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 749

District of Nelson 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
48	14 October 1898	Henry Augustus Levestam Elizabeth Mary McCabe	Henry Augustus Levestam Elizabeth Mary McCabe 💍 1898/4622	Bachelor Spinster	Mechanical Engineer Milliner	27 27	Waimea Street Nelson Waimea Street Nelson	3 days 4 years	Roman Catholic Church	98/4375		1 October 1898	Rev. N. I. Mahoney, Roman Catholic Priest
49	24 October 1898	Samuel Whaler Burkitt Hana Hannah Charlotte Peters	Samuel Whaler Burkitt Flora Hannah Charlotte Peters 💍 1898/4613	Bachelor Spinster	Gold Miner Domestic duties	37 24	Gloucester Street Franklyn Street	3 days 1 week	Christ Church, Trafalgar Square	98/4384		24 October 1898	Rev. J. P. Kempthorne, Church of England Minister
50	31 October 1898	Ernest Frederick Jeffries Ellen Delaney	Ernest Fredrick Jeffries Ellen Delaney 💍 1898/4629	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith Housemaid	26 21	Gloucester Street Waimea Street	3 days 2 years	Roman Catholic Station, Manuka St.	98/4376		31 October 1898	Rev. J. Mahoney, Roman Catholic Priest
51	2 November 1898	Edmund Charles Shea Amy Moore	Edmund Charles Shea Amy Moore 💍 1898/4614	Bachelor Spinster	Railway Porter Accountant	24 20	Waimea Street Tory Street	1 year 15 years	Residence of Henry Moore, Tory Street Nelson	98/4385	Henry Moore, father	2 November 1898	Rev. J. P. Kempthorne, Church of England Minister
52	4 November 1898	Harry Reeves Sarah Osgood	Harry Reeves Sarah Osgood 💍 1898/4630	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Dressmaker	42 28	Trafalgar Street Wakapuaka Suburban	3 days 6 months	Residence of Charles Geo: Withers, Wakapuaka Suburban	98/4377		4 November 1898	Rev. S. F. Prior, Wesleyan Minister
53	4 November 1898	Geo. Louis Conlon Glover Fanny Fleming	George Frederick Coulter Glover Fanny Fleming 💍 1898/4632	Bachelor Spinster	Storeman Domestic duties	24 21	New Street Nelson Halifax St E.	22 years 21 years	Residence of Miss Kate Fleming, Halifax St Nelson	98/4379		4 November 1898	Rev. N. F. Chatterton, Church of England Minister
54	28 November 1898	John Ross Edith Annie Coleman	John Ross Edith Annie Coleman 💍 1898/4634	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Dressmaker	23 23	Richmond Richmond	4 days 5 weeks	Residence of Charles Gledhill, Richmond	98/4381		28 November 1898	Rev. G. H. Mackenzie, Presbyterian Minister
55	1 December 1898	James Hogarth Percival Sarah Brown Nee Batchelor	James Hogarth Percival Sarah Brown 💍 1898/4635	Widower Widow	Insurance Agent Domestic duties	40 44	Waimea Street Nelson Waimea Street	9 months 16 years	Residence of Rev. J. H. Mackenzie, Nile Street Nelson	98/4382		1 December 1898	Rev. G. H. Mackenzie, Presbyterian Minister
56	6 December 1898	Frank Herbert Oakey Kate Fleming	Frank Herbert Oakey Kate Fleming 💍 1898/4616	Bachelor Spinster	Piano Tuner Domestic duties	24 24	Bridge Street Halifax Street	24 years 24 years	Residence of Kate Fleming, Halifax Street Nelson	98/4387		6 December 1898	Rev. J. P. Kempthorne, Church of England Minister
57	8 December 1898	Joseph Robert Flower Maud Ada Silvine Cresswell	Joseph Robert Flower Maud Ada Silvers Cresswell 💍 1898/4615	Bachelor Spinster	Bank Accountant Domestic duties	31 26	Collingwood Street Trafalgar Square	3 days 3 days	Christ Church, Trafalgar Square	98/4386		8 December 1898	Rev. J. P. Kempthorne, Church of England Minister
58	14 December 1898	Charles Fredk Faulkner Cordelia Gilleton Jones	Charles Frederick Faulkner Cordelia Gilberta Jones 💍 1898/4617	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep Farmer Domestic duties	30 32	Trafalgar Street Brougham Street	3 days 12 years	Christ Church, Trafalgar Square	98/4388		14 December 1898	Rev. J. P. Kempthorne, Church of England Minister
59	22 December 1898	John Robertson Eva Christmas Smith	John Robertson Eva Christmas Smith 💍 1898/4612	Bachelor Spinster	Fellmonger Domestic duties	35 28	South Street Cambria Street	32 years 25 years	Residence of George Clark, Cambria Street Nelson	98/4383		22 December 1898	Rev. G. H. Mackenzie, Presbyterian Minister
60	24 December 1898	Edward Washington Reynolds Bessie Toms	Edward Washington Reynell Bessie Toms 💍 1898/4631	Bachelor Spinster	Joiner Domestic duties	35 23	Brook Street Brook Street	3 days 23 years	Residence of James Toms, Brook Street Nelson	98/4378		24 December 1898	Rev. S. F. Prior, Wesleyan Minister
61	28 December 1898	Harrison Shaw Ada Catherine Hale	Harrison Shaw Ada Catherine Hale 💍 1898/4633	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic duties	34 26	Collingwood Street Waimea Road	5 days 2 months	Chapel of the Evangelist, Bishopdale Nelson	98/4380		28 December 1898	Rev. F. W. Chatterton, Church of England Minister
62	28 December 1898	Robert Benson Martha Taylor, Nee Ryman	Robert Benson Martha Taylor 💍 1898/4618	Bachelor Widow	Miner Boarding House Keeper	28 36	Waimea Road Waimea Road	4 days 4 years	Residence of John Milligan, Waimea Road Nelson	98/4389		28 December 1898	Rev. J. P. Kempthorne, Church of England Minister

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).