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 997

District of RIVERTON Quarter ending 30 June 1899 Registrar 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

547

3 April 1899

Robert Fairbairn Johnston
Ellen Bailey

Robert Fairbairn Johnston
Ellen Bailey
💍 1899/2634

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Domestic Duties

38
28

Riverton
Riverton

3 days
20 years

In the Wesleyan Church, Riverton

99/2604

3 April 1899

Rev. J. J. Burrows, Wesleyan

No	547
Date of Notice	3 April 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Fairbairn Johnston	Ellen Bailey
	💍 1899/2634
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Domestic Duties
Age	38	28
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Riverton
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	In the Wesleyan Church, Riverton
Folio	99/2604
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 April 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Burrows, Wesleyan

548

8 May 1899

James Williams
Annie McNickel

James Williams
Annie McNickel
💍 1899/2838

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer
Domestic Duties

50
37

Te Tua, Naran
Riverton

15 years
10 years

In the Roman Catholic Church, Riverton

99/2815

8 May 1899

Rev. M. Walsh, Roman Catholic

No	548
Date of Notice	8 May 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Williams	Annie McNickel
	💍 1899/2838
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	50	37
Dwelling Place	Te Tua, Naran	Riverton
Length of Residence	15 years	10 years
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church, Riverton
Folio	99/2815
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 May 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Walsh, Roman Catholic

549

23 May 1899

Robert Millar
Isabella Carmichael

Robert Millar
Isabella Carmichael
💍 1899/2632

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

32
34

Riverton
Gropers Bush

3 days
24 years

In the Presbyterian Church, Gropers Bush

99/2602

23 May 1899

Rev. R. McCally, Presbyterian

No	549
Date of Notice	23 May 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Millar	Isabella Carmichael
	💍 1899/2632
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	32	34
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Gropers Bush
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church, Gropers Bush
Folio	99/2602
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 May 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. McCally, Presbyterian

550

23 May 1899

Thomas More
Elizabeth Ann Twerdie

Thomas More
Elizabeth Ann Tweedie
💍 1899/2633

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmiller
Domestic Duties

27
23

Riverton
Riverton

27 years
10 years

At the House of Matthew Twerdie, Havelock Street, Riverton

99/2603

23 May 1899

Rev. R. McCally, Presbyterian

No	550
Date of Notice	23 May 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas More	Elizabeth Ann Twerdie
BDM Match (98%)	Thomas More	Elizabeth Ann Tweedie
	💍 1899/2633
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmiller	Domestic Duties
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Riverton
Length of Residence	27 years	10 years
Marriage Place	At the House of Matthew Twerdie, Havelock Street, Riverton
Folio	99/2603
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 May 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. McCally, Presbyterian

551

27 June 1899

John Henry Homer
Florence Louisa Popham

John Henry Homer
Florence Louisa Pophan
💍 1899/2675

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Duties

24
20

Orepuki
Orepuki

18 years
20 years

At the House of James Popham, Orepuki

99/2631

James Popham (Father)

27 June 1899

Rev. Robt. Robb, Presbyterian

No	551
Date of Notice	27 June 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Homer	Florence Louisa Popham
BDM Match (98%)	John Henry Homer	Florence Louisa Pophan
	💍 1899/2675
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Duties
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Orepuki	Orepuki
Length of Residence	18 years	20 years
Marriage Place	At the House of James Popham, Orepuki
Folio	99/2631
Consent	James Popham (Father)
Date of Certificate	27 June 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robt. Robb, Presbyterian

552

27 June 1899

Henry Knowler
Ellen Donoran

Henry Knowler
Ellen Donovan
💍 1899/5286

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

29
21

Orepuki
Riverton

9 years
21 years

At the Roman Catholic Church

99/5433

27 June 1899

Rev. M. Walsh, Roman Catholic

No	552
Date of Notice	27 June 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Knowler	Ellen Donoran
BDM Match (96%)	Henry Knowler	Ellen Donovan
	💍 1899/5286
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Orepuki	Riverton
Length of Residence	9 years	21 years
Marriage Place	At the Roman Catholic Church
Folio	99/5433
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 June 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Walsh, Roman Catholic

553

29 June 1899

William McKenzie
Lavinia Reid

William McKenzie
Lavinia Reid
💍 1899/5292

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Duties

27
22

Orepuki
Orepuki

3 years
15 years

At the House of Michael Reid, Orepuki

99/5438

29 June 1899

Rev. M. Walsh, Roman Catholic

No	553
Date of Notice	29 June 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McKenzie	Lavinia Reid
	💍 1899/5292
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Duties
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Orepuki	Orepuki
Length of Residence	3 years	15 years
Marriage Place	At the House of Michael Reid, Orepuki
Folio	99/5438
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 June 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Walsh, Roman Catholic

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).