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 549

District of Drury Quarter ending 30 June 1899 Registrar Sam. Walker

No	Date of Notice	Names and Surnames of Parties	BDM Match	Condition	Calling or Profession	Age	Dwelling Place	Length of Residence	Marriage Place	Folio	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
12	3 April 1899	David Artheu Longlet Janet Stewart Brown	David Aitken Wright Janet Stewart Brown 💍 1899/1630	Widower Spinster	Post Master	52 32	Drury Drury	3 days 6 years	House of Thomas Brown	99/1458	3 April 1899	Rev. Thos. Horne, Presbyterian
13	3 April 1899	Thomas Whitehead Agnes Runell	Thomas Lohute Agnes Prunell 💍 1899/1636	Widower Widow	Labourer	58 34	Papakura Papakura	29 years 5 days	Registrar's Office, Drury District	99/1463	3 April 1899	Sam. Walker, Registrar of Marriages
14	11 April 1899	Alfred Brook Florence Rodgers	Alfred Brook Florence Rodgers 💍 1899/1638	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	30 24	Tuakau Tuakau	18 years 18 years	House of Noel Solomon Rodgers	99/1465	11 April 1899	Rev. F. B. Jobson, Church of England
15	14 April 1899	Robert James Atcheson Margaret Bell	Robert James Atchison Margaret Bell 💍 1899/1631 John Thomas Rice Margaret Bell 💍 1900/2316	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	29 29	Clevedon Clevedon	9 years 25 years	House of James Bell	99/1459	14 April 1899	Rev. Thos. Horne, Presbyterian
16	21 April 1899	George Caldwell Fanny Shepherd	George Callwell Fanny Shepherd Eyre 💍 1899/1639	Widower Spinster	Retired Army Officer	56 26	Harrisville Pukekohe	3 years 2 years	Anglican Church	99/1466	21 April 1899	Rev. F. B. Jobson, Church of England
17	21 April 1899	Dennis Cronin Elizabeth McGill	Denis Cronin Elizabeth McGill 💍 1899/1637	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	22 22	Mercer Pokeno	17 years 17 years	House of Michael Cronin, Mercer	99/1464	21 April 1899	Rev. J. L. Ahern, R.C.C.
18	22 April 1899	John Bell West Florence Matilda Waterton	John Bell Kerr Florence Matilda Waterton 💍 1899/1632	Bachelor Spinster	Traveller	40 21	Razor Back Razor Back	4 days 6 years	House of Robert B. Waterton	99/1460	22 April 1899	Rev. Thos. Horne, Presbyterian
19	24 May 1899	Robert Henry Bates Mary Jane Gurney	Robert Henry Bates Mary Jane McMurray 💍 1899/1633	Bachelor Spinster	Millhand	21 26	Papakura Papakura	18 years 20 years	House of George Gurney	99/1461	24 May 1899	Rev. Thos. Horne, Presbyterian
20	29 May 1899	James Thomas Bregmen Alice Ann Cossey	James Thomas Bregmen Alice Ann Cossey 💍 1899/1476	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	29 26	Drury Drury	3 days 19 years	Anglican Church	99/1468	29 May 1899	Rev. O. R. Hewlett, Church of England
21	12 June 1899	James Hoyle Jane Lawson	James Rear Jane Dawson 💍 1899/3496 James Wylie Jane Laman 💍 1899/1640	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	24 28	Buckland Pukekohe	19 years 8 years	Anglican Church	99/1467	12 June 1899	Rev. F. B. Jobson, Church of England
22	17 June 1899	John Luke Jessie Isabella Henderson	John Luke Jessie Isabella Henderson 💍 1899/1635	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	32 26	Clevedon Clevedon	12 years 19 years	Presbyterian Church	99/1462	17 June 1899	Rev. Thos. Horne, 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 1899. 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).