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 672

District of Masterton Quarter ending 31 December 1898 Registrar Samuel 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

2 October 1898

Harry Warner Lee
Margaret Gordon Johnstone

Henry Warner Lee
Margaret Gordon Johnstone
💍 1898/4436

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

27
21

Upper Plain
Masterton

2 years
21 years

The Presbyterian Church, Masterton

98/4173

2 October 1898

Rev. Robert Wood, Presbyterian

No	32
Date of Notice	2 October 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Warner Lee	Margaret Gordon Johnstone
BDM Match (94%)	Henry Warner Lee	Margaret Gordon Johnstone
	💍 1898/4436
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Upper Plain	Masterton
Length of Residence	2 years	21 years
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Church, Masterton
Folio	98/4173
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 October 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert Wood, Presbyterian

17 October 1898

Alexander Grant
Mary Eda Johnstone

Alexander Grant
Mary Eda Johnstone
💍 1898/4437

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic duties

27
22

Masterton
Pokohiwi Block

10 years
2 years

The Residence of Henry Johnstone, Pokohiwi Block

98/4174

17 October 1898

Rev. Robert Wood, Presbyterian

No	33
Date of Notice	17 October 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Grant	Mary Eda Johnstone
	💍 1898/4437
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic duties
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Pokohiwi Block
Length of Residence	10 years	2 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of Henry Johnstone, Pokohiwi Block
Folio	98/4174
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 October 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert Wood, Presbyterian

22 October 1898

James Paton
Maude Callaghan

James Paton
Maude Callaghan
💍 1898/4937

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic duties

25
19

Ditton
Masterton

1 month
3 days

The Roman Catholic Church, Masterton

98/4963

No guardian in this Colony

22 October 1898

Rev. John Buckeridge, Roman Catholic

No	34
Date of Notice	22 October 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Paton	Maude Callaghan
	💍 1898/4937
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic duties
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Ditton	Masterton
Length of Residence	1 month	3 days
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church, Masterton
Folio	98/4963
Consent	No guardian in this Colony
Date of Certificate	22 October 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Buckeridge, Roman Catholic

8 November 1898

Frank Haigh
Fanny Matilda Hewitt

Frank Haigh
Fanny Matilda Hewitt
💍 1898/4435

Bachelor
Spinster

Tobacconist
Domestic duties

22
24

Masterton
Masterton

3 days
3 months

The Wesleyan Church, Masterton

98/4171

8 November 1898

Rev. W. J. Smalley, Wesleyan

No	35
Date of Notice	8 November 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Haigh	Fanny Matilda Hewitt
	💍 1898/4435
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tobacconist	Domestic duties
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	3 days	3 months
Marriage Place	The Wesleyan Church, Masterton
Folio	98/4171
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 November 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Smalley, Wesleyan

25 November 1898

Thomas Wagg
Kate Hessey

Thomas Wagg
Kate Hessey
💍 1898/2789

Widower
Spinster

Coach-builder
Domestic duties

36
27

Masterton
Masterton

14 years
23 years

The Church of England, Masterton

98/4172

25 November 1898

Rev. P. C. Earee, Church of England

No	36
Date of Notice	25 November 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Wagg	Kate Hessey
	💍 1898/2789
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Coach-builder	Domestic duties
Age	36	27
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	14 years	23 years
Marriage Place	The Church of England, Masterton
Folio	98/4172
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 November 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. C. Earee, Church of England

2 December 1898

Joseph John Guest
Lilian Rose Campbell

Joseph John Guest
Lilian Rose Campbell
💍 1899/565

Bachelor
Spinster

School-master
Domestic duties

34
24

Te Ore Ore
Opaki

20 months
24 years

The Residence of Robert Campbell, Opaki

99/432

2 December 1898

Rev. P. C. Earee, Church of England

No	37
Date of Notice	2 December 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph John Guest	Lilian Rose Campbell
	💍 1899/565
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	School-master	Domestic duties
Age	34	24
Dwelling Place	Te Ore Ore	Opaki
Length of Residence	20 months	24 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of Robert Campbell, Opaki
Folio	99/432
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 December 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. C. Earee, 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).