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 303

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1899 Registrar M. Manderson

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

4 January 1899

George Spencer Fleming
Mary Cameron Speight

George Spencer Fleming
Mary Cameron
💍 1899/792

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

48
33

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 days
4 Years

Registrar Office

99/718

4 January 1899

Registrar Marriages M. Manderson

No	1
Date of Notice	4 January 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Spencer Fleming	Mary Cameron Speight
BDM Match (80%)	George Spencer Fleming	Mary Cameron
	💍 1899/792
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	48	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 days	4 Years
Marriage Place	Registrar Office
Folio	99/718
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1899
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marriages M. Manderson

4 January 1899

George Lowes
Agnes Stewart Speight

George Gould
Agnes Stewart
💍 1899/5434

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

37
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
2 Years

House of Mr. Stewart

99/751

4 January 1899

Rev. S. Dollamore Baptist

No	2
Date of Notice	4 January 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Lowes	Agnes Stewart Speight
BDM Match (64%)	George Gould	Agnes Stewart
	💍 1899/5434
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	37	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	2 Years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Stewart
Folio	99/751
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Dollamore Baptist

4 January 1899

John Newbegin
Constance May Peach

John Newbiggin
Constance Mary Peach
💍 1899/1270

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Teacher

32
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
2 weeks

The Manse Cashel Street

99/1188

4 January 1899

Rev. Dr. Elmslie Presbyterian

No	3
Date of Notice	4 January 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Newbegin	Constance May Peach
BDM Match (90%)	John Newbiggin	Constance Mary Peach
	💍 1899/1270
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Teacher
Age	32	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	2 weeks
Marriage Place	The Manse Cashel Street
Folio	99/1188
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dr. Elmslie Presbyterian

4 January 1899

John Shaw
Christina Gordon

John Shaw
Christina Gordon
💍 1899/852

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Tailoress

29
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
22 Years

House of Mr. John Gordon Manchester St.

99/784

4 January 1899

Rev. R. I. Allan Presbyterian

No	4
Date of Notice	4 January 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Shaw	Christina Gordon
	💍 1899/852
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Tailoress
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	22 Years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. John Gordon Manchester St.
Folio	99/784
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. I. Allan Presbyterian

4 January 1899

Ernest Samuel Skilton
Mary Jane Green

Ernest Samuel Skilton
Mary Jane Green
💍 1899/793

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

23
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

16 Years
20 Years

Registrar Office

99/719

4 January 1899

Registrar Marriages M. Manderson

No	5
Date of Notice	4 January 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Samuel Skilton	Mary Jane Green
	💍 1899/793
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	23	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	16 Years	20 Years
Marriage Place	Registrar Office
Folio	99/719
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1899
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marriages M. Manderson

4 January 1899

William Austin
Mary Ann Edmonds

William Buxton Austin
Mary Ann Edmonds
💍 1899/863

Bachelor
Spinster

Mine Owner
Dressmaker

31
26

Christchurch
St. Albans

3 days
4 Years

Wesley Church Durham Street

99/769

4 January 1899

Rev. S. McNicoll Wesleyan

No	6
Date of Notice	4 January 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Austin	Mary Ann Edmonds
BDM Match (83%)	William Buxton Austin	Mary Ann Edmonds
	💍 1899/863
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mine Owner	Dressmaker
Age	31	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	3 days	4 Years
Marriage Place	Wesley Church Durham Street
Folio	99/769
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. McNicoll Wesleyan

4 January 1899

Henry Aulsebrook Bruce
Frances Elizabeth Martin

Harry Aulsbrook Bruce
Frances Elizabeth Martin
💍 1899/1272

Bachelor
Divorced Absolute Sept: 98

Accountant

40
38

Colenso Street Christchurch
Christchurch

33 years
7 Years

St. Pauls Church Cashel St. Christchurch

99/1189

4 January 1899

Rev. Dr. Elmslie Presbyterian

No	7
Date of Notice	4 January 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Aulsebrook Bruce	Frances Elizabeth Martin
BDM Match (93%)	Harry Aulsbrook Bruce	Frances Elizabeth Martin
	💍 1899/1272
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced Absolute Sept: 98
Profession	Accountant
Age	40	38
Dwelling Place	Colenso Street Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	33 years	7 Years
Marriage Place	St. Pauls Church Cashel St. Christchurch
Folio	99/1189
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dr. Elmslie Presbyterian

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).