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 213

District of Masterton Quarter ending 30 September 1899 Registrar S. Johnston

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

22 August 1899

John Percival William Corbett
Mary Ann Collins

John Percival William Corbett
Maryanne Collins
💍 1899/4358

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Dressmaker

22
20

Masterton
Masterton

20 years
20 years

Roman Catholic Church, Masterton

99/3904

22 August 1899

Rev. John Williams, Roman Catholic

No	38
Date of Notice	22 August 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Percival William Corbett	Mary Ann Collins
BDM Match (91%)	John Percival William Corbett	Maryanne Collins
	💍 1899/4358
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Dressmaker
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	20 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Masterton
Folio	99/3904
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 August 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Williams, Roman Catholic

23 August 1899

Ralph Bartlett
Emma Russell

Ralph Bartlett
Emma Russell
💍 1899/3223

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Domestic duties

40
50

Masterton
Masterton

15 years
17 years

The Registrar's Office, Masterton

99/3214

23 August 1899

S. Johnston, Registrar

No	39
Date of Notice	23 August 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ralph Bartlett	Emma Russell
	💍 1899/3223
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	40	50
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	15 years	17 years
Marriage Place	The Registrar's Office, Masterton
Folio	99/3214
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 August 1899
Officiating Minister	S. Johnston, Registrar

4 September 1899

George Leonard Braggins
Emily Catherine Fitzsimons

George Leonard Braggins
Emily Catherine Fitzsimmons
💍 1899/3133

Bachelor
Spinster

Butler
Domestic

28
22

Masterton
Masterton

2 years
5 years

Presbyterian Manse, Masterton

99/3220

9 September 1899

Rev. R. Wood, Presbyterian

No	40
Date of Notice	4 September 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Leonard Braggins	Emily Catherine Fitzsimons
BDM Match (98%)	George Leonard Braggins	Emily Catherine Fitzsimmons
	💍 1899/3133
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butler	Domestic
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	2 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Masterton
Folio	99/3220
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 September 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Wood, Presbyterian

14 September 1899

Richard Holditch
Mary Austin

Richard Holditch
Mary Austin
💍 1899/3134

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Dressmaker

37
38

Masterton
Masterton

5 years
10 years

In the residence of Mary Austin, Sussex Street, Masterton

99/3221

14 September 1899

Rev. S. F. Prior, Wesleyan

No	41
Date of Notice	14 September 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Holditch	Mary Austin
	💍 1899/3134
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Dressmaker
Age	37	38
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	5 years	10 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Mary Austin, Sussex Street, Masterton
Folio	99/3221
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 September 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. F. Prior, Wesleyan

20 September 1899

Ernest John Rose
Mary Dagg

Ernest John Rose
Mary Dagg
💍 1899/4748

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
Domestic duties

32
27

Masterton
Masterton

6 years
7 years

At the residence of Rev. R. Dagg, Upper Plain

99/4413

20 September 1899

Rev. R. Wood, Presbyterian

No	42
Date of Notice	20 September 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest John Rose	Mary Dagg
	💍 1899/4748
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	Domestic duties
Age	32	27
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	6 years	7 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Rev. R. Dagg, Upper Plain
Folio	99/4413
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 September 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Wood, Presbyterian

22 September 1899

Frederick John Bateman
Constance Bertha Mildred Corbett

Frederick John Bulemont
Constance Bertha Mildred Corbett
💍 1899/3226

Bachelor
Spinster

Settler
Stationer's Assistant

29
24

Masterton
Masterton

9 years
20 years

St. Matthew's Church, Masterton

99/3217

22 September 1899

Rev. P. C. W. Earee, Church of England

No	43
Date of Notice	22 September 1899
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick John Bateman	Constance Bertha Mildred Corbett
BDM Match (91%)	Frederick John Bulemont	Constance Bertha Mildred Corbett
	💍 1899/3226
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Settler	Stationer's Assistant
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	9 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, Masterton
Folio	99/3217
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 September 1899
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. C. W. Earee, 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).