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 208

District of Rangitikei Quarter ending 30 September 1898

No	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
14	09 July 1898	Hugh Hind Sherwill Mary Alice Annie Macarthur	Hugh Luid Sherville Mary Lilias Louise Macarthur 💍 1898/3734	Widower Widow	Land Broker	52 41	Marton Marton	1 day 1 day	St Stephens Church, Marton	98/2956		11 July 1898	Ven. Arch. A. Youngood
15	18 July 1898	Roger Chas. Bonnington Sarah Jane Doak	Edgar Charles Bonnington Sarah Jane Drake 💍 1898/3732	Bachelor Spinster	Clothier	28 24	Marton Turakina	3 months 1 month	Roman Catholic Church, Turakina	98/2954		21 July 1898	Rev. G. W. J. Spence
16	21 July 1898	John Walter Fowler Powell Bridget Mary Keone	John Walter Fowler Powell Bridget Mary Keane 💍 1898/3157	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	23 26	Turakina Turakina	1 month 2 years	Church, Turakina	98/3575		21 July 1898	Rev. P. W. Symons
17	21 July 1898	William Gideon Woodham Kathleen Eliza Marr	William Gordon Woodham Kathleen Eliza Marr 💍 1898/3733	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor	25 21	Marton Marton	2 months 10 days	Marr Marton	98/2955		02 August 1898	Rev. D. Gordon
18	01 August 1898	Chas. Edward Ingle Annie Gomez	Charles Edward Ingle Annie Gomez 💍 1898/3728	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	26 19		26 years 15 months	Smith Gomez Marton	98/2950	Chas. Gomez, Father	08 August 1898	Rev. D. Gordon
19	08 August 1898	Ernest Walter Tompkins Catherine Jane Cockburn	Ernest Walter Tompkins Catherine Jane Cockburn 💍 1898/3729	Bachelor Spinster	Teacher	31 24	Porewa Porewa	5 days 2 years	Cockburn Porewa	98/2951		09 August 1898	Ven. Arch. A. Youngood
20	09 August 1898	Emanuel Thomas Dommett Minnie Dawhin	Emmanuel Thomas George Dommett Minnie Dawbin 💍 1898/3735	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	30 26	Marton Crofton	25 years 20 years	St. Stephens Church, Marton	98/2957		23 August 1898	Rev. D. Gordon
21	23 August 1898	Robert Gillies Edwards Evelyn Eleanor Friedrich	Robert Gillies Edwards Evelyn Eleanor Friedrick 💍 1898/3730	Bachelor Spinster	Farm Labourer	24 18	Upper Turakina Porewa	1 year 4 years	Residence Mr. August	98/2952	Friedrich, Father	13 September 1898	Rev. D. Gordon
22	13 September 1898	John Thomas Morris Mary Elizabeth Goebel	James Thomas Morris Mary Elizabeth Goebol 💍 1898/3731	Bachelor Spinster	Jockey	33 19	Crofton Crofton	20 years 5 months	Goebel Crofton	98/2953	Gottlieb Goebel, Father	26 September 1898	Rev. John Ross
23	26 September 1898	William Glasgow Emmie Rider	William Glasgow Emmie Rider 💍 1898/4273	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	29 23	Turakina Turakina	29 years 6 years	Rider Turakina	98/3650		26 September 1898	Rev. John Ross

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 1898. More registers will be added when the Archives NZ Wellington reading room re-opens in September 2025.

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).