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 652

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

7 May 1898

Albert Larsen
Bessie Engebretsen

Albert Larsen
Bessie Engebretsen
💍 1898/6

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

44
29

Makaretu
Napier

15 years
3 days

Presbyterian Manse, Napier

98/1570

7 May 1898

Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	50
Date of Notice	7 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Larsen	Bessie Engebretsen
	💍 1898/6
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	44	29
Dwelling Place	Makaretu	Napier
Length of Residence	15 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Napier
Folio	98/1570
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

14 May 1898

Alfred Goode
Madeline Dunn

Alfred Coode
Madeline Dunn
💍 1898/2191

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Domestic

31
41

Moawhango
Napier

5 years
1 week

Cathedral at Napier

98/2472

14 May 1898

Dean Hovell, Church of England

No	51
Date of Notice	14 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Goode	Madeline Dunn
BDM Match (96%)	Alfred Coode	Madeline Dunn
	💍 1898/2191
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	31	41
Dwelling Place	Moawhango	Napier
Length of Residence	5 years	1 week
Marriage Place	Cathedral at Napier
Folio	98/2472
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Dean Hovell, Church of England

16 May 1898

Harry Simmonds
Clara Skinner

Harry Simmonds
Clara Skinner
💍 1898/1371

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler
Domestic

33
24

Napier
Napier

25 years
2 years

Residence of Bridegroom, Mother Havelock Road

98/1577

16 May 1898

Rev. W. G. Parsonson, Wesleyan Methodist

No	52
Date of Notice	16 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Simmonds	Clara Skinner
	💍 1898/1371
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler	Domestic
Age	33	24
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	25 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Bridegroom, Mother Havelock Road
Folio	98/1577
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. G. Parsonson, Wesleyan Methodist

16 May 1898

Benjamin Munro
Ada Woolford

Benjamin Munro
Ada Woolford
💍 1898/1373

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Domestic

40
26

Spit
Napier

10 years
1.5 years

Residence of Mr. Williamson, Shakespeare Road, Napier

98/1579

16 May 1898

Rev. C. Connor, Presbyterian

No	53
Date of Notice	16 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Benjamin Munro	Ada Woolford
	💍 1898/1373
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Domestic
Age	40	26
Dwelling Place	Spit	Napier
Length of Residence	10 years	1.5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Williamson, Shakespeare Road, Napier
Folio	98/1579
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Connor, Presbyterian

19 May 1898

Charles Adolphus Loader
Marion Robertson

Charles Adolphus Loader
Marian Robertson
💍 1898/1344

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

20
19

Napier
Napier

Since birth
7 years

St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Napier

98/1571

David Loader, father of groom; George Robertson, father of bride

19 May 1898

Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	54
Date of Notice	19 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Adolphus Loader	Marion Robertson
BDM Match (97%)	Charles Adolphus Loader	Marian Robertson
	💍 1898/1344
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	20	19
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	Since birth	7 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Napier
Folio	98/1571
Consent	David Loader, father of groom; George Robertson, father of bride
Date of Certificate	19 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Paterson, Presbyterian

20 May 1898

William Gladstone Edwards
Jane Robinson Sutherland

William Gladstone Edwards
Jane Robinson Sutherland
💍 1898/1372

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

22
21

Napier
Napier

10 years
2 years

Residence of Bridegroom's Father, Edward Street, Napier

98/1578

20 May 1898

Rev. W. G. Parsonson, Wesleyan Methodist

No	55
Date of Notice	20 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Gladstone Edwards	Jane Robinson Sutherland
	💍 1898/1372
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	10 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Bridegroom's Father, Edward Street, Napier
Folio	98/1578
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. G. Parsonson, Wesleyan Methodist

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).