Intentions to Marry, 1899 January-June

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840415, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington (now located in the National Library reading room), September 5 2025

1899 is bound in two volumes, January-June and July-December.

Page 171

District of Waipawa Quarter ending 31 March 1899 Registrar Samuel Johnson

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

577

12 January 1899

Joseph John James Barré
Theodora Ellen Peters

Joseph John James Barre
Theodora Ellen Peters
💍 1899/1098

Widower
Spinster

Saw Mill Hand

42
20

Waipawa
Waipawa

25 years
20 years

Mrs J. Peters residence, Waipawa

99/1157

Mother Peters

13 January 1899

Rev. W. Johnston

No	577
Date of Notice	12 January 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph John James Barré	Theodora Ellen Peters
BDM Match (96%)	Joseph John James Barre	Theodora Ellen Peters
	💍 1899/1098
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Saw Mill Hand
Age	42	20
Dwelling Place	Waipawa	Waipawa
Length of Residence	25 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Mrs J. Peters residence, Waipawa
Folio	99/1157
Consent	Mother Peters
Date of Certificate	13 January 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Johnston

578

2 February 1899

Gordon Gray
Kate Fenver

Gordon Gray
Kate Denvir
💍 1899/1097

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic

35
31

Waipawa
Waipawa

3 days
6 weeks

St Patricks, Waipawa

99/1156

2 February 1899

Rev. D. O'Shea

No	578
Date of Notice	2 February 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gordon Gray	Kate Fenver
BDM Match (91%)	Gordon Gray	Kate Denvir
	💍 1899/1097
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic
Age	35	31
Dwelling Place	Waipawa	Waipawa
Length of Residence	3 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	St Patricks, Waipawa
Folio	99/1156
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. O'Shea

579

3 February 1899

Wirihana Tipene
Tiria Hari

Wirihana Tipene
Tiria Hori Tawhai
💍 1899/418

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26
22

Waipawa Pah
Waipawa Pah

26 years
22 years

Church, Waipawa Pah

99/375

3 February 1899

Rev. W. Swinburn

No	579
Date of Notice	3 February 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wirihana Tipene	Tiria Hari
BDM Match (76%)	Wirihana Tipene	Tiria Hori Tawhai
	💍 1899/418
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Waipawa Pah	Waipawa Pah
Length of Residence	26 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Church, Waipawa Pah
Folio	99/375
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Swinburn

580

14 February 1899

William Turfey
Elizabeth Amelia Tomas

William Turfrey
Elizabeth Amelia Lomas
💍 1899/372

William Keeley
Elizabeth England
💍 1899/440

William Pierce
Elizabeth Ann May
💍 1900/2320

Bachelor
Widow

Carter
Domestic Duties

36
64

Fairfield
Blackburn

18 years
22 years

Residence of J. Sullivan, Onga Onga

99/378

14 February 1899

Rev. C. L. Tuke

No	580
Date of Notice	14 February 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Turfey	Elizabeth Amelia Tomas
BDM Match (94%)	William Turfrey	Elizabeth Amelia Lomas
	💍 1899/372
BDM Match (63%)	William Keeley	Elizabeth England
	💍 1899/440
BDM Match (62%)	William Pierce	Elizabeth Ann May
	💍 1900/2320
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Carter	Domestic Duties
Age	36	64
Dwelling Place	Fairfield	Blackburn
Length of Residence	18 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Residence of J. Sullivan, Onga Onga
Folio	99/378
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. L. Tuke

581

15 February 1899

Duncan Paterson McLean
Constance Ruth Bibby

Duncan Paterson McLean
Constance Ruth Bibby
💍 1899/458

Bachelor
Spinster

Stock Agent
Domestic Duties

31
29

Waimate, South Canterbury
Waipawa

29 years

Kent Terrace, Presbyterian Church, Wellington

99/563

15 February 1899

Rev. J. K. Elliott

No	581
Date of Notice	15 February 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Duncan Paterson McLean	Constance Ruth Bibby
	💍 1899/458
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stock Agent	Domestic Duties
Age	31	29
Dwelling Place	Waimate, South Canterbury	Waipawa
Length of Residence		29 years
Marriage Place	Kent Terrace, Presbyterian Church, Wellington
Folio	99/563
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. K. Elliott

582

18 March 1899

Frederick Peters
Lillie Fellow

Frederick Peters
Lillie Pellow
💍 1899/354

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23
22

Waipawa
Waipawa

3 days
3 days

Anglican Church, Te Aute

99/376

18 March 1899

Rev. W. Swinburn

No	582
Date of Notice	18 March 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Peters	Lillie Fellow
BDM Match (96%)	Frederick Peters	Lillie Pellow
	💍 1899/354
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Waipawa	Waipawa
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Te Aute
Folio	99/376
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 March 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Swinburn

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).