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 875

District of Lyttelton Quarter ending 31 December 1899 Registrar William Shanaphan

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
30	5 October 1899	Andrew Berry Beatrice Marion Seymour	Andrew James Berry Beatrice Marion Seymour 💍 1899/5008	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	24 22	Lyttelton Lyttelton	23 years 18 years	St. Joseph's R.C. Church, Lyttelton	99/4859	5 October 1899	Rev. W. M. Salvador, Roman Catholic Minister
31	14 October 1899	William James Edwin Milner Serena Jane Bishop	William James Edwin Milner Serena Jane Bishop 💍 1899/5021	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Dressmaker	26 25	Lyttelton Lyttelton	6 years 8 years	Holy Trinity Church, Lyttelton	99/4866	14 October 1899	Rev. C. Coales, Anglican Minister
32	30 October 1899	Charles Smith Winifred Cole	Charles Smith Winifred Cole 💍 1899/5015	Bachelor Spinster	Steward	33 24	Lyttelton Lyttelton	4 days 24 years	St. Joseph's Church, Lyttelton	99/4860	30 October 1899	Rev. W. M. Salvador, Roman Catholic Minister
33	30 October 1899	Francis Dennehy Mary Ann Mahar	Francis Dennehy Mary Anna Mahar 💍 1899/5016	Bachelor Spinster	Light Keeper Saleswoman	32 28	Godley Heads Lyttelton	2 years 25 years	St. Joseph's Church, Lyttelton	99/4861	30 October 1899	Rev. W. M. Salvador, Roman Catholic Minister
34	2 November 1899	William Henry Dalley Maria Stinson formerly Beasely	William Henry Dalley Maria Stinson 💍 1899/5019	Widower Widow	Blacksmith	64 56	Lyttelton Buckley, Sumner Road, Lyttelton	18 years 25 years	House of Mrs. Buckley, Sumner Road, Lyttelton	99/4864	2 November 1899	Rev. D. Mac Nicoll, Wesleyan Minister
35	4 November 1899	William John Whitham Mary Majoram Stout Hay	William John Whitham Mary Marjoram Stout Hay 💍 1899/5018	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	31 28	Charteris Bay Charteris Bay	4 days 6 months	School Room, Charteris Bay	99/4863	4 November 1899	Rev. A. H. Treadwell, Presbyterian Minister
36	13 November 1899	Peter Pitcaithly Ellen Clark	Peter Pitcaithly Ellen Clark 💍 1899/5017	Bachelor Spinster	Shipping Clerk	20 25	Lyttelton Lyttelton	20 years 25 years	House of Mr. W. Clark, Lyttelton	99/4862	13 November 1899	Rev. A. H. Treadwell, Presbyterian Minister
37	20 November 1899	John Thomas Harris Grace Annie Edmonds	John Thomas Harris Jessie Annie Edwards 💍 1899/90 John Thomas Harris Emily Ann Iggulden 💍 1899/3948	Bachelor Spinster	Saddler Mantle Maker	25 21	Lyttelton Christchurch	8 months 20 years	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Christchurch	99/4741	20 November 1899	J. W. Parkinson, Registrar of Marriages, Christchurch
38	28 November 1899	Edward Julian Toss will Mabel Frances Caroline Willis	Edward Julian Tosswill Mabel Frances Caroline Willis 💍 1899/4998	Bachelor Spinster	Master Mariner	28 23	Steamer Waikato Lyttelton	18 months 6 years	Holy Trinity Church, Lyttelton	99/4867	28 November 1899	Rev. C. Coales, Anglican Minister

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).