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 206

District of Masterton Quarter ending 31 March 1899 Registrar Samuel Johnston

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

3 January 1899

Thomas Knight
Georgina Williams

Thomas Knight
Georgina Williams
💍 1899/1104

Bachelor
Spinster

Rabbiter
Waiteress

24
21

Masterton
Masterton

3 days
3 days

The Registrars Office Masterton

99/1163

3 January 1899

The Registrar Masterton

No	1
Date of Notice	3 January 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Knight	Georgina Williams
	💍 1899/1104
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Rabbiter	Waiteress
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	The Registrars Office Masterton
Folio	99/1163
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1899
Officiating Minister	The Registrar Masterton

3 January 1899

Andrew Forer
Ethel Thomasina Richards

Andrew Fraser
Ethel Thomasine Richards
💍 1899/564

Bachelor
Spinster

Station Manager
Stationers Assistant

28
25

Masterton
Masterton

4 days
11 years

The Roman Catholic Church Masterton

99/423

3 January 1899

Rev John McKenna Roman Catholic

No	2
Date of Notice	3 January 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Forer	Ethel Thomasina Richards
BDM Match (86%)	Andrew Fraser	Ethel Thomasine Richards
	💍 1899/564
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Station Manager	Stationers Assistant
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	4 days	11 years
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church Masterton
Folio	99/423
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev John McKenna Roman Catholic

6 January 1899

Henry Smith
Edith Melohaney

Henry Smith
Edith McWhaney
💍 1899/585

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

27
19

Masterton
Opaki

12 years
6 months

In the residence of Mr D Livingston Albert St Masterton

99/428

6 January 1899

Rev H. Smalley Wesleyan

No	3
Date of Notice	6 January 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Smith	Edith Melohaney
BDM Match (90%)	Henry Smith	Edith McWhaney
	💍 1899/585
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Opaki
Length of Residence	12 years	6 months
Marriage Place	In the residence of Mr D Livingston Albert St Masterton
Folio	99/428
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev H. Smalley Wesleyan

10 January 1899

Willie Bertram Jackson
Agnes Watson O'Connell

William Betram Jackson
Agnes Watson O'Connell
💍 1899/575

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Domestic duties

19
20

Masterton
Masterton

19 years
2 years

The Roman Catholic Church Masterton

99/424

David Jackson Father, Michael O'Connell Father

10 January 1899

Rev John McKenna Roman Catholic

No	4
Date of Notice	10 January 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Willie Bertram Jackson	Agnes Watson O'Connell
BDM Match (93%)	William Betram Jackson	Agnes Watson O'Connell
	💍 1899/575
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Domestic duties
Age	19	20
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	19 years	2 years
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church Masterton
Folio	99/424
Consent	David Jackson Father, Michael O'Connell Father
Date of Certificate	10 January 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev John McKenna Roman Catholic

21 January 1899

John Henry Frederick Bensemann
Ellen Mary O'Reilly

John Henry Frederick Benseman
Ellen Mary OReilly
💍 1899/582

Bachelor
Spinster

Settler
General Servant

35
32

Masterton
Masterton

3 days
4 weeks

The Roman Catholic Church Masterton

99/425

21 January 1899

Rev John Clancy Roman Catholic

No	5
Date of Notice	21 January 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Frederick Bensemann	Ellen Mary O'Reilly
BDM Match (96%)	John Henry Frederick Benseman	Ellen Mary OReilly
	💍 1899/582
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Settler	General Servant
Age	35	32
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	3 days	4 weeks
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church Masterton
Folio	99/425
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 January 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev John Clancy Roman Catholic

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).