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 196

District of Masterton Quarter ending 30 September 1898 Registrar S. Johnston

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

7 July 1898

Edward George Sayer
Hannora Lynn Hope

Edward George Sayer
Hannora Lynn
💍 1898/3161

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic Duties

23
18

Masterton
Masterton

5 years
2 years

In residence of Mrs Hannora Lynn Hope St Masterton

98/3579

Hannora Lynn, mother

7 July 1898

Rev Percy Charles Wyndham Earie, Church of England

No	22
Date of Notice	7 July 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward George Sayer	Hannora Lynn Hope
BDM Match (85%)	Edward George Sayer	Hannora Lynn
	💍 1898/3161
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic Duties
Age	23	18
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	5 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In residence of Mrs Hannora Lynn Hope St Masterton
Folio	98/3579
Consent	Hannora Lynn, mother
Date of Certificate	7 July 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev Percy Charles Wyndham Earie, Church of England

19 July 1898

Frank Herbert Johnson
Chebe Bannister

Frank Herbert Johnson
Phebe Bannister
💍 1898/3162

Bachelor
Spinster

manager
Domestic Duties

30
31

Masterton
Te Ore Ore

3 days
31 years

St Matthews Collingwood Church Masterton

98/3580

19 July 1898

Rev P. E. Earie, Church of England

No	23
Date of Notice	19 July 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Herbert Johnson	Chebe Bannister
BDM Match (97%)	Frank Herbert Johnson	Phebe Bannister
	💍 1898/3162
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	manager	Domestic Duties
Age	30	31
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Te Ore Ore
Length of Residence	3 days	31 years
Marriage Place	St Matthews Collingwood Church Masterton
Folio	98/3580
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev P. E. Earie, Church of England

20 July 1898

Ovid Dempsey
Mary Ellen James

Ovid Dempsey
Mary Ellen James
💍 1898/3163

Bachelor
Spinster

joiner
Domestic Duties

28
29

Wangaehu
Wangaehu

2 years
10 years

In residence of Henry James Wangaehu

98/3581

20 July 1898

Rev Robt Wood, Presbyterian

No	24
Date of Notice	20 July 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ovid Dempsey	Mary Ellen James
	💍 1898/3163
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	joiner	Domestic Duties
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Wangaehu	Wangaehu
Length of Residence	2 years	10 years
Marriage Place	In residence of Henry James Wangaehu
Folio	98/3581
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev Robt Wood, Presbyterian

25 July 1898

John McGrath
Rosey Kelly

John McGrath
Rosey Kelly
💍 1898/3880

John McCarty
Mary Kelly
💍 1898/4399

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Servant

44
28

Dreyerton
Te Rangitumau

3 years
6 weeks

In residence of William Donovan Te Rangitumau

98/2930

25 July 1898

Rev John McKenna, Roman Catholic

No	25
Date of Notice	25 July 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McGrath	Rosey Kelly
	💍 1898/3880
BDM Match (65%)	John McCarty	Mary Kelly
	💍 1898/4399
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Servant
Age	44	28
Dwelling Place	Dreyerton	Te Rangitumau
Length of Residence	3 years	6 weeks
Marriage Place	In residence of William Donovan Te Rangitumau
Folio	98/2930
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 July 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev John McKenna, Roman Catholic

27 July 1898

Francis Stempa Tozer
Laurel Kate Tozer

Francis Stempa
Laurel Kate Tozer
💍 1898/3881

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic Duties

25
22

Masterton
Masterton

22 years
7 Months

The Catholic Church Masterton

98/2931

27 July 1898

Rev John McKenna, Roman Catholic

No	26
Date of Notice	27 July 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Stempa Tozer	Laurel Kate Tozer
BDM Match (85%)	Francis Stempa	Laurel Kate Tozer
	💍 1898/3881
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic Duties
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	22 years	7 Months
Marriage Place	The Catholic Church Masterton
Folio	98/2931
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 July 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev John McKenna, Roman Catholic

2 August 1898

Henry Rike
Gertrude Rennett

Henry Pike
Gertrude Rennett Crusader Mold
💍 1898/3165

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Servant

33
23

Tewhiti
Tewhiti

20 years
14 days

Presbyterian Church Masterton

98/3582

2 August 1898

Rev Robt Wood, Presbyterian

No	27
Date of Notice	2 August 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Rike	Gertrude Rennett
BDM Match (72%)	Henry Pike	Gertrude Rennett Crusader Mold
	💍 1898/3165
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Servant
Age	33	23
Dwelling Place	Tewhiti	Tewhiti
Length of Residence	20 years	14 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Masterton
Folio	98/3582
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 August 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev Robt Wood, Presbyterian

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).