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 776

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 1898 Registrar M. M. Maullecove

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

439

5 October 1898

Alexander Findlay
Lillie Hulme Anderson

Alexander Findlay Anderson
Lillie Hulme
💍 1898/3383

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Domestic

30
27

St Albans
Fendalton

18 years

House of Rev. Dr. Erwin

98/4464

5 October 1898

Rev. Dr. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	439
Date of Notice	5 October 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Findlay	Lillie Hulme Anderson
BDM Match (61%)	Alexander Findlay Anderson	Lillie Hulme
	💍 1898/3383
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Domestic
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	St Albans	Fendalton
Length of Residence	18 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. Dr. Erwin
Folio	98/4464
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 October 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dr. Erwin, Presbyterian

440

7 October 1898

Philip Henry Venables
May Annie Cress

Philip Henry Venables
Margaret Elizabeth Gregg
💍 1898/3446

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber

26
28

Christchurch
Burwood

19 years
20 years

House of Mr. Pettett, King Street

98/4479

7 October 1898

Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

No	440
Date of Notice	7 October 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Philip Henry Venables	May Annie Cress
BDM Match (65%)	Philip Henry Venables	Margaret Elizabeth Gregg
	💍 1898/3446
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Burwood
Length of Residence	19 years	20 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Pettett, King Street
Folio	98/4479
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 October 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

441

7 October 1898

Archibald Hunt
Ada Todd

Archibald Hunt
Ada Amelia Dodd
💍 1898/4834

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Tailoress

24
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

11 years
25 years

House of Mr. Adam Todd, St. Asaph St, Ch. Ch.

98/4560

7 October 1898

Rev. J. J. Toke, Baptist

No	441
Date of Notice	7 October 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Hunt	Ada Todd
BDM Match (73%)	Archibald Hunt	Ada Amelia Dodd
	💍 1898/4834
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Tailoress
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	11 years	25 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Adam Todd, St. Asaph St, Ch. Ch.
Folio	98/4560
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 October 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Toke, Baptist

442

11 October 1898

George Weston Wood
Agnes Wood

George Weston
Agnes Wood
💍 1898/3503

Bachelor
Spinster

Chemist

39
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

18 months
49 years

House of Mr. J. H. Wood

98/5013

11 October 1898

Rev. J. Ward, Wesleyan

No	442
Date of Notice	11 October 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Weston Wood	Agnes Wood
BDM Match (86%)	George Weston	Agnes Wood
	💍 1898/3503
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chemist
Age	39	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	18 months	49 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. J. H. Wood
Folio	98/5013
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 October 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Ward, Wesleyan

443

11 October 1898

Henry Hearn Chaplin
Edith Frances Mary Summerton

Henry Hearn Chaplin
Edith Frances Mary Summerton
💍 1898/3504

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
25

Christchurch
Templeton

24 years
10 years

St. Saviours Church

98/5014

11 October 1898

Rev. W. F. Knowles, Anglican

No	443
Date of Notice	11 October 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Hearn Chaplin	Edith Frances Mary Summerton
	💍 1898/3504
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Templeton
Length of Residence	24 years	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviours Church
Folio	98/5014
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 October 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. F. Knowles, Anglican

444

13 October 1898

James Alcorn Orr
Clara Agnes Brown

Armer Alcorn Orr
Agnes Clara Brown
💍 1898/4849

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant

28
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 days
6 years

Durham Street Wesleyan Church

98/4553

13 October 1898

Rev. W. H. Nicoll, Wesleyan

No	444
Date of Notice	13 October 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Alcorn Orr	Clara Agnes Brown
BDM Match (61%)	Armer Alcorn Orr	Agnes Clara Brown
	💍 1898/4849
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 days	6 years
Marriage Place	Durham Street Wesleyan Church
Folio	98/4553
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Nicoll, Wesleyan

445

13 October 1898

Thomas Brothwell
Fanny Grace Kawana

Bachelor
Spinster

Mechanic

22
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

22 years
2 years

House of Mr. Lee, Sandford St, Sydenham

98/4537

Mary Lee, Mother

13 October 1898

Rev. J. R. Thomas, Wesleyan

No	445
Date of Notice	13 October 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Brothwell	Fanny Grace Kawana
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mechanic
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	22 years	2 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Lee, Sandford St, Sydenham
Folio	98/4537
Consent	Mary Lee, Mother
Date of Certificate	13 October 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Thomas, Wesleyan

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).