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 304

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 1898 Registrar M. W. Anderson

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

412

21 September 1898

Arthur Newman Litchfield Young
Jane Hart

Arthur Newman Litchfield Young
Jane Hart
💍 1898/3895

Bachelor
Spinster

Lichfield Street Preserver

27
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

12 years
12 years

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Manchester Street, Christchurch

98/3211

21 September 1898

Rev. M. J. Marmone, Romanist

No	412
Date of Notice	21 September 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Newman Litchfield Young	Jane Hart
	💍 1898/3895
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Lichfield Street Preserver
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	12 years	12 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Manchester Street, Christchurch
Folio	98/3211
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 September 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. J. Marmone, Romanist

413

21 September 1898

Walter Alexander Robson
Margaret Ellen Kennedy

Walter Alexander Robson
Margaret Ellen Kennedy
💍 1898/4688

Bachelor
Spinster

Confectioner

29
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

29 years
16 years

House of Rev. H. Bull, Harper Street

98/4509

21 September 1898

Rev. H. Bull, Wesleyan

No	413
Date of Notice	21 September 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Alexander Robson	Margaret Ellen Kennedy
	💍 1898/4688
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Confectioner
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	29 years	16 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. H. Bull, Harper Street
Folio	98/4509
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 September 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Bull, Wesleyan

414

23 September 1898

Harold Augustus Talbot
Annie Doris Allsopp

Harold Augustus Talbot
Annie Dorcas Allsop
💍 1898/4019

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

37
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

15 months
18 years

St. Mary's Church, Merivale

98/3268

23 September 1898

Rev. H. C. Watson, Church of England

No	414
Date of Notice	23 September 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Augustus Talbot	Annie Doris Allsopp
BDM Match (92%)	Harold Augustus Talbot	Annie Dorcas Allsop
	💍 1898/4019
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	37	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	15 months	18 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Merivale
Folio	98/3268
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 September 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. C. Watson, Church of England

415

23 September 1898

Matthew James Tuhan
Lillie Ward

Matthew James Tuhan
Lillie Ward
💍 1898/3035

Bachelor
Spinster

Waiter
Domestic

24
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
23 years

Holy Trinity Church, Avonside

98/3228

23 September 1898

Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Anglican

No	415
Date of Notice	23 September 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Matthew James Tuhan	Lillie Ward
	💍 1898/3035
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Waiter	Domestic
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Avonside
Folio	98/3228
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 September 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Anglican

416

23 September 1898

Alfred Ernest Parfitt
Alice Mary Lilian Moon

Alfred Ernest Parfitt
Alice Mary Lilian Moon
💍 1898/3511

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

24
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 months
19 years

St. John's Church, Latimer Square, Christchurch

98/5003

George William Coutts Moon, Father

23 September 1898

Rev. H. C. M. Watson, Anglican

No	416
Date of Notice	23 September 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Ernest Parfitt	Alice Mary Lilian Moon
	💍 1898/3511
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 months	19 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Latimer Square, Christchurch
Folio	98/5003
Consent	George William Coutts Moon, Father
Date of Certificate	23 September 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. C. M. Watson, Anglican

417

24 September 1898

John William Ferguson
Annie Bands

John William Ferguson
Annie Banks
💍 1898/3887

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Tailoress

37
38

Christchurch
Christchurch

20 years
14 years

St. John's Banks Chapel Street, St. Albans

98/3203

24 September 1898

Rev. W. Lee, Wesleyan

No	417
Date of Notice	24 September 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Ferguson	Annie Bands
BDM Match (95%)	John William Ferguson	Annie Banks
	💍 1898/3887
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Tailoress
Age	37	38
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	14 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Banks Chapel Street, St. Albans
Folio	98/3203
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 September 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Lee, Wesleyan

418

24 September 1898

Thomas Nevin
Susan Wilshire

Thomas Nevin
Susan Wilshire
💍 1898/3860

Widower
Spinster

Storeman
Domestic

38
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

20 years
19 years

Roman Catholic Church, Barbados Street, Christchurch

98/3188

24 September 1898

Rev. Father Le Clerc, Romanist

No	418
Date of Notice	24 September 1898
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Nevin	Susan Wilshire
	💍 1898/3860
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Domestic
Age	38	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Barbados Street, Christchurch
Folio	98/3188
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 September 1898
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Le Clerc, Romanist

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 1908. 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).