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 925

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 31 December 1898 Registrar Henry Hawthorne Grace

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

1977

3 October 1898

Ivan Arnold Borlon
Kellie Kathleen Newton

Ivon Arnold Borton
Nellie Kathleen Newton
💍 1898/2818

Bachelor
Spinster

Solicitor

27
23

Oamaru
Oamaru

1 year at the house of Ven. Archdeacon Gould
10 years Oamaru

St. Luke's Church, Oamaru

98/4839

3 October 1898

Ven. Archdeacon Gould, Church of England

No	1977
Date of Notice	3 October 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ivan Arnold Borlon	Kellie Kathleen Newton
BDM Match (92%)	Ivon Arnold Borton	Nellie Kathleen Newton
	💍 1898/2818
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Solicitor
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	1 year at the house of Ven. Archdeacon Gould	10 years Oamaru
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Oamaru
Folio	98/4839
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 October 1898
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon Gould, Church of England

1978

11 October 1898

George Kelly
Janet LaLeor

George Kelly
Janet Polson
💍 1898/2854

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

30
24

Oamaru
Enfield

3 days at the house of Mr. Angus
11 months Solever at Enfield

Presbyterian Church of Otago & Southland

98/4841

11 October 1898

Rev. J. Standing

No	1978
Date of Notice	11 October 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Kelly	Janet LaLeor
BDM Match (79%)	George Kelly	Janet Polson
	💍 1898/2854
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Enfield
Length of Residence	3 days at the house of Mr. Angus	11 months Solever at Enfield
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church of Otago & Southland
Folio	98/4841
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 October 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Standing

1979

17 October 1898

Alfred Robert Ford
Emma Jane Okey

Alfred Robert Foster
Emma Jane Odey
💍 1898/2570

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

22
20

Oamaru
Kakanui North

4 years at the house of Mr. Henry Okey
6 months known as Hotel at Kakanui North

Presbyterian Church of Otago & Southland

98/4844

Henry Okey (Father)

17 October 1898

Rev. C. D. Thomson

No	1979
Date of Notice	17 October 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Robert Ford	Emma Jane Okey
BDM Match (86%)	Alfred Robert Foster	Emma Jane Odey
	💍 1898/2570
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Kakanui North
Length of Residence	4 years at the house of Mr. Henry Okey	6 months known as Hotel at Kakanui North
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church of Otago & Southland
Folio	98/4844
Consent	Henry Okey (Father)
Date of Certificate	17 October 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. D. Thomson

1980

24 October 1898

Alexander Hannah Hardower
Ellen Reache (NN Tower)

Bachelor
Widow

Tailor

41
40

Oamaru
Oamaru

25 years at the Roman Catholic Church
25 years at Reed Street, Oamaru

Roman Catholic Church

98/5075

24 October 1898

Very Rev. J. Mackay

No	1980
Date of Notice	24 October 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Hannah Hardower	Ellen Reache (NN Tower)
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Tailor
Age	41	40
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	25 years at the Roman Catholic Church	25 years at Reed Street, Oamaru
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	98/5075
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 October 1898
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. J. Mackay

1981

5 November 1898

George Cox
Elsie Gallehon Lindsay

George Cox
Eliza Fullerton Lindsay
💍 1898/4889

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

42
36

Pukeuri
Pukeuri

20 years at the office of the Registrar
6 years Oamaru

Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru

98/4836

5 November 1898

Henry H. E. Ralfe

No	1981
Date of Notice	5 November 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Cox	Elsie Gallehon Lindsay
BDM Match (85%)	George Cox	Eliza Fullerton Lindsay
	💍 1898/4889
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	42	36
Dwelling Place	Pukeuri	Pukeuri
Length of Residence	20 years at the office of the Registrar	6 years Oamaru
Marriage Place	Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru
Folio	98/4836
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 November 1898
Officiating Minister	Henry H. E. Ralfe

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).