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 310

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1898 Registrar J. P. Maule

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 Lawrence Murray
Mary Foley

Frederick Lawrence Murray
Mary Foley
💍 1898/1722

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Waitress

26
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 week
2 weeks

Roman Catholic Church, Barbadoes Street

98/1914

21 February 1898

Very Rev. S. Cummings, Roman Catholic

No	69
Date of Notice	21 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Lawrence Murray	Mary Foley
	💍 1898/1722
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Waitress
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 week	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Barbadoes Street
Folio	98/1914
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. S. Cummings, Roman Catholic

21 February 1898

William Price
Louisa Manson

William Price
Louisa Manson
💍 1898/2360

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic

41
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
1 month

Episcopalian Church, Sumner

98/810

21 February 1898

Rev. E. H. Gosset, Church of England

No	70
Date of Notice	21 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Price	Louisa Manson
	💍 1898/2360
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic
Age	41	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	1 month
Marriage Place	Episcopalian Church, Sumner
Folio	98/810
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. H. Gosset, Church of England

21 February 1898

Thomas Francis Garrigan
Bessie Herlihy

Thomas Francis Garrigan
Bessie Herlihy
💍 1898/691

Bachelor
Spinster

Mechanic
Domestic

28
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
18 months

St. Mary's (R.C.) Roman Catholic Church, Manchester Street

98/785

21 February 1898

Rev. M. F. Marmane, Roman Catholic

No	71
Date of Notice	21 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Francis Garrigan	Bessie Herlihy
	💍 1898/691
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mechanic	Domestic
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	18 months
Marriage Place	St. Mary's (R.C.) Roman Catholic Church, Manchester Street
Folio	98/785
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. F. Marmane, Roman Catholic

22 February 1898

John Hattery
Agnes Doherty

John Slattery
Agnes Doherty
💍 1898/1723

Bachelor
Spinster

Ploughman
Domestic

31
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
10 years

Roman Catholic Church, Barbadoes Street

98/1965

22 February 1898

V. Rev. S. Cummings, Roman Catholic

No	72
Date of Notice	22 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hattery	Agnes Doherty
BDM Match (92%)	John Slattery	Agnes Doherty
	💍 1898/1723
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ploughman	Domestic
Age	31	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Barbadoes Street
Folio	98/1965
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1898
Officiating Minister	V. Rev. S. Cummings, Roman Catholic

22 February 1898

John Henry Lawson
Mary Ann Johnston

John Henry Lawson Cornelius
Mary Ann Johnston
💍 1898/2834

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic

27
18

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office

98/730

Thomas Johnston, Father

22 February 1898

J. P. Maule, Registrar of Marriages

No	73
Date of Notice	22 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Lawson	Mary Ann Johnston
BDM Match (82%)	John Henry Lawson Cornelius	Mary Ann Johnston
	💍 1898/2834
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic
Age	27	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	98/730
Consent	Thomas Johnston, Father
Date of Certificate	22 February 1898
Officiating Minister	J. P. Maule, Registrar of Marriages

22 February 1898

James Rollo Sharp
Rosina Gardiner

James Rollo Sharp
Rosina Gardiner
💍 1898/666

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

26
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
5 months

St. Andrew's Church, Mercer Street

98/758

22 February 1898

Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

No	74
Date of Notice	22 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Rollo Sharp	Rosina Gardiner
	💍 1898/666
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	5 months
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church, Mercer Street
Folio	98/758
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

22 February 1898

Herbert Henry Plumridge
Ada Hannah Brooks

Herbert Henry Plumridge
Ada Hannah Brooks
💍 1898/707

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

23
19

Christchurch
Linwood

23 years
1 year

Church of Good Shepherd

98/853

Thomas Brooks, Father

22 February 1898

Rev. H. C. Gilbert, Church of England

No	75
Date of Notice	22 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Henry Plumridge	Ada Hannah Brooks
	💍 1898/707
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	23 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Church of Good Shepherd
Folio	98/853
Consent	Thomas Brooks, Father
Date of Certificate	22 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. C. Gilbert, Church of England

22 February 1898

Alexander Lumsden Taylor
Jessie McFarlane Menzies

Alexander Lumsden Taylor
Jessie McFarlane Menzies
💍 1898/667

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Teacher

32
33

Christchurch
Sydenham

6 days
33 years

House of Mrs. Menzies, Selwyn Street

98/759

22 February 1898

Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

No	76
Date of Notice	22 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Lumsden Taylor	Jessie McFarlane Menzies
	💍 1898/667
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Teacher
Age	32	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	6 days	33 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Menzies, Selwyn Street
Folio	98/759
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Webster, 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).