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 791

District of Wairau Quarter ending 31 December 1899 Registrar W. J. Stansley

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
42	10 October 1899	Thomas Albert Hatton Francis Effie Jarvis	Thomas Albert Hatton Frances Effie Jarvis 💍 1899/3999	Bachelor Spinster	Miner	23 22	Blenheim Blenheim	4 days 2 months	House of Mr J. Hearne Blenheim	99/4627	10 October 1899	Rev. S. S. Grace
43	16 October 1899	John Joseph Bremner Ethel Mary Harris	John Joseph Bremner Ethel Mary Harris 💍 1899/4003	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd	25 22	Marshlands Tua marina	25 years 22 years	Wesleyan Church Tua marina	99/4632	16 October 1899	Rev W. Keall
44	16 October 1899	Donald Wright McRae Annie O'Leary	Donald Wright McRae Annie O'Leary 💍 1899/3992	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	29 26	Blenheim Blenheim	2 years 26 years	Roman Catholic Church Blenheim	99/4638	16 October 1899	Rev W. D. Goggan
45	17 October 1899	Walter James Howard Greensill Jeannie Boyce	Walter James Howard Greensill Jeannie Boyce 💍 1899/3989	Bachelor Spinster	Storekeeper	26 22	Blenheim Renwickton	3 days 22 years	Presbyterian Church Renwickton	99/4635	17 October 1899	Rev W. O. Robb
46	20 October 1899	Hinrich Folster Elizabeth Crook	Henrich Folster Elizabeth Crook 💍 1899/5507	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	54 23	Onamalutu Blenheim	20 years 23 years	English Church Blenheim	99/4628	20 October 1899	Rev S. S. Grace
47	23 October 1899	Edmund Burton Elizabeth Smith	Edmund Burton Elizabeth Smith 💍 1899/3993 William George McPherson Elizabeth Smith 💍 1899/2535	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	30 22	Blenheim Blenheim	23 years 3 years	Roman Catholic Church Blenheim	99/4639	23 October 1899	Rev. W. D. Goggan
48	4 November 1899	William Frederick Burgess Elizabeth Morrison	William Frederick Burgess Elizabeth Morrison 💍 1899/3994	Widower Spinster	Draughtsman	43 23	Blenheim Blenheim	4 years 23 years	Roman Catholic Church Blenheim	99/4640	4 November 1899	Rev. W. D. Goggan
49	13 November 1899	William Henry Ching Sarah Bates Page	William Henry Ching Sarah Bates Page 💍 1899/3990	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	27 23	Blenheim Blenheim	25 years 23 years	House of Mr J Page Blenheim	99/4636	13 November 1899	Rev W. O. Robb
50	5 December 1899	William Bettany Just Clara Eugenie Fowler	William Bettany Junr Clara Eugenie Fowler 💍 1899/4951	Bachelor Spinster	Accountant	38 42	Blenheim Blenheim	4 days 7 months	House of Mr J Mills Spring Creek	99/4717	5 December 1899	Rev. E. H. Ensor
51	7 December 1899	Frederick Walker Dobson Margaret Matthews	Frederick Walter Dobson Margaret Matthews 💍 1899/4001	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	23 24	Blenheim Spring Creek	23 years 24 years	English Church Spring Creek	99/4630	7 December 1899	Rev. E. H. Ensor
52	19 December 1899	William Balch Janet Campbell Simson	William Balch Janet Campbell Simson 💍 1899/3991	Bachelor Spinster	Schoolmaster	28 28	Blenheim Blenheim	3 days 20 years	Presbyterian Church Blenheim	99/4637	19 December 1899	Rev W. O. Robb

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).