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 028

District of AUCKLAND Quarter ending 31 March 1898

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

164

26 March 1898

Philip George Hock
Amy Charlotte Neumann

Philip George Hock
Amy Charlotte Newmann
💍 1898/33

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic duties

25
26

Auckland
Auckland

4 years
5 years

Registrar's Office, Auckland

98/41

26 March 1898

Thos. Culpan, Deputy Registrar

No	164
Date of Notice	26 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Philip George Hock	Amy Charlotte Neumann
BDM Match (98%)	Philip George Hock	Amy Charlotte Newmann
	💍 1898/33
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic duties
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	98/41
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Thos. Culpan, Deputy Registrar

165

28 March 1898

Matthew Porterfield
Mary Eleanor Burgess

Matthew Porterfield
Mary Eleanor Burgess
💍 1898/34

Bachelor
Spinster

Groom
Domestic duties

34
26

Auckland
Auckland

14 years
26 years

Registrar's Office, Auckland

98/42

28 March 1898

Thos. Culpan, Deputy Registrar

No	165
Date of Notice	28 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Matthew Porterfield	Mary Eleanor Burgess
	💍 1898/34
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Groom	Domestic duties
Age	34	26
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	14 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	98/42
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Thos. Culpan, Deputy Registrar

166

28 March 1898

George Blyth Hume
Rose Dickson

George Blyth Hume
Rose Dickson
💍 1898/111

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller
Domestic duties

26
28

Auckland
Auckland

2 years
1 year

St. James Presbyterian Manse, Auckland

98/123

28 March 1898

Rev. R. F. Macnicol, Presbyterian

No	166
Date of Notice	28 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Blyth Hume	Rose Dickson
	💍 1898/111
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Domestic duties
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 years	1 year
Marriage Place	St. James Presbyterian Manse, Auckland
Folio	98/123
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. F. Macnicol, Presbyterian

167

28 March 1898

David Simmons
Eliza Jane Richards

David Simmons
Eliza Jane Richards
💍 1898/35

Bachelor
Spinster

Fisherman
Domestic duties

21
21

Auckland
Auckland

21 years
21 years

Registrar's Office, Auckland

98/43

28 March 1898

Thos. Culpan, Deputy Registrar

No	167
Date of Notice	28 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Simmons	Eliza Jane Richards
	💍 1898/35
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fisherman	Domestic duties
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	21 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	98/43
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Thos. Culpan, Deputy Registrar

168

28 March 1898

Thomas McMaster
Mary Ellen Murphy

Thomas McMaster
Mary Ellen Murphy
💍 1898/1047

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Dressmaker

27
19

Coromandel
Auckland

1 year 7 months
19 years

Roman Catholic Church, Panmure

98/1235

Jeremiah Murphy, father

28 March 1898

Very Rev. W. McDonald, Roman Catholic

No	168
Date of Notice	28 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas McMaster	Mary Ellen Murphy
	💍 1898/1047
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Dressmaker
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	Coromandel	Auckland
Length of Residence	1 year 7 months	19 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Panmure
Folio	98/1235
Consent	Jeremiah Murphy, father
Date of Certificate	28 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. W. McDonald, Roman Catholic

169

28 March 1898

John George Snow
Jessie Laura Smith

John George Snow
Jessie Laura Smith
💍 1898/124

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine driver
Domestic duties

22
20

Huntly, Waikato
Auckland

1 year
20 years

St. Matthew's Church, Auckland

98/115

Henry James Smith, father

28 March 1898

Rev. H. B. Wingfield, Church of England

No	169
Date of Notice	28 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John George Snow	Jessie Laura Smith
	💍 1898/124
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine driver	Domestic duties
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Huntly, Waikato	Auckland
Length of Residence	1 year	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, Auckland
Folio	98/115
Consent	Henry James Smith, father
Date of Certificate	28 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. B. Wingfield, Church of England

170

29 March 1898

Henry Wilson
Sarah Florence Louisa Hardinge

Henry Wilson
Sarah Florence Louisa Hardinge
💍 1898/2821

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

54
24

Northern Wairoa
Auckland

54 years
20 years

Church of England, Remuera

98/48

29 March 1898

Rev. W. Beatty, Church of England

No	170
Date of Notice	29 March 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Wilson	Sarah Florence Louisa Hardinge
	💍 1898/2821
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	54	24
Dwelling Place	Northern Wairoa	Auckland
Length of Residence	54 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Remuera
Folio	98/48
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Beatty, Church of England

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).