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 308

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1898 Registrar J. J. Vavasour

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

8 February 1898

William Osborne
Annie Siford

William Osborn
Annie Light
💍 1898/642

Widower
Widow

Engineer
Engineer

50
38

Sydenham
Sydenham

20 years
20 years

Registrar's Office

98/733

8 February 1898

Registrar Marriages, M. Parkinson

No	54
Date of Notice	8 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Osborne	Annie Siford
BDM Match (76%)	William Osborn	Annie Light
	💍 1898/642
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Engineer	Engineer
Age	50	38
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	20 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	98/733
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marriages, M. Parkinson

9 February 1898

Charles Thomas Haynes
Isabella Haut

Charles Thomas Haynes
Isabella Hunt
💍 1898/2370

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber

28
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
6 weeks

Methodist Church, Lower High Street

98/821

9 February 1898

Rev. W. Lusley, Methodist

No	55
Date of Notice	9 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Thomas Haynes	Isabella Haut
BDM Match (92%)	Charles Thomas Haynes	Isabella Hunt
	💍 1898/2370
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Lower High Street
Folio	98/821
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Lusley, Methodist

9 February 1898

John Kennedy
Ada Margery Taylor

John Kennedy
Ada Margery Taylor
💍 1898/786

Bachelor
Spinster

Warder
Teacher

25
22

Christchurch
Lincoln

25 years
22 years

St. Stephen's Church

98/930

9 February 1898

Rev. H. Rothwell, Church of England

No	56
Date of Notice	9 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Kennedy	Ada Margery Taylor
	💍 1898/786
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warder	Teacher
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Lincoln
Length of Residence	25 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Stephen's Church
Folio	98/930
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Rothwell, Church of England

10 February 1898

Joseph Sadler
Mary Jane Williden

Joseph Sadler Gill
Mary Jane Williden
💍 1898/2386

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner
Gardener

29
28

St. Albans
Christchurch

30 days
6 years

Wesleyan Church, Barbadoes Street

98/836

10 February 1898

Rev. S. Merricole, Wesleyan

No	57
Date of Notice	10 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Sadler	Mary Jane Williden
BDM Match (86%)	Joseph Sadler Gill	Mary Jane Williden
	💍 1898/2386
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner	Gardener
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Christchurch
Length of Residence	30 days	6 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Barbadoes Street
Folio	98/836
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Merricole, Wesleyan

10 February 1898

William Bowden
Annie McDowell

William Bowden
Annie McDowall
💍 1898/2359

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer

29
26

Christchurch
Weedon

18 years
25 years

Wesleyan Church

98/809

10 February 1898

Rev. J. Hosking, Wesleyan

No	58
Date of Notice	10 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Bowden	Annie McDowell
BDM Match (96%)	William Bowden	Annie McDowall
	💍 1898/2359
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Weedon
Length of Residence	18 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church
Folio	98/809
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Hosking, Wesleyan

12 February 1898

William John Doughty
Henrietta Mary Knight

William John Naughton
Henrietta Mary Knight
💍 1898/688

Widower
Spinster

Blacksmith

31
21

Christchurch
St. Albans

16 years
21 years

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Manchester Street, Christchurch

98/782

12 February 1898

Rev. M. J. Marnane, Roman Catholic

No	59
Date of Notice	12 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Doughty	Henrietta Mary Knight
BDM Match (91%)	William John Naughton	Henrietta Mary Knight
	💍 1898/688
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	16 years	21 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Manchester Street, Christchurch
Folio	98/782
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. J. Marnane, Roman Catholic

14 February 1898

Corbyn Thomas Raines
Edith Hester Mason

Coupu Thomas Rains Huddy
Edith Esther Mason
💍 1898/2351

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

21
22

Christchurch
Sydenham

In the house of Mrs. Jackson, Ferry Road, Linwood

98/802

14 February 1898

Rev. W. George, Presbyterian

No	60
Date of Notice	14 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Corbyn Thomas Raines	Edith Hester Mason
BDM Match (69%)	Coupu Thomas Rains Huddy	Edith Esther Mason
	💍 1898/2351
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs. Jackson, Ferry Road, Linwood
Folio	98/802
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. George, 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).