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 112

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 September 1899 Registrar Edward 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 July 1899

Joseph Lobb
Alice Stuart Porteous

Joseph Lobb
Alice Stuart Porteus
💍 1899/2971

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Accommodation House Keeper

37
45

Omahu
Omahu

15 years

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Thames

99/3019

1 July 1899

Edward Honiss, Registrar

No	41
Date of Notice	1 July 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Lobb	Alice Stuart Porteous
BDM Match (98%)	Joseph Lobb	Alice Stuart Porteus
	💍 1899/2971
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Accommodation House Keeper
Age	37	45
Dwelling Place	Omahu	Omahu
Length of Residence	15 years
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Thames
Folio	99/3019
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 July 1899
Officiating Minister	Edward Honiss, Registrar

3 July 1899

William John Dwyer
Kathleen McClare

William John Dwyer
Kathleen McClare
💍 1899/5464

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Servant

28
25

Thames
Thames

10 days
25 years

St. Francis Church, Willoughby St, Thames

99/3029

3 July 1899

Rev. William Mahoney, Roman Catholic

No	42
Date of Notice	3 July 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Dwyer	Kathleen McClare
	💍 1899/5464
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Servant
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	10 days	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Francis Church, Willoughby St, Thames
Folio	99/3029
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Mahoney, Roman Catholic

4 July 1899

Douglas Reid
Elisabeth Moyle

Douglas Reid
Elisabeth Moyle
💍 1899/3157

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
None

26
27

Thames
Thames

26 years
27 years

Wesleyan Church, Pollen St, Thames

99/3035

4 July 1899

Rev. D. J. Murray, Wesleyan

No	43
Date of Notice	4 July 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Douglas Reid	Elisabeth Moyle
	💍 1899/3157
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	None
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	26 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Pollen St, Thames
Folio	99/3035
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 July 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. J. Murray, Wesleyan

18 July 1899

Malcolm Neilson Burns
Elizabeth Grace Tregonning

Malcolm Neilson Burns
Elizabeth Grace Tregonning
💍 1899/3155

Bachelor
Spinster

Postal Clerk
Dressmaker

27
28

Thames
Thames

3 days
28 years

The Dwelling of Frances Mears, Mackay St, Thames

99/3033

18 July 1899

Rev. J. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	44
Date of Notice	18 July 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Malcolm Neilson Burns	Elizabeth Grace Tregonning
	💍 1899/3155
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Postal Clerk	Dressmaker
Age	27	28
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	28 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Frances Mears, Mackay St, Thames
Folio	99/3033
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 July 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'Callaghan, Church of England

18 July 1899

David Ernest Holt
Susan Jamieson

David Ernest Holt
Susan Jamieson
💍 1899/3156

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

23
20

Tapu
Otakeo

23 years
20 years

The School House, Tapu

99/3034

Edward Jamieson, Father

8 August 1899

Rev. J. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	45
Date of Notice	18 July 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Ernest Holt	Susan Jamieson
	💍 1899/3156
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Tapu	Otakeo
Length of Residence	23 years	20 years
Marriage Place	The School House, Tapu
Folio	99/3034
Consent	Edward Jamieson, Father
Date of Certificate	8 August 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'Callaghan, Church of England

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).