Intentions to Marry, 1896 January-June

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840409, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, June 11 2025

1896 is bound in two volumes, January-June and July-December.

Page 814

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1896 Registrar J W Parkerson

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

183

30 April 1896

James Vass
Louisa Dartnall

James Vass
Louisa Dartnall
💍 1896/1063

Bachelor
Spinster

Wharfinger
Housekeeper

43
41

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office

96/1826

30 April 1896

Registrar of Marriages, J. W Parkerson

No	183
Date of Notice	30 April 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Vass	Louisa Dartnall
	💍 1896/1063
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wharfinger	Housekeeper
Age	43	41
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	96/1826
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 April 1896
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. W Parkerson

184

30 April 1896

William A'Court
Annie Hill

William A'Court
Annie Hill
💍 1896/1091

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

23
20

Christchurch
20 Harman Street, Addington

18 years

House of Mr Wm. Hill, Harman Street, Addington

96/1857

William Hill, Father

30 April 1896

Rev. E. Penney, Methodist

No	184
Date of Notice	30 April 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William A'Court	Annie Hill
	💍 1896/1091
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	20 Harman Street, Addington
Length of Residence	18 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr Wm. Hill, Harman Street, Addington
Folio	96/1857
Consent	William Hill, Father
Date of Certificate	30 April 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Penney, Methodist

185

2 May 1896

Ernest Dawson
Gertrude Borgfeldt

Ernest Dawson
Gertrude Borgfeldt
💍 1896/1092

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
23 years

Presbyterian Church, Papanui

96/1858

1 May 1896

Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	185
Date of Notice	2 May 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Dawson	Gertrude Borgfeldt
	💍 1896/1092
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Papanui
Folio	96/1858
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 May 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

186

4 May 1896

Henry James
Grace Gourlay

Henry James
Grace Gourlay
💍 1896/1608

Bachelor
Spinster

Commission Agent

22
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

22 years
25 years

St. Andrews Church (Not Solemnized, See letter attached)

96/2389

4 May 1896

Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

No	186
Date of Notice	4 May 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry James	Grace Gourlay
	💍 1896/1608
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commission Agent
Age	22	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	22 years	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church (Not Solemnized, See letter attached)
Folio	96/2389
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 May 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

187

4 May 1896

Charles Baker Bowie
Eliza Ann Tindall

Charles Baker Bowie
Eliza Ann Tindall
💍 1896/1077

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller

27
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

27 years
25 years

St. Andrews Church

96/1864

4 May 1896

Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

No	187
Date of Notice	4 May 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Baker Bowie	Eliza Ann Tindall
	💍 1896/1077
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	27 years	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church
Folio	96/1864
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 May 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

188

5 May 1896

Frederick John Scott
Fanny Eliza Haskett

Frederick John Scott
Fanny Eliza Haskett
💍 1896/1064

Bachelor
Spinster

Trainer
Domestic

33
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
2 years

Registrar's Office

96/1827

Louisa Haskett, Mother

5 May 1896

Registrar of Marriages, J. W Parkerson

No	188
Date of Notice	5 May 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick John Scott	Fanny Eliza Haskett
	💍 1896/1064
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Trainer	Domestic
Age	33	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	96/1827
Consent	Louisa Haskett, Mother
Date of Certificate	5 May 1896
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. W Parkerson

189

5 May 1896

Frederick William Hobbs
Annie Eliza Roberts

Frederick William Hobbs
Annie Eliza Roberts
💍 1896/1117

Bachelor
Spinster

Boiler Maker

28
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

28 years
1 year

Holy Trinity Church

96/1880

5 May 1896

Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Church of England

No	189
Date of Notice	5 May 1896
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Hobbs	Annie Eliza Roberts
	💍 1896/1117
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boiler Maker
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	28 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church
Folio	96/1880
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 May 1896
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Pascoe, 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).

Primary digitisation of registers between 1855 and 1925 is now complete. Our digitisation volunteers are now working on verifying the currently digitised pages against printed district/page indexes, to identify pages which may have been missed or out of focus. These pages can be re-imaged as required.

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.

How can I help?

You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

You can also support this project by ☕ Buying us a coffee 🌳

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).