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 454

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 31 March 1899

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

1994

24 January 1899

David Horatio Jennings
Louisa Adelaide Richmond

David Horatio Jennings
Louisa Adelaide Richmond
💍 1899/5419

Widower
Spinster

Dentist

54
29

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 1/2 years
29 years

At St. Lukes Church at Oamaru

99/1072

24 January 1899

Rev. Algernon Gifford (Church of England)

No	1994
Date of Notice	24 January 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Horatio Jennings	Louisa Adelaide Richmond
	💍 1899/5419
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Dentist
Age	54	29
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	29 years
Marriage Place	At St. Lukes Church at Oamaru
Folio	99/1072
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. Algernon Gifford (Church of England)

1995

7 February 1899

Launcelot Dixon
Emily King

Lancelot Dixon
Emily King
💍 1899/1172

Widower
Spinster

Stonemason
Domestic servant

38
35

Oamaru
Oamaru

20 years
6 months

At the office of the Registrar of marriages at Oamaru

99/1067

7 February 1899

Henry H. S. Ralfe Registrar of Marriages at Oamaru

No	1995
Date of Notice	7 February 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Launcelot Dixon	Emily King
BDM Match (97%)	Lancelot Dixon	Emily King
	💍 1899/1172
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Stonemason	Domestic servant
Age	38	35
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	20 years	6 months
Marriage Place	At the office of the Registrar of marriages at Oamaru
Folio	99/1067
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1899
Officiating Minister	Henry H. S. Ralfe Registrar of Marriages at Oamaru

1996

8 February 1899

Howard Baker Boultbee
Edith Minnie Farr

Howard Baker Boultbee
Edith Minnie Farr
💍 1899/566

Bachelor
Spinster

Chemist
Milliner

45
32

Oamaru
Masterton

11 years
5 months

At the Church of England at Masterton

99/433

8 February 1899

Rev. Percy C. W. Earee (Church of England)

No	1996
Date of Notice	8 February 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Howard Baker Boultbee	Edith Minnie Farr
	💍 1899/566
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chemist	Milliner
Age	45	32
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Masterton
Length of Residence	11 years	5 months
Marriage Place	At the Church of England at Masterton
Folio	99/433
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. Percy C. W. Earee (Church of England)

1997

9 February 1899

Walter Harry Kellelwell
Mary Eykyn Bennett

Walter Harry Kettelwell
Mary Eykyn Bennett
💍 1899/1023

Bachelor
Spinster

Mechanic

33
22

Oamaru
Oamaru

4 years
22 years

At St. Lukes Church at Oamaru

99/1073

9 February 1899

Rev. Algernon Gifford (Church of England)

No	1997
Date of Notice	9 February 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Harry Kellelwell	Mary Eykyn Bennett
BDM Match (96%)	Walter Harry Kettelwell	Mary Eykyn Bennett
	💍 1899/1023
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mechanic
Age	33	22
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	4 years	22 years
Marriage Place	At St. Lukes Church at Oamaru
Folio	99/1073
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. Algernon Gifford (Church of England)

1998

16 February 1899

Thomas White
Annie Campbell

Thomas White
Annie Campbell
💍 1899/1176

John Richmond Wederell
Annie Campbell
💍 1899/3616

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

35
27

Otepopo
Oamaru

30 years
3 days

At the House of Mr William Russell at Awamoa, Oamaru

99/1070

16 February 1899

Rev Wm Wright (Presbyterian Church of Otago & Southland)

No	1998
Date of Notice	16 February 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas White	Annie Campbell
	💍 1899/1176
BDM Match (61%)	John Richmond Wederell	Annie Campbell
	💍 1899/3616
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	35	27
Dwelling Place	Otepopo	Oamaru
Length of Residence	30 years	3 days
Marriage Place	At the House of Mr William Russell at Awamoa, Oamaru
Folio	99/1070
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev Wm Wright (Presbyterian Church of Otago & Southland)

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).