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 164

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 September 1899

No	Date of Notice	Names and Surnames of Parties	BDM Match	Condition	Calling or Profession	Age	Dwelling Place	Length of Residence	Marriage Place	Folio	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
36	03 July 1899	William Bashe Amelia Eden	William Bathe Amelia Eden 💍 1899/4365	Bachelor Spinster	Surveyor	30 22	Gisborne, Napier Napier	10 months 4 days 2 weeks	Cathedral at Napier	99/3888	03 July 1899	Dean Hovell, Church of England
37	17 July 1899	Hans Heneke Agnes Parrot	Hans Heneke Agnes Parrot 💍 1899/3243	Bachelor Widow	Farmer Needlewoman	53 43	Hastings, Napier Hastings, Napier	10 years 3 days 2 1/2 years 3 days	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Napier	99/3153	17 July 1899	S. Jago, Registrar
38	18 July 1899	Francis Potter Mary Williams	Francis Potter Mary Williams 💍 1899/3172	Bachelor Spinster	Upholsterer Tailoress	26 25	Napier Napier	1 year 3 days	Baptist Church, Napier	99/3161	18 July 1899	Reverend G. D. Cox, Baptist
39	24 July 1899	Hubert Speight Edith Helen Garry	Hubert Speight Edith Helen Garry 💍 1899/3249	Bachelor Spinster	Teacher Teacher	28 28	Pukahu Napier	3 years 6 months	Residence of Mrs. Garry, Madeira Steps, Napier	99/3158	24 July 1899	Reverend A. Whyte, Presbyterian
40	31 July 1899	Richard Jos. Pothan Catherine O'Rielley	Richard Joseph Pothan Catherine O'Reilly 💍 1899/4363	Bachelor Spinster	Coachbuilder Domestic	32 26	Taradale Taradale	2 1/2 years 20 years	Catholic Church, Meeanee	99/3886	31 July 1899	Reverend J. N. Brisfield, Roman Catholic Priest
41	01 August 1899	Albert Jos. Fielder Amy Trask	Albert Joseph Fielden Amy Trask 💍 1899/4343	Bachelor Spinster	Hotelkeeper	25 21	Napier Napier	1 month 21 years	Cathedral at Napier	99/3890	01 August 1899	Dean Hovell, Church of England
42	02 August 1899	Thomas Tait Florence Beatrice March	Thomas Tait Florence Beatrice Masch 💍 1899/3248	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer Domestic	29 23	Taradale Napier	4 years 20 years	Residence of Reverend C. Connor, 4 Shakespeare Road, Napier	99/3157	02 August 1899	Reverend C. Connor, Presbyterian
43	03 August 1899	James Patrick Mannix Mary Hepburn	James Patrick Mannix Mary Hepburn 💍 1899/3250	Bachelor Widow	Labourer Domestic	41 44	Napier Napier	19 years 9 months	Catholic Chapel, Napier	99/3159	03 August 1899	Reverend M. Grogan, Roman Catholic Priest
44	12 August 1899	John Rockwell Crocker Cecilia Eilzabeth Hannon	John Rockwell Crocker Cecilia Elizabeth Hannon 💍 1899/3161	Bachelor Spinster	Telegraphist Tailoress	28 23	Napier Napier	4 years 20 years	Catholic Church, Napier	99/3160	12 August 1899	Reverend M. Grogan, Roman Catholic Priest
45	17 August 1899	Alfred Francis Adams Annie Adelaide Prouse	Alfred Francis Adams Annie Adelaide Prowse 💍 1899/4344	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic	21 21	Western Spit Napier	13 years 14 years	Cathedral, Napier	99/3891	17 August 1899	Dean Hovell, 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 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).