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 708

District of Masterton Quarter ending 30 June 1898 Registrar R. E. Jackson

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

27 April 1898

John King
Caroline McKenzie

John King
Caroline McKenzie
💍 1898/1443

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

25
20

Manaia
Upper Plain

24 years
20 years

The Residence of John McKenzie, Upper Plain

98/1656

27 April 1898

Rev. J. Smalley, Greytown

No	12
Date of Notice	27 April 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John King	Caroline McKenzie
	💍 1898/1443
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Manaia	Upper Plain
Length of Residence	24 years	20 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of John McKenzie, Upper Plain
Folio	98/1656
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 April 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Smalley, Greytown

30 April 1898

Edgar Lowther Holmwood
Anna Sophia Charlotte Rummer

Edgar Lowder Holmwood
Anna Sophia Charlotte Kummer
💍 1898/1445

Bachelor
Spinster

Shopkeeper
Domestic duties

28
29

Opaki
Opaki

11 years
18 years

The residence of William W.R. Rummer, Long Lea, Opaki

98/1657

30 April 1898

Rev. P.C.W. Earee, Church of England

No	13
Date of Notice	30 April 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edgar Lowther Holmwood	Anna Sophia Charlotte Rummer
BDM Match (94%)	Edgar Lowder Holmwood	Anna Sophia Charlotte Kummer
	💍 1898/1445
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shopkeeper	Domestic duties
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Opaki	Opaki
Length of Residence	11 years	18 years
Marriage Place	The residence of William W.R. Rummer, Long Lea, Opaki
Folio	98/1657
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 April 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. P.C.W. Earee, Church of England

3 May 1898

Martin Andrew Casey
Esther Marsh Price

Martin Carey Andrew
Esther Marsh Price
💍 1898/3169

Bachelor
Spinster

Roadman
Domestic duties

21
22

Wangaehu
Upper Plain

1 year
6 years

The residence of Stephen John Price, Upper Plain

98/3586

3 May 1898

Rev. Robert Wood, Presbyterian

No	14
Date of Notice	3 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Martin Andrew Casey	Esther Marsh Price
BDM Match (76%)	Martin Carey Andrew	Esther Marsh Price
	💍 1898/3169
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Roadman	Domestic duties
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Wangaehu	Upper Plain
Length of Residence	1 year	6 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Stephen John Price, Upper Plain
Folio	98/3586
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert Wood, Presbyterian

5 May 1898

William Sutherland
Ellen O'Leary

William Sutherland
Ellen OLeary
💍 1898/2200

Widower
Spinster

Blacksmith
Dressmaker

30
25

Taueru
Masterton

6 weeks
3 days

The Roman Catholic Church, Masterton

98/2480

5 May 1898

Rev. Patrick Long, Roman Catholic

No	15
Date of Notice	5 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Sutherland	Ellen O'Leary
BDM Match (96%)	William Sutherland	Ellen OLeary
	💍 1898/2200
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Dressmaker
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Taueru	Masterton
Length of Residence	6 weeks	3 days
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church, Masterton
Folio	98/2480
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Patrick Long, Roman Catholic

6 May 1898

Charles Arthur Hoyte Low
Mary Jane Douglas Livingston

Charles Arthur Hoyte Low
Mary Jane Douglas Livingston
💍 1898/3170

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Clerk
Domestic duties

29
25

Masterton
Masterton

5 months
25 years

The Presbyterian Church, Masterton

98/3587

6 May 1898

Rev. Robert Wood, Presbyterian

No	16
Date of Notice	6 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Arthur Hoyte Low	Mary Jane Douglas Livingston
	💍 1898/3170
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Clerk	Domestic duties
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	5 months	25 years
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Church, Masterton
Folio	98/3587
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert Wood, 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).