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 403

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 September 1898 Registrar John Logan Bush

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

14 July 1898

David Glance Scott
Betsy Calder

David Flause Scott
Betsy Calder
💍 1898/3941

Bachelor
Spinster

Coach Driver

22
25

Wallacetown
Bluff

16 years
10 years

House of Mr James Calder, Bluff

98/3331

14 July 1898

Rev W. G. McLaren

No	85
Date of Notice	14 July 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Glance Scott	Betsy Calder
BDM Match (92%)	David Flause Scott	Betsy Calder
	💍 1898/3941
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coach Driver
Age	22	25
Dwelling Place	Wallacetown	Bluff
Length of Residence	16 years	10 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr James Calder, Bluff
Folio	98/3331
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev W. G. McLaren

14 July 1898

Brashin Brogan
Kate O'Connor

Martin Brogan
Kate OConnor
💍 1898/3136

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

34
27

Invercargill
Invercargill

3 days
6 years

St. Andrew's Church, Clyde Street, Invercargill

98/3458

14 July 1898

Rev Wm Burke

No	86
Date of Notice	14 July 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Brashin Brogan	Kate O'Connor
BDM Match (82%)	Martin Brogan	Kate OConnor
	💍 1898/3136
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	34	27
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church, Clyde Street, Invercargill
Folio	98/3458
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev Wm Burke

18 July 1898

James Smith
Ann Johnston

James Smith
Ann Johnston
💍 1898/3149

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30
27

Invercargill
Invercargill

3 days
3 days

St. Paul's Manse, Kelvin St, Invercargill

98/3449

18 July 1898

Rev Geo Lindsay

No	87
Date of Notice	18 July 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Smith	Ann Johnston
	💍 1898/3149
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Manse, Kelvin St, Invercargill
Folio	98/3449
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 July 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev Geo Lindsay

18 July 1898

Alexander Copland
Elizabeth Mackenzie

Alexander Copland
Elizabeth McKenzie
💍 1898/3985

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

28
20

Invercargill
Invercargill

3 days
20 years

Office of the Registrar, Invercargill

98/3427

Alexander Mackenzie, Father

18 July 1898

J. L. Bush, Registrar

No	88
Date of Notice	18 July 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Copland	Elizabeth Mackenzie
BDM Match (95%)	Alexander Copland	Elizabeth McKenzie
	💍 1898/3985
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar, Invercargill
Folio	98/3427
Consent	Alexander Mackenzie, Father
Date of Certificate	18 July 1898
Officiating Minister	J. L. Bush, Registrar

19 July 1898

John Beck
Agnes Victoria Nicholson

John Beck
Agnes Victoria Nicholson
💍 1898/3150

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

36
21

Invercargill
Invercargill

3 days
2 weeks

St. Paul's Manse, Kelvin St, Invercargill

98/3450

19 July 1898

Rev Geo Lindsay

No	89
Date of Notice	19 July 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Beck	Agnes Victoria Nicholson
	💍 1898/3150
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	36	21
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	2 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Manse, Kelvin St, Invercargill
Folio	98/3450
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev Geo Lindsay

22 July 1898

George Heads
Helen Leppert

George Heads
Helen Le Petit
💍 1898/3151

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper Proprietor

30
25

Invercargill
Invercargill

15 months
15 years

House of Mr Thomas Chambers, Invercargill

98/3451

22 July 1898

Rev Geo Lindsay

No	90
Date of Notice	22 July 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Heads	Helen Leppert
BDM Match (86%)	George Heads	Helen Le Petit
	💍 1898/3151
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper Proprietor
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	15 months	15 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr Thomas Chambers, Invercargill
Folio	98/3451
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 July 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev Geo Lindsay

27 July 1898

David Alexander
Isabel Kelso

David Alexander Stewart
Mabel Kelso
💍 1898/3137

Bachelor
Spinster

Pastry Cook

22
20

Invercargill
Invercargill

22 years
3 years

House of Mr D. A. Stewart, Clyde Street, Invercargill

98/3459

11 August 1898

Rev Wm Burke

No	91
Date of Notice	27 July 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Alexander	Isabel Kelso
BDM Match (74%)	David Alexander Stewart	Mabel Kelso
	💍 1898/3137
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pastry Cook
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	22 years	3 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr D. A. Stewart, Clyde Street, Invercargill
Folio	98/3459
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev Wm Burke

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).