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 609

District of Stratford Quarter ending 31 December 1898 Registrar W. James

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

22 October 1898

Robert James William Hancock
Ellen Elizabeth Hewett

Robert James William Hancock
Ellen Elizabeth Hewitt
💍 1898/4371

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

23
27

Sariki
Stratford

2 years
6 years

The residence of Mrs. A. W. Hewett, Brooks Road, Stratford

98/4075

22 October 1898

Rev. J. I. Pead, Wesleyan

No	44
Date of Notice	22 October 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert James William Hancock	Ellen Elizabeth Hewett
BDM Match (98%)	Robert James William Hancock	Ellen Elizabeth Hewitt
	💍 1898/4371
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	23	27
Dwelling Place	Sariki	Stratford
Length of Residence	2 years	6 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Mrs. A. W. Hewett, Brooks Road, Stratford
Folio	98/4075
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 October 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. I. Pead, Wesleyan

31 October 1898

Percival Raymond Fortonae Meredith
Anna Gaynor

Percival Raymond Fortescue Meredith
Anna Gwynne
💍 1898/4374

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer

23
20

Hawera
Ngaire

9 years
2 years

The Roman Catholic Church at Stratford

98/4078

31 October 1898

Rev. Father Wm. Johnson, Roman Catholic

No	45
Date of Notice	31 October 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percival Raymond Fortonae Meredith	Anna Gaynor
BDM Match (81%)	Percival Raymond Fortescue Meredith	Anna Gwynne
	💍 1898/4374
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Hawera	Ngaire
Length of Residence	9 years	2 years
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church at Stratford
Folio	98/4078
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 October 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Wm. Johnson, Roman Catholic

1 November 1898

Arthur McMeken
Alice May Clark

Arthur McMillan
Alice May Clark
💍 1898/4925

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

22
16

Midhirst
Midhirst

6 weeks
16 years

The Residence of Mr. H. Clark at Midhirst

98/4952

Major Hooper Clark, father

1 November 1898

Rev. H. W. Williams, Wesleyan

No	46
Date of Notice	1 November 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur McMeken	Alice May Clark
BDM Match (87%)	Arthur McMillan	Alice May Clark
	💍 1898/4925
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	22	16
Dwelling Place	Midhirst	Midhirst
Length of Residence	6 weeks	16 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of Mr. H. Clark at Midhirst
Folio	98/4952
Consent	Major Hooper Clark, father
Date of Certificate	1 November 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. W. Williams, Wesleyan

8 November 1898

George McConchie
Ellen Bobbie

George McCouchie
Ellen Dobbie
💍 1898/3288

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

28
31

Stratford
Stratford

9 months
1 week

The Residence of Robert Langue, near Cordelia Street, Stratford

98/4080

8 November 1898

Rev. B. Hutson, Presbyterian

No	47
Date of Notice	8 November 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George McConchie	Ellen Bobbie
BDM Match (93%)	George McCouchie	Ellen Dobbie
	💍 1898/3288
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	28	31
Dwelling Place	Stratford	Stratford
Length of Residence	9 months	1 week
Marriage Place	The Residence of Robert Langue, near Cordelia Street, Stratford
Folio	98/4080
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 November 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Hutson, Presbyterian

19 November 1898

William Derby
Eva Matilda Robertson

William Derby
Eva Matilda Robertson
💍 1898/4370

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine driver

28
19

Midhirst
Midhirst

6 years
19 years

The Residence of Henry Robertson, Midhirst

98/4073

Henry Robertson, father

19 November 1898

Rev. G. Clement, Primitive Methodist

No	48
Date of Notice	19 November 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Derby	Eva Matilda Robertson
	💍 1898/4370
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine driver
Age	28	19
Dwelling Place	Midhirst	Midhirst
Length of Residence	6 years	19 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of Henry Robertson, Midhirst
Folio	98/4073
Consent	Henry Robertson, father
Date of Certificate	19 November 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Clement, Primitive Methodist

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).