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 424

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 March 1898 Registrar William Alfred Smith Willcox

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

24 February 1898

James Florence
Jane Isabella Forbes

James Florence
Jane Isobella Forbes
💍 1898/924

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

34
23

Winton
Woodlands

14 years
23 years

House of Mr. John Forbes

98/1091

24 February 1898

Rev. Evan Bisett

No	19
Date of Notice	24 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Florence	Jane Isabella Forbes
BDM Match (98%)	James Florence	Jane Isobella Forbes
	💍 1898/924
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	34	23
Dwelling Place	Winton	Woodlands
Length of Residence	14 years	23 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. John Forbes
Folio	98/1091
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Evan Bisett

28 February 1898

Robert Cleland Ferguson
Agnes McLean

Robert Cleland Ferguson
Agnes McLean
💍 1898/2689

Bachelor
Spinster

Tin Smith

21
25

Invercargill
Invercargill

3 days
3 days

House of Mr. Matthew McLean, Clyde Street

98/1093

28 February 1898

Rev. Allan Poole

No	20
Date of Notice	28 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Cleland Ferguson	Agnes McLean
	💍 1898/2689
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tin Smith
Age	21	25
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Matthew McLean, Clyde Street
Folio	98/1093
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Allan Poole

2 March 1898

William Henry Dyer
Jane McMaster

William Henry Dyer
Jane McMaster Veint
💍 1898/904

Bachelor
Spinster

Timber Yardman

21
20

Invercargill
Invercargill

19 years
20 years

Office of the Registrar

98/1069

William McMaster, father

2 March 1898

J. L. Bush, Registrar

No	21
Date of Notice	2 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Dyer	Jane McMaster
BDM Match (84%)	William Henry Dyer	Jane McMaster Veint
	💍 1898/904
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Timber Yardman
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	19 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar
Folio	98/1069
Consent	William McMaster, father
Date of Certificate	2 March 1898
Officiating Minister	J. L. Bush, Registrar

4 March 1898

Thomas Wright
Jessie Melville

Thomas Wright
Jessie Melville
💍 1898/933

Bachelor
Spinster

Platelayer

28
28

Invercargill
Port Molyneux

4 days
20 years

First Church, Duane, Tay St.

98/1078

4 March 1898

Rev. J. Gibson Smith

No	22
Date of Notice	4 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Wright	Jessie Melville
	💍 1898/933
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Platelayer
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Port Molyneux
Length of Residence	4 days	20 years
Marriage Place	First Church, Duane, Tay St.
Folio	98/1078
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Gibson Smith

7 March 1898

Alexander McKenzie
Catherine Barron

Alexander McKenzie
Catherine Barron
💍 1898/947

Widower
Spinster

Sheep Farmer

38
36

Wrights Bush
Wrights Bush

3 days
10 years

House of Mr. John Barron

98/1098

7 March 1898

Rev. W. White

No	23
Date of Notice	7 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander McKenzie	Catherine Barron
	💍 1898/947
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer
Age	38	36
Dwelling Place	Wrights Bush	Wrights Bush
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. John Barron
Folio	98/1098
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. White

7 March 1898

William Lines
Martha Rodgers

William Lines
Martha Rodgers
💍 1898/921

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman

28
22

Tisbury
Invercargill

3 years
4 years

Manse of Presbyterian Church, Invercargill

98/1088

7 March 1898

Rev. A. H. Stobo

No	24
Date of Notice	7 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Lines	Martha Rodgers
	💍 1898/921
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Tisbury	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Manse of Presbyterian Church, Invercargill
Folio	98/1088
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. H. Stobo

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).