Intentions to Marry, 1899 July-December

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840416, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole 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 089

District of Ohinemuri Quarter ending 30 September 1899 Registrar John Brown

No	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
13	1 July 1899	John Henry Adams Isabella McClymont	John Henry Adams Isabella McClymont 💍 1899/3034	Bachelor Spinster	Balley Manager	23 18	Thames Karangahake	6 months 3 years	Church of England, Paeroa	99/3001	Thos. Galbraith McClymont, Father	1 July 1899	Rev. W. H. Wilson, Paeroa
14	3 July 1899	Richard James Dooley Elleanor Frances Thompstone	Richard James Dooley Eleanor Frances Thompstone 💍 1899/4292	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	32 27	Cambridge Paeroa	8 months 2 1/2 years	Catholic Church, Paeroa	99/5494		5 July 1899	Rev. Father Hackett, Paeroa
15	7 July 1899	William Hugh Grace Ethel Muriel Pearce	William Hugh Grace Ethel Muriel Pearce 💍 1899/3035	Bachelor Spinster	Miner	23 20	Karangahake Karangahake	5 years 3 months	Dwelling of G Fraser, Karangahake	99/3002	Samuel Pearce, Father, Thames	7 July 1899	Rev. W. H. Wilson, Paeroa
16	17 July 1899	William Edward Louis Lawrence Flora Mackay	William Edward Louis Lawrence Flora MacKay 💍 1899/3030	Bachelor Spinster	Miner	21 18	Karangahake Karangahake	3 months 6 months	Registrar's Office, Paeroa	99/2998	John Mackay, Father, Karangahake	17 July 1899	Registrar, Paeroa
17	25 July 1899	Frederick William Danks Lavinia Henrietta Bramley	Frederick William Danks Lavinia Henrietta Bramley 💍 1899/3033	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	25 19	Paeroa Paeroa	4 years 19 years	Mr. J. Bramley's dwelling, Paeroa	99/3000	John Bramley, Father, Paeroa	25 July 1899	Rev. W. L. Bowie, Paeroa
18	12 August 1899	Leonard Hankey Kate Buckeridge	Leonard Hankey Kate Buckridge 💍 1899/3037	Bachelor Spinster	Miner	26 21	Karangahake Paeroa	5 days 3 years	Rev W. L. Bowie's Residence, Paeroa	99/3004		12 August 1899	Rev. W. L. Bowie, Paeroa
19	21 August 1899	John Edward Slattery Teresa Mackay	John Edward Slattery Theresa MacKay 💍 1899/3872	Bachelor Spinster	Miner	23 20	Karangahake Karangahake	3 years 1 year	Catholic Church, Paeroa	99/3871	John Mackay, Father, Karangahake	21 August 1899	Rev. Father Hackett, Paeroa
20	23 August 1899	Hugh Henderson Olive Marion Barnett	Hugh Henderson Olive Marion Barnett 💍 1899/3873	Bachelor Spinster	Miner	25 20	Karangahake Paeroa	3 years 4 weeks	Catholic Church, Paeroa	99/3872	Wm[?] George Barnett, Master[?]	23 August 1899	Rev. Father Hackett, Paeroa
21	28 August 1899	Alexander Peterson Isabel Ellen Wedge	Alexander Peterson Isabel Ellen Wedge 💍 1899/3032	Bachelor Spinster	Bushman	28 22	Karangahake Karangahake	1 week 3 months	Registrar's Office, Paeroa	99/2999		28 August 1899	Registrar, Paeroa
22	9 September 1899	Alexander Fulton Elliott Elizabeth Eva McLoghry	Alexander Fulton Elliot Elizabeth Eva McLoghry 💍 1899/3036	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	27 23	Karangahake Karangahake	18 months 20 years	Mr Geo[?] McGiner[?]'s dwelling, Karangahake	99/3003		9 September 1899	Rev. W. H. Wilson, Paeroa
23	20 September 1899	Charles Hudson Mary Ellen McGuire	Charles Hudson Mary Ellen McGuire 💍 1899/5520	Bachelor Spinster	Baker	26 20	Paeroa Paeroa	4 years 20 years	Catholic Church, Paeroa	99/3873	Mrs Sarah McGuire, Mother, Paeroa	20 September 1899	Rev. Father Hackett, Paeroa

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).