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 148

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 September 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

11 July 1898

Ernest Rudolph Brabazon
Isabel Maud Tyndon

Ernest Rudolph Bratazon
Isabel Maude Lyndon
💍 1898/4290

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

34
22

Napier
Napier

2 years
22 years

Cathedral, Napier

98/3643

11 July 1898

Dean Howell, Church of England

No	72
Date of Notice	11 July 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Rudolph Brabazon	Isabel Maud Tyndon
BDM Match (93%)	Ernest Rudolph Bratazon	Isabel Maude Lyndon
	💍 1898/4290
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	34	22
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	2 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Cathedral, Napier
Folio	98/3643
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1898
Officiating Minister	Dean Howell, Church of England

13 July 1898

Peter Ashcroft
Florence Ganeher Goddard

Peter Ashcroft
Florence Gaucher-Goddard
💍 1898/2912

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic

25
20

Napier
Greenmeadows

13 years
5 years

Wesleyan Church, Napier

98/2888

Charles Goddard, Guardian

13 July 1898

Rev. W. G. Parsonson, Church Minister

No	73
Date of Notice	13 July 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Ashcroft	Florence Ganeher Goddard
BDM Match (94%)	Peter Ashcroft	Florence Gaucher-Goddard
	💍 1898/2912
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Napier	Greenmeadows
Length of Residence	13 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Napier
Folio	98/2888
Consent	Charles Goddard, Guardian
Date of Certificate	13 July 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. G. Parsonson, Church Minister

15 July 1898

Oscar Albert Jonson
Eliza Mary Taylor

Oscar Albert Jonson
Eliza Mary Taylor
💍 1898/2929

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser

27
Over 21

Wairoa
Wairoa

27 years in the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, 3 days Napier
21 years in the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, 3 days Napier

Office of the Registrar of Marriages

98/2884

15 July 1898

S. Jago, Registrar of Marriages

No	74
Date of Notice	15 July 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Oscar Albert Jonson	Eliza Mary Taylor
	💍 1898/2929
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser
Age	27	Over 21
Dwelling Place	Wairoa	Wairoa
Length of Residence	27 years in the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, 3 days Napier	21 years in the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, 3 days Napier
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	98/2884
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1898
Officiating Minister	S. Jago, Registrar of Marriages

20 July 1898

James Beer
Margaret Vera McKenzie

James Beer
Margaret Vera McKenzie
💍 1898/2914

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

30
Over 21

Pelane
Napier

11 years
10 days, White Road, Napier

Residence of Mr. Jarvis

98/2890

20 July 1898

Rev. H. W. J. Miller, Congregational

No	75
Date of Notice	20 July 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Beer	Margaret Vera McKenzie
	💍 1898/2914
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	30	Over 21
Dwelling Place	Pelane	Napier
Length of Residence	11 years	10 days, White Road, Napier
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Jarvis
Folio	98/2890
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. W. J. Miller, Congregational

28 July 1898

Joseph Percy English
Elizabeth Eve

Joseph Percy English
Elizabeth Coe
💍 1898/3286

Bachelor
Spinster

Ploughman
Dressmaker

Over 21
30

Crissoge
Napier

4 years
30 years

Roman Catholic Church

98/4096

28 July 1898

Rev. M. Grogan, Roman Catholic

No	76
Date of Notice	28 July 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Percy English	Elizabeth Eve
BDM Match (92%)	Joseph Percy English	Elizabeth Coe
	💍 1898/3286
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ploughman	Dressmaker
Age	Over 21	30
Dwelling Place	Crissoge	Napier
Length of Residence	4 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	98/4096
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Grogan, Roman Catholic

1 August 1898

James Edward Cowell
Bertha Glendinning

James Edward Cowell
Bertha Glendinning
💍 1898/2926

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

30
25

Napier
Napier

21 years
12 years

In the residence of the bride's mother, Guys Hill

98/2881

1 August 1898

Rev. G. D. Box, Baptist

No	77
Date of Notice	1 August 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Edward Cowell	Bertha Glendinning
	💍 1898/2926
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	21 years	12 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of the bride's mother, Guys Hill
Folio	98/2881
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 August 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. D. Box, 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 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).