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 597

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 June 1898 Registrar Edward Homiss

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

5 May 1898

William John Dalton
Helen Gibb

William John Dalton
Helen Gibb
💍 1898/1197

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawyer
Milliner

27
24

Thames
Thames

10 years
24 years

The Dwelling of John Gibb, Karaka

98/1415

5 May 1898

Rev. G. I. Scill, Unsectarian

No	39
Date of Notice	5 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Dalton	Helen Gibb
	💍 1898/1197
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawyer	Milliner
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	10 years	24 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of John Gibb, Karaka
Folio	98/1415
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. I. Scill, Unsectarian

17 May 1898

Walter Ernest Robinson
Sarah Amelia Downs

Walter Ernest Robinson
Sarah Amelia Downs
💍 1898/1235

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
None

26
21

Thames
Thames

3 days
21 years

The Primitive Methodist Church, Mackay St, Thames

98/1434

17 May 1898

Rev. F. W. Boys, Primitive Methodist

No	40
Date of Notice	17 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Ernest Robinson	Sarah Amelia Downs
	💍 1898/1235
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	None
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	21 years
Marriage Place	The Primitive Methodist Church, Mackay St, Thames
Folio	98/1434
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. W. Boys, Primitive Methodist

23 May 1898

Henry Taylor
Elizabeth Mary Carley Billings

Henry Taylor
Elizabeth Mary Carley Billings
💍 1898/1217

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

31
23

Thames
Thames

3 days
23 years

St. Georges Church, Mackay St, Thames

98/1429

23 May 1898

Rev. J. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	41
Date of Notice	23 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Taylor	Elizabeth Mary Carley Billings
	💍 1898/1217
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Georges Church, Mackay St, Thames
Folio	98/1429
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'Callaghan, Church of England

26 May 1898

Charles Harold Potter
Gertrude Mary Durbin

Charles Harold Potter
Gertrude Mary Durbin
💍 1898/1196

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman
None

23
18

Omahu
Omahu

18 months
10 years

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Thames

98/1413

George Durbin, Father

27 May 1898

Edward Homiss, Registrar

No	42
Date of Notice	26 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Harold Potter	Gertrude Mary Durbin
	💍 1898/1196
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman	None
Age	23	18
Dwelling Place	Omahu	Omahu
Length of Residence	18 months	10 years
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Thames
Folio	98/1413
Consent	George Durbin, Father
Date of Certificate	27 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Edward Homiss, Registrar

26 May 1898

Frederick John Lysnar
Mary Preece Reubenetta Horne Payne

Frederick John Lysnar
Mary Preece Reubenetta Horne Payne
💍 1898/1228

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer
None

29
22

Thames
Thames

1 week
22 years

St. Georges Church, Thames

98/1430

26 May 1898

Rev. J. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	43
Date of Notice	26 May 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick John Lysnar	Mary Preece Reubenetta Horne Payne
	💍 1898/1228
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer	None
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	1 week	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Georges Church, Thames
Folio	98/1430
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 May 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'Callaghan, Church of England

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).