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 105

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 March 1898 Registrar J. Honiss

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 March 1898

Jesse William Stayte
Florence Edith Hunt

Jesse William Stayte
Florence Edith Hunt
💍 1898/216

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
None

22
20

Thames
Thames

2 weeks
5 weeks

The Dwelling of William Henry Stayte, Campbell St, Thames

98/238

Elizabeth Jane Hunt, mother

9 March 1898

Rev. F. W. Boys, Primitive Methodist

No	17
Date of Notice	8 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jesse William Stayte	Florence Edith Hunt
	💍 1898/216
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	None
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	2 weeks	5 weeks
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of William Henry Stayte, Campbell St, Thames
Folio	98/238
Consent	Elizabeth Jane Hunt, mother
Date of Certificate	9 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. W. Boys, Primitive Methodist

9 March 1898

Thomas James Milton
Ettie Matilda Whitehouse

Thomas James Wilton
Ettie Matilda Whitehouse
💍 1898/3

Bachelor
Spinster

Constable
None

28
26

Thames
Thames

3 days
26 years

The Dwelling of Samuel J. Whitehouse, Poenamo, Thames River

98/234

9 March 1898

Rev. W. R. Woolley, Baptist

No	18
Date of Notice	9 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas James Milton	Ettie Matilda Whitehouse
BDM Match (97%)	Thomas James Wilton	Ettie Matilda Whitehouse
	💍 1898/3
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Constable	None
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	26 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Samuel J. Whitehouse, Poenamo, Thames River
Folio	98/234
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. R. Woolley, Baptist

10 March 1898

Herbert Henry Ogden
Mary Josephine Tucker

Herbert Henry Ogden
Mary Josephine Tucker
💍 1898/213

Herbert Neagle
Mary Adelaide Tucker
💍 1898/2920

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer
None

25
28

Thames
Thames

14 months
6 years

The Office of the Registrar, Thames

98/222

10 March 1898

Edward Honiss, Registrar

No	19
Date of Notice	10 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Henry Ogden	Mary Josephine Tucker
	💍 1898/213
BDM Match (65%)	Herbert Neagle	Mary Adelaide Tucker
	💍 1898/2920
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer	None
Age	25	28
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	14 months	6 years
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar, Thames
Folio	98/222
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Edward Honiss, Registrar

14 March 1898

John Henry Lange
Mary Walker

John Henry Lange
Mary Walker
💍 1898/2824

Stephen Eugene Beban
Mary Walker
💍 1898/392

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Tailoress

25
26

Thames
Thames

25 years
26 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Mackay St, Thames

98/239

15 March 1898

Rev. F. W. Boys, Primitive Methodist

No	20
Date of Notice	14 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Lange	Mary Walker
	💍 1898/2824
BDM Match (63%)	Stephen Eugene Beban	Mary Walker
	💍 1898/392
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Tailoress
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	25 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Mackay St, Thames
Folio	98/239
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. W. Boys, Primitive Methodist

15 March 1898

Albert Baker
Eveline May Milne

Albert Baker
Evelyne May Milne
💍 1898/204

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

24
19

Thames
Thames

2 years
19 years

The Office of the Registrar, Thames

98/223

Marian Milne, mother

15 March 1898

Edward Honiss, Registrar

No	21
Date of Notice	15 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Baker	Eveline May Milne
BDM Match (97%)	Albert Baker	Evelyne May Milne
	💍 1898/204
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	2 years	19 years
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar, Thames
Folio	98/223
Consent	Marian Milne, mother
Date of Certificate	15 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Edward Honiss, Registrar

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).