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 101

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 September 1898 Registrar Edward 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

4 July 1898

John Frederick George Newland Bushman
Mary Emmerson Burns

John Frederick George Newland
Mary Emmerson Burns
💍 1898/3619

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
None

25
25

Thames
Thames

25 years
25 years

St James' Church, Pahan St

98/2798

4 July 1898

Rev. John Mackenzie, Presbyterian

No	54
Date of Notice	4 July 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Frederick George Newland Bushman	Mary Emmerson Burns
BDM Match (89%)	John Frederick George Newland	Mary Emmerson Burns
	💍 1898/3619
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	None
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	25 years	25 years
Marriage Place	St James' Church, Pahan St
Folio	98/2798
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 July 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Mackenzie, Presbyterian

5 July 1898

William Killgour
Olive Onions

William Killgour
Olive Onion
💍 1898/3622

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman
Domestic Servant

33
27

Thames
Thames

20 years
20 years

The Dwelling of Walter Onions, Jawhtirahi

98/2801

5 July 1898

Rev. J. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	55
Date of Notice	5 July 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Killgour	Olive Onions
BDM Match (96%)	William Killgour	Olive Onion
	💍 1898/3622
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman	Domestic Servant
Age	33	27
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	20 years	20 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Walter Onions, Jawhtirahi
Folio	98/2801
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'Callaghan, Church of England

23 July 1898

Henry Arthur Prentice
Josephine Alvena Harry

Henry Arthur Prentice
Josephine Alvena Harry
💍 1898/3694

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

27
28

Thames
Thames

4 months
6 days

The Dwelling of Rev. P. J. Serpell, Hape Road

98/2804

23 July 1898

Rev. L. J. Serpell, Wesleyan

No	56
Date of Notice	23 July 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Arthur Prentice	Josephine Alvena Harry
	💍 1898/3694
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	27	28
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	4 months	6 days
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Rev. P. J. Serpell, Hape Road
Folio	98/2804
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 July 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. J. Serpell, Wesleyan

16 August 1898

Edwin Gorby
Minnie Morgan

Edwin Gorby
Minnie Morgan
💍 1898/3621

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

23
24

Thames
Thames

11 years
24 years

The Dwelling of Eli Charles Morgan, Pollen St, Thames

98/2800

16 August 1898

Joseph Foster, Church of Christ

No	57
Date of Notice	16 August 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Gorby	Minnie Morgan
	💍 1898/3621
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	11 years	24 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Eli Charles Morgan, Pollen St, Thames
Folio	98/2800
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 August 1898
Officiating Minister	Joseph Foster, Church of Christ

22 August 1898

Thomas Helme
Clara Ellen Cowell

Thomas Helme
Clara Ellen Cowell
💍 1898/3679

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

26
20

Thames
Thames

2 years
20 years

The Dwelling of James Cowell, Williamson St, Thames

98/2802

22 August 1898

Rev. J. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	58
Date of Notice	22 August 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Helme	Clara Ellen Cowell
	💍 1898/3679
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of James Cowell, Williamson St, Thames
Folio	98/2802
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 August 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'Callaghan, 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).