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 214

District of Pahiatua Quarter ending 31 March 1899 Registrar William James Reeve

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

11 January 1899

Jabez Daniel Gupwell
Sarah Elizabeth Winter

Jabez Daniel Gupwell
Sarah Elizabeth Winter
💍 1899/576

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Housekeeper

33
30

Pahiatua
Pahiatua

8 years
5 years

Residence of Rev H. Beggs Pahiatua

99/442

11 January 1899

Rev H. Beggs Wesleyan

No	1
Date of Notice	11 January 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jabez Daniel Gupwell	Sarah Elizabeth Winter
	💍 1899/576
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Housekeeper
Age	33	30
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Pahiatua
Length of Residence	8 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev H. Beggs Pahiatua
Folio	99/442
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 January 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev H. Beggs Wesleyan

12 January 1899

John Henry Taylor
Helen Annie Renalls Poace

John Henry Taylor
Helen Annie Renalls Poad
💍 1899/572

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
House duties

25
20

Makuri
Makuri

2 1/2 years
6 years

Church of England Pahiatua

99/439

Uncle and Guardian

6 February 1899

Rev H.W.B. Marshall Church of England

No	2
Date of Notice	12 January 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Taylor	Helen Annie Renalls Poace
BDM Match (96%)	John Henry Taylor	Helen Annie Renalls Poad
	💍 1899/572
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	House duties
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Makuri	Makuri
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Pahiatua
Folio	99/439
Consent	Uncle and Guardian
Date of Certificate	6 February 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev H.W.B. Marshall Church of England

16 January 1899

John W. Vicker
Emily Sarah Hodress

John McVicker
Emily Sarah Hodren
💍 1899/570

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
House duties

25
30

Pahiatua
Pahiatua

14 days
8 weeks

Church of England Pahiatua

99/437

16 January 1899

Rev H.W.B. Marshall Church of England

No	3
Date of Notice	16 January 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John W. Vicker	Emily Sarah Hodress
BDM Match (84%)	John McVicker	Emily Sarah Hodren
	💍 1899/570
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	House duties
Age	25	30
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Pahiatua
Length of Residence	14 days	8 weeks
Marriage Place	Church of England Pahiatua
Folio	99/437
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 January 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev H.W.B. Marshall Church of England

19 January 1899

Henry Wemyss Tait
Annie Beatrice Hyde

Henry Wemyss Rait
Annie Beatrice Hyde
💍 1899/571

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
House duties

31
21

Mangatainoka
Pahiatua

5 1/2 years
10 years

Church of England Pahiatua

99/438

19 January 1899

Rev H.W.B. Marshall Church of England

No	4
Date of Notice	19 January 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Wemyss Tait	Annie Beatrice Hyde
BDM Match (97%)	Henry Wemyss Rait	Annie Beatrice Hyde
	💍 1899/571
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	House duties
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Mangatainoka	Pahiatua
Length of Residence	5 1/2 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Pahiatua
Folio	99/438
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev H.W.B. Marshall Church of England

15 February 1899

Charles Egbert Vile
Sarah Finch

Charles Egbert Vile
Sarah Finch
💍 1899/577

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic Servant

21
20

Pahiatua
Pahiatua

11 years
4 years

Residence of T.H. Vile Pahiatua

99/443

Louisa Vile Sister and Guardian

15 February 1899

Rev H. Beggs Wesleyan

No	5
Date of Notice	15 February 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Egbert Vile	Sarah Finch
	💍 1899/577
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Servant
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Pahiatua
Length of Residence	11 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of T.H. Vile Pahiatua
Folio	99/443
Consent	Louisa Vile Sister and Guardian
Date of Certificate	15 February 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev H. Beggs Wesleyan

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).