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 292

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 1898

No	Date of Notice	Names and Surnames of Parties	BDM Match	Condition	Calling or Profession	Age	Dwelling Place	Length of Residence	Marriage Place	Folio	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
320	21 July 1898	George Edward Northy Anson Gwendoline Bone	George Edward Northy Auson Gwendoline Bone 💍 1898/3055	Bachelor Spinster	Merchant	25 21	Christchurch Christchurch	25 years 21 years	Holy Trinity Church, Avonside	98/3224	21 July 1898	Rev W. A. Pascoe, Church of England
321	21 July 1898	Alexander Brooke Boyd Margaret Miller Beveridge	Alexander Brooke Boyd Margaret Miller Beveridge 💍 1898/3046	Bachelor Spinster	Medical Practitioner	35 21	Richmond, Nelson Christchurch	6 months 8 years	St Mary's Church, Addington	98/3238	21 July 1898	Rev W. S. Bean, Anglican
322	22 July 1898	John Starling Ada Priscilla Gillett	John Stirling Ada Priscilla Gillett 💍 1898/4022	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Dressmaker	48 30	Christchurch Linwood	1 year 10 years	St Marks Church, Opawa	98/3248	22 July 1898	Rev E. I. Cholmondeley, Anglican
323	23 July 1898	George Henry Wansbone Susan Cunningham Butler	George Henry Wansbone Susan Cunningham Butler 💍 1898/4005	Bachelor Spinster	Salvation Army Officer	25 30	Christchurch Barracks Christchurch, Sydenham	4 months 10 years	Salvation Army Barracks	98/3254	23 July 1898	Major Roans, Salvation Army Officer
324	23 July 1898	Daniel William McGregor Gunda Amelia Gundersen	Daniel William McGregor Glenda Amelia Gundersen 💍 1898/4009	Bachelor Spinster	Dairy Farmer	29 26	Bromley Christchurch	21 years 14 years	St Lukes Church	98/3258	23 July 1898	Rev Archd. Lingard, Anglican
325	25 July 1898	Michael McMahon Mary Ellen Sullivan	Michel Mahoney May Ellen Sullivan 💍 1898/3855	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic	32 21	Christchurch Christchurch	1 year 1 month	Catholic Church, Barbadoes St	98/3184	25 July 1898	Rev Father des Phasmais, Roman Catholic
326	25 July 1898	Thomas Arthur Davis Amy Annie Bradley	Thomas Arthur Davie Ada Annie Bradley 💍 1898/4141	Bachelor Spinster	Presser Tailoress	23 22	Christchurch Christchurch	20 years 13 years	St Johns Church	98/3595	25 July 1898	Rev T. C. M. Haken, Anglican
327	25 July 1898	Frederick David Davies Margarita Dryden Beattie	Frederick David Langworthy Davies Margurite Dryden Beattie 💍 1898/3114	Bachelor Spinster	Steward	23 26	Christchurch Christchurch	18 months 22 years	Registrar's Office	98/3160	25 July 1898	Registrar of Marriages, McPherson

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 1898. More registers will be added when the Archives NZ Wellington reading room re-opens in September 2025.

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).