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 883

District of Blackstone Quarter ending 30 June 1898 Registrar J. A. Hoet

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

9 April 1898

David Owens
Ettie Saywell

David Owens
Ettie Saywell
💍 1898/3573

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic

30
19

Cambrian
Cambrian

30 years
6 weeks

In the Registrars Office S. Bathans

98/2563

G. M. Burlinson Legal Guardian

9 April 1898

J. A. Holt Registrar

No	5
Date of Notice	9 April 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Owens	Ettie Saywell
	💍 1898/3573
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	30	19
Dwelling Place	Cambrian	Cambrian
Length of Residence	30 years	6 weeks
Marriage Place	In the Registrars Office S. Bathans
Folio	98/2563
Consent	G. M. Burlinson Legal Guardian
Date of Certificate	9 April 1898
Officiating Minister	J. A. Holt Registrar

23 May 1898

William John Charles
Isabella Aitkenhead

William John Charles
Isabella Aitkenhead
💍 1898/1926

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

28 years
30 years

Lauder Becks
Becks

5 years
20 years

In the house of Mr John Aitkenhead Becks

98/2164

23 May 1898

Rev. James G. Fellie

No	6
Date of Notice	23 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Charles	Isabella Aitkenhead
	💍 1898/1926
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	28 years	30 years
Dwelling Place	Lauder Becks	Becks
Length of Residence	5 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr John Aitkenhead Becks
Folio	98/2164
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. James G. Fellie

2 June 1898

Thomas Adlard Lowis
Jessie McLennan

Thomas Adlard Lowis
Jessie McLennan
💍 1898/2724

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

27 years
20 years

Blackstone Hill
Marimato

27 years
20 years

At the Residence of Mr Alexander McLennan Rosebank Farm Marimato Naseby

98/2165

Margaret McLennan mother of the bride

2 June 1898

Rev. James McCook Smith

No	7
Date of Notice	2 June 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Adlard Lowis	Jessie McLennan
	💍 1898/2724
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	27 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Blackstone Hill	Marimato
Length of Residence	27 years	20 years
Marriage Place	At the Residence of Mr Alexander McLennan Rosebank Farm Marimato Naseby
Folio	98/2165
Consent	Margaret McLennan mother of the bride
Date of Certificate	2 June 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. James McCook Smith

13 June 1898

Frederick Walter Inder
Sarah Robertson Inder

Frederick Walter Inder
Sarah Robertson Inder
💍 1898/1931

Bachelor
Spinster

Mining Agent
Domestic

34 years
24 years

Naseby
Blackstone Hill

34 years
24 years

In the residence of Mr Samuel Inder Blackstone Hill

98/2166

13 June 1898

Rev. Geo Christian

No	8
Date of Notice	13 June 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Walter Inder	Sarah Robertson Inder
	💍 1898/1931
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mining Agent	Domestic
Age	34 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Naseby	Blackstone Hill
Length of Residence	34 years	24 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Mr Samuel Inder Blackstone Hill
Folio	98/2166
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 June 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo Christian

27 June 1898

William McEwen
Annie Maria Hawshan

William McLean
Annie Elizabeth Pattisson
💍 1898/4306

William McGowan
Annie Johnston
💍 1898/3250

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic

36 years
21 years

S. Bathans
S. Bathans

26 years
21 years

Roman Catholic Chapel

98/2167

27 June 1898

Rev. John Shahan

No	9
Date of Notice	27 June 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McEwen	Annie Maria Hawshan
BDM Match (61%)	William McLean	Annie Elizabeth Pattisson
	💍 1898/4306
BDM Match (61%)	William McGowan	Annie Johnston
	💍 1898/3250
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	36 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	S. Bathans	S. Bathans
Length of Residence	26 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Chapel
Folio	98/2167
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 June 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Shahan

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).