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 009

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 1898 Registrar C. H. Lyons

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

19 January 1898

Robert James Gillies
Edith Maud Jourdain

Robert James Gillies
Edith Maud Jourdain
💍 1898/82

Widower
Spinster

Sergeant of Police

44
32

Thames
Auckland

9 years
2 weeks

St. Barnabas' Church, Mt. Eden

98/92

19 January 1898

Rev. T. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	36
Date of Notice	19 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert James Gillies	Edith Maud Jourdain
	💍 1898/82
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Sergeant of Police
Age	44	32
Dwelling Place	Thames	Auckland
Length of Residence	9 years	2 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Barnabas' Church, Mt. Eden
Folio	98/92
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. O'Callaghan, Church of England

19 January 1898

William Bridgman Fisher
Amelia Kate Fisher

William Bridgman
Amelia Kate Fisher
💍 1898/154

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

26
28

Auckland
Auckland

22 years
12 years

House of Father of Bride, Mt. Eden

98/146

19 January 1898

Rev. B. L. Thomas, Congregational

No	37
Date of Notice	19 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Bridgman Fisher	Amelia Kate Fisher
BDM Match (85%)	William Bridgman	Amelia Kate Fisher
	💍 1898/154
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	22 years	12 years
Marriage Place	House of Father of Bride, Mt. Eden
Folio	98/146
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. L. Thomas, Congregational

19 January 1898

Alexander Gillespie
Elizabeth Boulter

Alexander Gillespie
Elizabeth Boulter
💍 1898/551

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor's Cutter

22
23

Auckland
Auckland

22 years
23 years

House of Mrs. C. Bartlett, St. Mary's Road, Ponsonby

98/609

19 January 1898

Rev. T. F. Robertson, Presbyterian

No	38
Date of Notice	19 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Gillespie	Elizabeth Boulter
	💍 1898/551
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor's Cutter
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	22 years	23 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. C. Bartlett, St. Mary's Road, Ponsonby
Folio	98/609
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. F. Robertson, Presbyterian

20 January 1898

William Henry Clarke
Agnes Whittet

William Henry Clarke
Agnes Whittet
💍 1898/2321

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
21

Auckland
Auckland

24 years
3 years

Registrar's Office, Auckland

98/8

20 January 1898

C. H. Lyons, Registrar

No	39
Date of Notice	20 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Clarke	Agnes Whittet
	💍 1898/2321
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	24 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	98/8
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1898
Officiating Minister	C. H. Lyons, Registrar

20 January 1898

Antony George Hakem
Margaret Hakem

Antony George
Margaret Hackem
💍 1898/550

Bachelor
Spinster

Fruiterer

32
19

Auckland
Auckland

7 years
2 1/2 years

St. Benedict's Church, Auckland

98/608

Mary Hakem, Mother

20 January 1898

Rev. C. O'Gallagher, Roman Catholic

No	40
Date of Notice	20 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Antony George Hakem	Margaret Hakem
BDM Match (81%)	Antony George	Margaret Hackem
	💍 1898/550
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fruiterer
Age	32	19
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	7 years	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	St. Benedict's Church, Auckland
Folio	98/608
Consent	Mary Hakem, Mother
Date of Certificate	20 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. O'Gallagher, Roman Catholic

21 January 1898

William Burbank Arey
Mary Gabriel Carrigan

William Ewbank Arey
Mary Juliet Canyan
💍 1898/95

Bachelor
Spinster

Stationer

33
25

Auckland
Auckland

25 years
25 years

Roman Catholic Church, Ponsonby Road

98/82

21 January 1898

Rev. G. H. Gillan, Roman Catholic

No	41
Date of Notice	21 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Burbank Arey	Mary Gabriel Carrigan
BDM Match (71%)	William Ewbank Arey	Mary Juliet Canyan
	💍 1898/95
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stationer
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	25 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Ponsonby Road
Folio	98/82
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. H. Gillan, Roman Catholic

22 January 1898

John Francis Keenan
Letitia Alma Marlin

John Francis Keenan
Letitia Alma Marlin
💍 1898/67

Bachelor
Spinster

Cab Proprietor

27
23

Auckland
Auckland

14 years
3 years

St. Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland

98/75

22 January 1898

Rev. W. Broke, Roman Catholic

No	42
Date of Notice	22 January 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Francis Keenan	Letitia Alma Marlin
	💍 1898/67
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cab Proprietor
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	14 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland
Folio	98/75
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Broke, Roman Catholic

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).