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 825

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1898 Registrar J. M. Macfarlane

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

264

6 June 1898

Thomas Baxter
Emma Phebe Jones

Thomas Baxter
Emma Phoebe Jones
💍 1898/1815

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28
27

Christchurch
West Melton

3 days
15 years

St. Paul's Church

98/2064

6 June 1898

Rev. H. G. Hawken, Church of England

No	264
Date of Notice	6 June 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Baxter	Emma Phebe Jones
BDM Match (97%)	Thomas Baxter	Emma Phoebe Jones
	💍 1898/1815
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	West Melton
Length of Residence	3 days	15 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church
Folio	98/2064
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 June 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Hawken, Church of England

265

7 June 1898

Henry Augustus Inwood
Elizabeth Edith Remington

Henry Augustus Inwood
Elizabeth Edith Remington
💍 1898/1716

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

25
22

Richmond
Richmond

6 years
6 years

Registrar's Office

98/1959

7 June 1898

J. M. Macfarlane, Registrar of Marriages

No	265
Date of Notice	7 June 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Augustus Inwood	Elizabeth Edith Remington
	💍 1898/1716
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Richmond	Richmond
Length of Residence	6 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	98/1959
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 June 1898
Officiating Minister	J. M. Macfarlane, Registrar of Marriages

266

7 June 1898

William John Neilson
Christina Margaret Baird

William John Nelson
Christina Margaret Baird
💍 1898/1813

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer

30
19

Christchurch
Sydenham

4 years
19 years

House of Mrs. Jane Neitch, Scott's Road

98/2063

Jane Neitch, Mother

7 June 1898

Rev. T. A. Williams, Baptist

No	266
Date of Notice	7 June 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Neilson	Christina Margaret Baird
BDM Match (98%)	William John Nelson	Christina Margaret Baird
	💍 1898/1813
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer
Age	30	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	4 years	19 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Jane Neitch, Scott's Road
Folio	98/2063
Consent	Jane Neitch, Mother
Date of Certificate	7 June 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. A. Williams, Baptist

267

8 June 1898

Ferdinand Charles William Lange
Flora Hart

Ferdinand Charles William Lange
Flora Hart
💍 1898/1771

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30
22

Christchurch
Marshlands

25 years
11 years

House of Mr. John Hart

98/1993

8 June 1898

Rev. M. W. Cullum, Presbyterian

No	267
Date of Notice	8 June 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ferdinand Charles William Lange	Flora Hart
	💍 1898/1771
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Marshlands
Length of Residence	25 years	11 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. John Hart
Folio	98/1993
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 June 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. W. Cullum, Presbyterian

268

9 June 1898

Thomas James Turnbull
Annie Plea a Hill

Thomas Samuel Turnbull
Annie Eliza Hills
💍 1898/1737

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic

31
27

Christchurch
Linwood

31 years
15 years

House of Mr. J. J. Turnbull, Philip St.

98/1980

9 June 1898

Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

No	268
Date of Notice	9 June 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas James Turnbull	Annie Plea a Hill
BDM Match (79%)	Thomas Samuel Turnbull	Annie Eliza Hills
	💍 1898/1737
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic
Age	31	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	31 years	15 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. J. J. Turnbull, Philip St.
Folio	98/1980
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

269

9 June 1898

Charles Napier Champion
Mary Grenfell

Thomas Napier Champ
Mary Grenfell
💍 1898/2244

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

46
35

Woolston
Woolston

6 years
6 years

Methodist Church, St. Asaph Street

98/2526

9 June 1898

Rev. C. Porter, Methodist

No	269
Date of Notice	9 June 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Napier Champion	Mary Grenfell
BDM Match (83%)	Thomas Napier Champ	Mary Grenfell
	💍 1898/2244
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	46	35
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Woolston
Length of Residence	6 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, St. Asaph Street
Folio	98/2526
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Porter, Methodist

270

9 June 1898

Charles Henry Schumacher
Mabel Annie Sillett

Charles Henry Schaumacher
Mabel Anning Gillett
💍 1898/1745

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

22
25

Linwood
Linwood

22 years
23 years

St. John's Church

98/1989

9 June 1898

Rev. C. E. Warner, Anglican

No	270
Date of Notice	9 June 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Schumacher	Mabel Annie Sillett
BDM Match (91%)	Charles Henry Schaumacher	Mabel Anning Gillett
	💍 1898/1745
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	22	25
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	22 years	23 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church
Folio	98/1989
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Warner, Anglican

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).