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 622

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 December 1899 Registrar Edward Honis

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

4 October 1899

Michael John Keane
Mary Ann Tooher

Michael John Keane
Mary Ann Tooher
💍 1899/4590

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Housekeeper

45
33

Thames
Thames

3 days
9 days

St Francis Church, Willoughby St, Thames

99/4226

4 October 1899

Rev. P. O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

No	59
Date of Notice	4 October 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael John Keane	Mary Ann Tooher
	💍 1899/4590
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Housekeeper
Age	45	33
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	9 days
Marriage Place	St Francis Church, Willoughby St, Thames
Folio	99/4226
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 October 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

6 October 1899

Josiah Henry Hawthorn
Henrietta Louisa Hansen

Josiah Henry Hawthorn
Henrietta Louisa Hansen
💍 1899/4592

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
None

27
25

Thames
Thames

3 days
1 month

The Dwelling of John E Hansen, Grey St, Thames

99/4228

6 October 1899

Rev. Arthur Dewdney, Baptist

No	60
Date of Notice	6 October 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Josiah Henry Hawthorn	Henrietta Louisa Hansen
	💍 1899/4592
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	None
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	1 month
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of John E Hansen, Grey St, Thames
Folio	99/4228
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 October 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. Arthur Dewdney, Baptist

9 October 1899

John Hawkins
Catherine Gleeson

John Hawkins
Catherine Gleeson
💍 1899/4588

Widower
Widow

Miner
Domestic Servant

70
50

Thames
Thames

32 years
25 years

The Dwelling of William Cole, Owen St, Thames

99/4224

9 October 1899

Rev. D. J. Murray, Wesleyan

No	61
Date of Notice	9 October 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hawkins	Catherine Gleeson
	💍 1899/4588
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Miner	Domestic Servant
Age	70	50
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	32 years	25 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of William Cole, Owen St, Thames
Folio	99/4224
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 October 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. J. Murray, Wesleyan

19 October 1899

Arthur Ludwig
Naomi Louisa Hillman

Arthur Ludwig
Naomi Louisa Hillman
💍 1899/4556

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Servant

22
22

Thames
Thames

22 years
22 years

The Dwelling of Emily Hillman, Pollen St, Thames

99/4216

21 October 1899

Rev. John Mackenzie, Presbyterian

No	62
Date of Notice	19 October 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Ludwig	Naomi Louisa Hillman
	💍 1899/4556
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Servant
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	22 years	22 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Emily Hillman, Pollen St, Thames
Folio	99/4216
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 October 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Mackenzie, Presbyterian

28 October 1899

Charles Henry Lindsay McLean
Ethel Mary Constant

Charles Henry Lindsay McLean
Ethel Mary Constant
💍 1899/4557

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
None

23
19

Thames
Thames

23 years
19 years

Imperial Hotel, Pollen St, Thames

99/4217

Mother

28 October 1899

Rev. John Mackenzie, Presbyterian

No	63
Date of Notice	28 October 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Lindsay McLean	Ethel Mary Constant
	💍 1899/4557
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	None
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	23 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Imperial Hotel, Pollen St, Thames
Folio	99/4217
Consent	Mother
Date of Certificate	28 October 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Mackenzie, Presbyterian

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).