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 380

District of Cromwell Quarter ending 31 March 1899 Registrar James Fleming

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

301

11 January 1899

John Charles Theyers
Ann Jemima Elliot

John Charles Meyers
Ann Jemima Elliot
💍 1899/5497

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

29
21

Nevis
Nevis

18 months
21 years

Presbyterian Church, Cromwell

99/894

11 January 1899

Rev. John Lothian, Presbyterian

No	301
Date of Notice	11 January 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Charles Theyers	Ann Jemima Elliot
BDM Match (95%)	John Charles Meyers	Ann Jemima Elliot
	💍 1899/5497
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Nevis	Nevis
Length of Residence	18 months	21 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Cromwell
Folio	99/894
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 January 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Lothian, Presbyterian

302

19 January 1899

John McLean
Annie Trevathan

John McLoughlin
Annie Trevathan
💍 1899/2459

Bachelor
Spinster

Brewer

30
19

Cromwell
Luggate

3 weeks
19 years

House of Jane Bruce, Luggate

99/2377

Jane Bruce, mother of minor

19 January 1899

Rev. William Henry Browne, Church of England

No	302
Date of Notice	19 January 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McLean	Annie Trevathan
BDM Match (80%)	John McLoughlin	Annie Trevathan
	💍 1899/2459
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Brewer
Age	30	19
Dwelling Place	Cromwell	Luggate
Length of Residence	3 weeks	19 years
Marriage Place	House of Jane Bruce, Luggate
Folio	99/2377
Consent	Jane Bruce, mother of minor
Date of Certificate	19 January 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Henry Browne, Church of England

303

17 January 1899

Alexander Robertson
Mary Ann Lawrence

Alexander Robertson
Mary Ann Lawrence
💍 1899/2458

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

22
19

Nevis
Bannockburn

2 years
19 years

Church of England, Cromwell

99/2376

James Lawrence, father of minor

17 January 1899

Rev. William Henry Browne, Church of England

No	303
Date of Notice	17 January 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Robertson	Mary Ann Lawrence
	💍 1899/2458
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Nevis	Bannockburn
Length of Residence	2 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Cromwell
Folio	99/2376
Consent	James Lawrence, father of minor
Date of Certificate	17 January 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Henry Browne, Church of England

304

3 February 1899

Charles Cyril Sanders
Christina Flora Polson

Charles Cyril Sanders
Christina Flora Polson
💍 1899/899

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

21
26

Cromwell
Cromwell

20 years
6 years

Residence of John Polson, Bendigo

99/896

3 February 1899

Rev. L. J. Ryand, Wesleyan Methodist

No	304
Date of Notice	3 February 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Cyril Sanders	Christina Flora Polson
	💍 1899/899
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	21	26
Dwelling Place	Cromwell	Cromwell
Length of Residence	20 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Polson, Bendigo
Folio	99/896
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. J. Ryand, Wesleyan Methodist

305

7 February 1899

Robert Davidson
Ellen Rushton

Robert Davidson
Ellen Rushton
💍 1899/898

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

54
26

Wanaka Road
Arrowtown

36 years
26 years

Church of England, Arrowtown

99/895

7 February 1899

Rev. Alfred Douglas Mitchell, Church of England

No	305
Date of Notice	7 February 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Davidson	Ellen Rushton
	💍 1899/898
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	54	26
Dwelling Place	Wanaka Road	Arrowtown
Length of Residence	36 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Arrowtown
Folio	99/895
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alfred Douglas Mitchell, Church of England

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).