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 508

District of Drury Quarter ending 31 December 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
27	8 October 1898	William McGregor Annie Johnston	William McGowan Annie Johnston 💍 1898/3250	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	30 26	Pukakan Buckland	4 years 15 years	House of Robert Johnston	98/3893		9 October 1898	Rev. F. B. Dobson, Church of England
28	8 October 1898	James Graham Annie Edith Wright	James Graham Annie Edith Wright 💍 1898/3229	Bachelor Spinster	Teacher	32 22	Pukekohe Pukekohe	3 days 17 years	Pukekohe	98/3895		20 October 1898	Wesleyan Church
29	20 October 1898	William Robert Boyes Margaret Townsend	William Robert Boyd Margaret Townsend 💍 1898/3231	Bachelor Spinster	Barman	27 22	Ararimu Ararimu	4 days 16 years	House of Peter Barclay, Maketu	98/3897		24 October 1898	Rev. Thos. Morrie, Presbyterian Church
30	21 October 1898	James Hodgson Keith Elizabeth Coronal	James Hodgson Keith Elizabeth Sproul 💍 1898/3251	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	22 24	Pukekohe Pukekohe	16 years 3 months	Barracks, Salvation Army	98/3894		26 October 1898	John Cain, Staff Captain, Salvation Army
31	26 October 1898	Isaac James Wilson Bertha Lever	Isaac James Wilson Bertha Lever 💍 1898/3232	Bachelor Spinster	Machinist	27 24	Papakura Papakura	10 years 12 months	Registrar's Office, Drury District	98/3898		29 October 1898	Law Walker, Registrar of Marriages
33	2 November 1898	Samuel Kelly Rachael Graham		Bachelor Spinster	Seller	37 28	Papakura Pokeno	12 months 20 years	House of James Graham, Pokeno	98/3896		7 November 1898	Rev. Thos. Morrie, Presbyterian Church
34	16 November 1898	Harry Sawyer Sarah Jane Brownhill	Harry Sawyer Sarah Jane Brownhill 💍 1898/3234	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	27 27	Bombay Bombay	19 years 7 years	Anglican Church, Bombay	98/3900		16 November 1898	Rev. F. B. Dobson, Church of England
35	16 November 1898	Frank McLean Mary Smith	Frank McKean Mary Smith 💍 1898/3235 Daniel Hammon Mary Smith 💍 1899/1347	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	24 27	Buckland Buckland	9 years 3 months	House of James Williams, Buckland	98/3901		27 November 1898	Rev. J. L. Ahern, Roman Catholic Church
36	22 November 1898	James Potter Eliza Jane Orr	James Potter Eliza Janet Orr 💍 1898/3238	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	42 27	Pukekohe Onewhero	2 years 5 years	House of William Orr, Onewhero	98/3905		29 November 1898	Rev. Wm. F. Findlay, Presbyterian Church
37	29 November 1898	Robert Henry Walker Elizabeth Sane	Robert Henry Walker Elizabeth Jane East 💍 1898/3240	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 18	Buckland Buckland	1 month 4 years	House of Robert East, Buckland	98/3906	Robert East, Father	29 November 1898	Rev. Wm. F. Findlay, Presbyterian Church
38	13 December 1898	Charles Johnston Mary Ann Cox	Charles Johnston Mary Ann Cox 💍 1898/4471	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	31 24	Pukekohe Pukekohe	20 years 16 years	House of Terence Cox, Pukekohe	98/4011		13 December 1898	Rev. E. C. Bindd, 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 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).