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 357

District of Timaru Quarter ending 31 March 1898 Registrar Alex. Montgomery

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

21 February 1898

Frederick Thomas Louter Silverton
Gertrude Howard Jackson

Frederic Thomas Souter Silverton
Gertrude Howard Jackson
💍 1898/766

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinet Maker

25
23

Timaru
Timaru

25 years
9 years

Mrs. Joursey Jackson's Dwelling House, Saltwater Creek

98/917

21 February 1898

Rev. Charles E. Beecroft, Wesleyan Minister

No	9
Date of Notice	21 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Thomas Louter Silverton	Gertrude Howard Jackson
BDM Match (97%)	Frederic Thomas Souter Silverton	Gertrude Howard Jackson
	💍 1898/766
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinet Maker
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	25 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Mrs. Joursey Jackson's Dwelling House, Saltwater Creek
Folio	98/917
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Charles E. Beecroft, Wesleyan Minister

4 March 1898

Alexander McIntyre
Margaret McPherson

Alexander McIntyre
Margaret McPherson
💍 1898/2835

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Housemaid

34
31

Pareora
Pareora

6 years
7 years

Presbyterian Church, Timaru

98/915

4 March 1898

Rev. Wm. Gillies, Presbyterian Minister

No	10
Date of Notice	4 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander McIntyre	Margaret McPherson
	💍 1898/2835
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Housemaid
Age	34	31
Dwelling Place	Pareora	Pareora
Length of Residence	6 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	98/915
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. Gillies, Presbyterian Minister

5 March 1898

David Martin
Catherine Ellen Fremlin

David Martin
Catherine Ellen Fremlin
💍 1898/770

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber

21
23

Timaru
Timaru

3 years
23 years

David Martin's Dwelling House, Edward Street, Timaru

98/922

5 March 1898

Rev. P. W. Jones, Primitive Methodist Minister

No	11
Date of Notice	5 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Martin	Catherine Ellen Fremlin
	💍 1898/770
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber
Age	21	23
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 years	23 years
Marriage Place	David Martin's Dwelling House, Edward Street, Timaru
Folio	98/922
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. W. Jones, Primitive Methodist Minister

5 March 1898

James Allan Mitchell
Margaret Middleton

James Allan Mitchell
Margaret Middleton
💍 1898/2106

Bachelor
Spinster

Agent

27
25

Timaru
Benmore, Hurow

6 months
25 years

Station House, Benmore, Hurow

98/2398

5 March 1898

Rev. P. S. Hay, Presbyterian Minister

No	12
Date of Notice	5 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Allan Mitchell	Margaret Middleton
	💍 1898/2106
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Agent
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Benmore, Hurow
Length of Residence	6 months	25 years
Marriage Place	Station House, Benmore, Hurow
Folio	98/2398
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. S. Hay, Presbyterian Minister

12 March 1898

Arthur Gibbs
Elizabeth Ann Pascoe

Arthur Gibbs
Elizabeth Ann Pascoe
💍 1898/785

Widower
Spinster

Cook

40
19

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office, Timaru

98/911

John Pascoe, Father of Bride

12 March 1898

Alexander Montgomery, Registrar

No	13
Date of Notice	12 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Gibbs	Elizabeth Ann Pascoe
	💍 1898/785
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Cook
Age	40	19
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Timaru
Folio	98/911
Consent	John Pascoe, Father of Bride
Date of Certificate	12 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Alexander Montgomery, Registrar

26 March 1898

Frederick William Carpenter
Mary Ann Marsh

Frederic William Carpenter
Mary Ann Marsh
💍 1898/767

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24
22

Timaru
Claremont

14 days
3 years

George Marsh's Dwelling-house, Claremont

98/918

26 March 1898

Rev. Chas. E. Beecroft, Wesleyan Minister

No	14
Date of Notice	26 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Carpenter	Mary Ann Marsh
BDM Match (98%)	Frederic William Carpenter	Mary Ann Marsh
	💍 1898/767
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Claremont
Length of Residence	14 days	3 years
Marriage Place	George Marsh's Dwelling-house, Claremont
Folio	98/918
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Chas. E. Beecroft, Wesleyan Minister

28 March 1898

Henry Joseph Mathers
Jane Christie

Henry Joseph Mathers
Jane Christie
💍 1898/2276

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder

36
33

Timaru
Timaru

5 years
5 years

Mrs. Christie's Dwellinghouse, Bank Street, Timaru

98/2559

28 March 1898

Rev. Wm. Gillies, Presbyterian Minister

No	15
Date of Notice	28 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Joseph Mathers	Jane Christie
	💍 1898/2276
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	36	33
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	5 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Mrs. Christie's Dwellinghouse, Bank Street, Timaru
Folio	98/2559
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. Gillies, Presbyterian Minister

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 1908. 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).