Intentions to Marry, 1898 July-December

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840414, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, June 27 2025

1898 is bound in two volumes, January-June and July-December.

Page 049

District of Hamilton Quarter ending 30 September 1898 Registrar Thomas Kirk

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

5 July 1898

William Dixon
Mary Jane Munro

William Dixon
Mary Jane Munro
💍 1898/3677

Bachelor
Spinster

Gold Miner

26
24

Hamilton
Hamilton

23 years
From birth

In St. Peter's Church, Hamilton

98/2760

5 July 1898

Rev. R. O. C. Biggs, Church of England

No	14
Date of Notice	5 July 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Dixon	Mary Jane Munro
	💍 1898/3677
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gold Miner
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	23 years	From birth
Marriage Place	In St. Peter's Church, Hamilton
Folio	98/2760
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. O. C. Biggs, Church of England

27 August 1898

William Lashford West
Margaret Hunter

William Lashford West
Margaret Hunter
💍 1898/4227

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Teacher

28
29

Hamilton
Hamilton

3 days
3 weeks

In the Presbyterian Church at Hamilton East

98/3629

27 August 1898

Rev. James Murdock Mitchell, Presbyterian

No	15
Date of Notice	27 August 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Lashford West	Margaret Hunter
	💍 1898/4227
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Teacher
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	3 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church at Hamilton East
Folio	98/3629
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 August 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Murdock Mitchell, Presbyterian

2 September 1898

Edwin John Wilson
Ellen Thake

Edwin John Wilson
Ellen Thake
💍 1898/3676

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

43
31

Hamilton
Hamilton

4 days
8 months

In the Office of the Registrar at Hamilton

98/2759

2 September 1898

Thomas Kirk, Registrar

No	16
Date of Notice	2 September 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin John Wilson	Ellen Thake
	💍 1898/3676
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	43	31
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	4 days	8 months
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar at Hamilton
Folio	98/2759
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 September 1898
Officiating Minister	Thomas Kirk, Registrar

6 September 1898

James Roche
Emily Higginson

James Roche
Emily Higginson
💍 1898/3656

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee

26
19

Karamu, County of Raglan
Karamu, County of Raglan

3 days
2 years

In the House of Mr. William Higginson at Karamu

98/2762

William Higginson (Father)

6 September 1898

Rev. Augustus W. James Bradbury, Church of England

No	17
Date of Notice	6 September 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Roche	Emily Higginson
	💍 1898/3656
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Karamu, County of Raglan	Karamu, County of Raglan
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Mr. William Higginson at Karamu
Folio	98/2762
Consent	William Higginson (Father)
Date of Certificate	6 September 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Augustus W. James Bradbury, Church of England

24 September 1898

John Munro
Bertha Kate Teresa Coombes

John Munro
Bertha Kate Teresa Coombes
💍 1898/3678

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Dressmaker

27
24

Hamilton
Hamilton

From birth
From birth

In the house of Mr. W. P. Munro, Hamilton West

98/2761

24 September 1898

Rev. R. O. C. Biggs, Church of England

No	18
Date of Notice	24 September 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Munro	Bertha Kate Teresa Coombes
	💍 1898/3678
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Dressmaker
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Hamilton	Hamilton
Length of Residence	From birth	From birth
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. W. P. Munro, Hamilton West
Folio	98/2761
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 September 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. O. C. Biggs, Church of England

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).