, Registrar
16	7 April 1898	George Robert Ernest Neiman Mary Palmer	George Robert Ernest Neiman Mary Palmer 💍 1898/1657	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic duties	25 23	Hope Hope	23 years 23 years	Residence of William Palmer, Hope	98/1874		7 April 1898	Reverend G. W. Baker
17	7 April 1898	Leslie George Sutton Lily Minnie Waterhouse	Leslie George Sutton Lily Minnie Waterhouse 💍 1898/1659	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Grocer	26 29	Richmond Collingwood Street Nelson	26 years 2 years	All Saints Church	98/1876		7 April 1898	Reverend J. W. Chatterton
18	12 April 1898	Charles Phillip Harford Alice Ellen Fittall	Charles Phillip Harford Alice Ellen Fittall 💍 1898/1644	Widower Spinster	Farmer School Teacher	37 29	Richmond Richmond	3 days 7 days	Residence of Samuel Fittall, Queen Street Richmond	98/1883		12 April 1898	Reverend G. J. Marshall
19	12 April 1898	William King Annie Ferris Poole	William King Annie Ferris Poole 💍 1898/1660	Bachelor Spinster	Jeweller Dressmaker	25 25	Bridge Street Nelson Hardy Street Nelson	5 days 4 years	All Saints Church	98/1877		12 April 1898	Reverend J. W. Chatterton
20	14 April 1898	Frank Rinson Giblin Amy Florence Brooker Firth	Frank Hinson Giblin Amy Florence Brooks Firth 💍 1898/1638	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Domestic duties	30 28	Halifax Street Wakefield Quay	30 years 5 years	All Saints Church	98/1878		14 April 1898	Reverend F. W. Chatterton
21	18 April 1898	William Alfred Bradley Flora Weir	William Alfred Bradley Flora Weir 💍 1898/1655	Bachelor Spinster	Carriage Painter Domestic duties	25 22	Wakefield Quay Russell Street	5 days 23 days	Residence of Robert Weir, Russell Street Nelson	98/1872		18 April 1898	Reverend J. H. Mackenzie
22	19 April 1898	William Boyd Thomson Margaret Stewart	William Boyd Thomson Margaret Stewart 💍 1898/1641	Bachelor Spinster	Moulder Domestic Servant	23 20	Nile Street East Nile Street East Nelson	4 months 20 years	Residence of Catherine Thomson, Nile Street East Nelson	98/1882	Archibald Colquhoun Stewart, father of Margaret Stewart	19 April 1898	Reverend S. F. Prior
23	26 April 1898	William Henry Cummings Margaret May Hall	William Henry Cummings Margaret May Hall 💍 1898/1627	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic Servant	25 21	Wakapuaka Suburban Bridge Street Nelson	18 months 3 years	Office of Registrar of Marriages Nelson	98/1866		26 April 1898	Hugh Calders, Registrar
24	9 May 1898	George Louison Estcourt Agnes Blincow	George Louisson Estcourt Agnes Blinoce 💍 1898/1639	Widower Spinster	Currier Dressmaker	41 33	Grove Street Nelson Bridge Street Nelson	19 years 33 years	All Saints Church	98/1879		9 May 1898	Reverend F. W. Chatterton
25	11 May 1898	Frank Nesbitt Lena Minnie Lafrenty	Frank Nesbitt Lena Minnie Lafrentz 💍 1898/1628	Bachelor Spinster	Bricklayer Labourer Domestic Servant	24 19	Grove Street Nelson Alton Street Nelson	24 years 2 years	Office of Registrar of Marriages Nelson	98/1867	Annie E. Inwood, mother of Lena Minnie Lafrenty	11 May 1898	Hugh Calders, Registrar
26	17 May 1898	Alfred Allport Alice Heberley	Alfred Allport Alice Heberley 💍 1898/1642	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic duties	26 18	Stoke Collingwood Street Nelson	18 years 2 years	Residence of Charles Thomas, Collingwood Street Nelson	98/1885		17 May 1898	R. S. Gray
27	18 May 1898	John Renshaw Thomas Eleanor Amelia Lammas	John Renshaw Thomas Eleanor Amelia Lammas 💍 1898/1643	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic Servant	28 24	Richmond Richmond	3 days 24 years	Residence of Thomas Hall Lammas, Richmond	98/1884		18 May 1898	R. S. Gray
28	21 May 1898	Patrick Joseph O'Regan Clara Haycock	Patrick Joseph O'Regan Clara Haywell 💍 1898/1654	Bachelor Spinster	Journalist School Teacher	29 25	Trafalgar Street Nelson Alfred Street Nelson	3 days 5 days	St. Mary's Church	98/1871		21 May 1898	P. Broussard

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 1898. More registers will be added when the Archives NZ Wellington reading room re-opens in September 2025.

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).