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 109

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 March 1899 Registrar J Honiss

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

1 March 1899

George Page
Eline Maria Hansen

George Page
Eline Maria Hansen
💍 1899/244

Bachelor
Spinster

Clothier
None

35
26

Thames
Thames

4 years
26 years

The Dwelling of Peter Hansen Beach Road Thames

99/227

1 March 1899

Rev'd Robert Ferguson Presbyterian

No	7
Date of Notice	1 March 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Page	Eline Maria Hansen
	💍 1899/244
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clothier	None
Age	35	26
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	4 years	26 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Peter Hansen Beach Road Thames
Folio	99/227
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 March 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev'd Robert Ferguson Presbyterian

1 March 1899

Alfred James Berry
Phillis Mary Vercoe

Alfred James Berry
Phillis Mary Vercoe
💍 1899/243

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

21
15

Thames
Thames

21 years
15 years

The Dwelling of John Vercoe Hill St Block 27

99/246

John Vercoe Father

1 March 1899

John Foster Church of Christ

No	8
Date of Notice	1 March 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred James Berry	Phillis Mary Vercoe
	💍 1899/243
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	21	15
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	21 years	15 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of John Vercoe Hill St Block 27
Folio	99/246
Consent	John Vercoe Father
Date of Certificate	1 March 1899
Officiating Minister	John Foster Church of Christ

16 March 1899

John Pratt
Letitia Ann Craig

John Pratt
Letitia Ann Craig
💍 1899/240

Bachelor
Spinster

Bricklayer
None

21
20

Thames
Thames

16 months
20 years

The Dwelling of Wm Hy Craig Hill St Block 27

99/243

William Henry Craig Father

18 March 1899

Rev'd J. O'Callaghan Church of England

No	9
Date of Notice	16 March 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Pratt	Letitia Ann Craig
	💍 1899/240
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer	None
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	16 months	20 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Wm Hy Craig Hill St Block 27
Folio	99/243
Consent	William Henry Craig Father
Date of Certificate	18 March 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev'd J. O'Callaghan Church of England

17 March 1899

George Augustus Cholmondeley Smith
Alice Margaret Large

George Augustus Cholmondley-Smith
Alice Margaret Large
💍 1899/235

Bachelor
Spinster

Mine Manufacturer
None

29
28

Kopu Thames
Kopu Thames

1 week
1 week

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages Thames

99/238

17 March 1899

Edward Honiss Registrar

No	10
Date of Notice	17 March 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Augustus Cholmondeley Smith	Alice Margaret Large
BDM Match (97%)	George Augustus Cholmondley-Smith	Alice Margaret Large
	💍 1899/235
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mine Manufacturer	None
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Kopu Thames	Kopu Thames
Length of Residence	1 week	1 week
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages Thames
Folio	99/238
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 March 1899
Officiating Minister	Edward Honiss Registrar

21 March 1899

Herbert Lewis Rae
Ellen Radford

Herbert Lewis Rae
Ellen Radford
💍 1899/239

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
None

31
27

Thames
Thames

29 years
20 years

The Dwelling of Thomas Radford Queen St Thames

99/242

21 March 1899

Rev'd J. O'Callaghan Church of England

No	11
Date of Notice	21 March 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Lewis Rae	Ellen Radford
	💍 1899/239
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	None
Age	31	27
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	29 years	20 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Thomas Radford Queen St Thames
Folio	99/242
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 March 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev'd J. O'Callaghan Church of England

28 March 1899

William Thomas
Eliza Harvey

William Thomas
Eliza Harvey
💍 1899/1743

Bachelor
Widow

Miner
Housekeeper

44
54

Thames
Thames

3 years
30 years

The Dwelling of Edw'd Bottomore Parawai

99/1542

28 March 1899

Rev'd Edward Drake Primitive Methodist

No	12
Date of Notice	28 March 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Thomas	Eliza Harvey
	💍 1899/1743
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Miner	Housekeeper
Age	44	54
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 years	30 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Edw'd Bottomore Parawai
Folio	99/1542
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev'd Edward Drake Primitive Methodist

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).