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 103

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

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

29 January 1898

William McGowan
Emma Gribble Herivels

William McGowan
Emma Gribble Herivel
💍 1898/230

Bachelor
Spinster

Moulder
None

29
23

Thames
Thames

1 year
23 years

The Dwelling of Susannah Philpot, Lewes

98/229

29 January 1898

Rev. J. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	6
Date of Notice	29 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McGowan	Emma Gribble Herivels
BDM Match (98%)	William McGowan	Emma Gribble Herivel
	💍 1898/230
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Moulder	None
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	1 year	23 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Susannah Philpot, Lewes
Folio	98/229
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'Callaghan, Church of England

31 January 1898

Francis Toynbee Oartle
Eliza Sarah Childerhouse

Francis Toynbee Arkle
Eliza Sarah Childerhouse
💍 1898/231

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
None

23
20

Thames
Thames

3 days
20 years

The Dwelling of Mary Childerhouse, Karaka, Thames

98/230

Mary Childerhouse, mother

31 January 1898

Rev. J. O'Callaghan, Church of Christ

No	7
Date of Notice	31 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Toynbee Oartle	Eliza Sarah Childerhouse
BDM Match (93%)	Francis Toynbee Arkle	Eliza Sarah Childerhouse
	💍 1898/231
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	None
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Mary Childerhouse, Karaka, Thames
Folio	98/230
Consent	Mary Childerhouse, mother
Date of Certificate	31 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'Callaghan, Church of Christ

10 February 1898

William George Peart
Alice Maud Mary Delamore

William George Peart
Alice Maude Mary Delamore
💍 1898/2613

Bachelor
Spinster

Salvation Army Officer
Salvation Army Officer

34
24

Thames
Thames

1 week
5 days

Salvation Army Barracks, Thames

98/236

10 February 1898

John Cain, Salvation Army

No	8
Date of Notice	10 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Peart	Alice Maud Mary Delamore
BDM Match (98%)	William George Peart	Alice Maude Mary Delamore
	💍 1898/2613
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salvation Army Officer	Salvation Army Officer
Age	34	24
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	1 week	5 days
Marriage Place	Salvation Army Barracks, Thames
Folio	98/236
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1898
Officiating Minister	John Cain, Salvation Army

11 February 1898

Alfred James Brien
Edith Lavinia Wilton

Alfred James Brien
Edith Lavinia Wilton
💍 1898/1202

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Dress Maker

20
20

Thames
Thames

8 months
20 years

The Dwelling of Rev. W. R. Woolley (Sec. 27)

John Wilton, Father

Rev. W. R. Woolley, Baptist

No	9
Date of Notice	11 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred James Brien	Edith Lavinia Wilton
	💍 1898/1202
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Dress Maker
Age	20	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	8 months	20 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Rev. W. R. Woolley (Sec. 27)
Folio
Consent	John Wilton, Father
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. R. Woolley, Baptist

16 February 1898

John Wade
Janet Andrew Smith

John Wade
Janet Andrew Smith
💍 1898/233

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Servant

22
23

Thames
Thames

3 years
23 years

The Dwelling of Robert Smith, Karaka

98/232

16 February 1898

Rev. W. R. Woolley, Baptist

No	10
Date of Notice	16 February 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Wade	Janet Andrew Smith
	💍 1898/233
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Servant
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 years	23 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Robert Smith, Karaka
Folio	98/232
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. R. Woolley, Baptist

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).