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 467

District of Riverton Quarter ending 31 March 1899 Registrar Alexander George Ashby

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

540

17 January 1899

James Timbs
Mary Rolfe

James Timbs
Mary Rolfe
💍 1899/1221

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic Duties

31
22

Riverton
Riverton

4 days
12 years

Mr (Ellen) Rolfe's House, Palmerston

99/1095

17 January 1899

Rev. J. T. Burrows (Wesleyan)

No	540
Date of Notice	17 January 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Timbs	Mary Rolfe
	💍 1899/1221
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic Duties
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Riverton
Length of Residence	4 days	12 years
Marriage Place	Mr (Ellen) Rolfe's House, Palmerston
Folio	99/1095
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 January 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. T. Burrows (Wesleyan)

541

13 February 1899

David Crawford
May Gilson

David Crawford
Florence May Gibson
💍 1899/1228

Bachelor
Spinster

Shearer
Domestic Duties

29
20

Riverton
Riverton

1 week
20 years

Mrs Gilson's House, Havelock Street

99/1096

Elizabeth Gilson, Mother of May Gilson

13 February 1899

Rev. J. T. Burrows (Wesleyan)

No	541
Date of Notice	13 February 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Crawford	May Gilson
BDM Match (74%)	David Crawford	Florence May Gibson
	💍 1899/1228
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shearer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Riverton
Length of Residence	1 week	20 years
Marriage Place	Mrs Gilson's House, Havelock Street
Folio	99/1096
Consent	Elizabeth Gilson, Mother of May Gilson
Date of Certificate	13 February 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. T. Burrows (Wesleyan)

542

25 February 1899

Joseph Henry Bell
Amy Hirst

Joseph Henry Bell
Amy Hirst
💍 1899/1139

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Domestic Duties

30
28

Orepuki
Orepuki

4 months
28 years

St. Mary's Church, Riverton

99/1254

25 February 1899

Rev. M. W. Butterfield (Church of England)

No	542
Date of Notice	25 February 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Henry Bell	Amy Hirst
	💍 1899/1139
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Domestic Duties
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Orepuki	Orepuki
Length of Residence	4 months	28 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Riverton
Folio	99/1254
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 February 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. W. Butterfield (Church of England)

543

2 March 1899

James Turnbull
Annie Yates

James Turnbull
Annie Yates
💍 1899/1035

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Duties

21
21

Orepuki
Orepuki

21 years
3 years

At the Aparima Hotel, Riverton

99/1092

2 March 1899

Rev. McCully (Presbyterian)

No	543
Date of Notice	2 March 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Turnbull	Annie Yates
	💍 1899/1035
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Duties
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Orepuki	Orepuki
Length of Residence	21 years	3 years
Marriage Place	At the Aparima Hotel, Riverton
Folio	99/1092
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. McCully (Presbyterian)

544

15 March 1899

Herbert Edward Philp Macdonald
Emily Galletti

Herbert Edward Philp
Emily Galletti Macdonald
💍 1899/1036

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Domestic Duties

25
28

Riverton
Riverton

2 years
28 years

Presbyterian Church, Riverton

99/1093

15 March 1899

Rev. McCully (Presbyterian)

No	544
Date of Notice	15 March 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Edward Philp Macdonald	Emily Galletti
BDM Match (63%)	Herbert Edward Philp	Emily Galletti Macdonald
	💍 1899/1036
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Domestic Duties
Age	25	28
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Riverton
Length of Residence	2 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Riverton
Folio	99/1093
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. McCully (Presbyterian)

545

28 March 1899

Bernard Percival Berndtson
Ellen Theresa Printz

Bernard Percival Berndtson
Ellen Theresa Printz
💍 1899/1120

Bachelor
Spinster

Mining Cadet
Domestic Duties

22
28

Riverton
Riverton

22 years
28 years

Church of England, Riverton

99/1255

28 March 1899

Rev. M. W. Butterfield (Church of England)

No	545
Date of Notice	28 March 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bernard Percival Berndtson	Ellen Theresa Printz
	💍 1899/1120
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mining Cadet	Domestic Duties
Age	22	28
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Riverton
Length of Residence	22 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Riverton
Folio	99/1255
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. W. Butterfield (Church of England)

546

28 March 1899

Malcolm James McDonald
Margaret Reid Turnbull

Malcolm James McDonald
Margaret Reid Turnbull
💍 1899/1210

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Duties

31
27

Riverton
Flints Bush

30 years
27 years

In the Barn of Mr. James Turnbull, Flints Bush

99/1094

28 March 1899

Rev. Thomas Neave (Presbyterian)

No	546
Date of Notice	28 March 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Malcolm James McDonald	Margaret Reid Turnbull
	💍 1899/1210
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Duties
Age	31	27
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Flints Bush
Length of Residence	30 years	27 years
Marriage Place	In the Barn of Mr. James Turnbull, Flints Bush
Folio	99/1094
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Neave (Presbyterian)

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).