Intentions to Marry, 1897 January-June

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840411, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, June 25 2025

1897 is bound in two volumes, January-June and July-December.

Page 145

District of Hastings Quarter ending 31 March 1897 Registrar Robert Brathwaite

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

11 January 1897

Alexander Smith
Jane Josephine Livesey

Alexander Smith
Jane Josephine Livesey
💍 1897/856

Bachelor
Spinster

Trainer

26
19

Hastings
Hastings Hawkes Bay

3 years
12 years

Roman Catholic Church Hastings

97/314

John Livesey, Father

11 January 1897

Rev. Father Smyth

No	1
Date of Notice	11 January 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Smith	Jane Josephine Livesey
	💍 1897/856
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Trainer
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings Hawkes Bay
Length of Residence	3 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Hastings
Folio	97/314
Consent	John Livesey, Father
Date of Certificate	11 January 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Smyth

1 February 1897

Thomas Henry Stewart
Rhoda Heighway

Thomas Henry Stewart
Rhoda Highway
💍 1897/858

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

31
24

Hastings Hawkes Bay
Hastings Hawkes Bay

14 years
3 years

Residence of Thomas Heighway Hastings

97/316

1 February 1897

Rev John Hosking

No	2
Date of Notice	1 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Stewart	Rhoda Heighway
BDM Match (96%)	Thomas Henry Stewart	Rhoda Highway
	💍 1897/858
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Hastings Hawkes Bay	Hastings Hawkes Bay
Length of Residence	14 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Thomas Heighway Hastings
Folio	97/316
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev John Hosking

15 February 1897

James Curtis
Elizabeth Badenheed

James Curtis
Elizabeth Cadenhead
💍 1897/860

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

53
28

Hastings Hawkes Bay
Hastings Hawkes Bay

5 days
5 days

Registrar's Office Hastings

97/318

15 February 1897

Registrar Hastings

No	3
Date of Notice	15 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Curtis	Elizabeth Badenheed
BDM Match (95%)	James Curtis	Elizabeth Cadenhead
	💍 1897/860
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	53	28
Dwelling Place	Hastings Hawkes Bay	Hastings Hawkes Bay
Length of Residence	5 days	5 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Hastings
Folio	97/318
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Registrar Hastings

19 February 1897

Robert Sands
Mabel Louisa Hopkins

Robert Sands
Mable Louise Hopkins
💍 1897/859

Widower
Spinster

Miner

40
24

Hastings Hawkes Bay
Hastings Hawkes Bay

6 months
2 years

At the house of Mr Thomas Sands Hastings

97/317

19 February 1897

Rev John Hosking

No	4
Date of Notice	19 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Sands	Mabel Louisa Hopkins
BDM Match (93%)	Robert Sands	Mable Louise Hopkins
	💍 1897/859
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	40	24
Dwelling Place	Hastings Hawkes Bay	Hastings Hawkes Bay
Length of Residence	6 months	2 years
Marriage Place	At the house of Mr Thomas Sands Hastings
Folio	97/317
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev John Hosking

23 February 1897

Thomas Ashton
Adelina Matilda Langley

Thomas Ashton
Adelina Matilda Langley
💍 1897/862

Single
Spinster

Carpenter

32
34

Hastings
Hastings

3 days
4 years

Church of England Hastings

97/320

23 February 1897

Rev John Hobbs

No	5
Date of Notice	23 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Ashton	Adelina Matilda Langley
	💍 1897/862
Condition	Single	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	32	34
Dwelling Place	Hastings	Hastings
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	Church of England Hastings
Folio	97/320
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev John Hobbs

27 February 1897

Robert Crowbie
Kate Long

Robert Crombie
Kate Long
💍 1897/857

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor

41
35

West Clive Hawkes Bay
West Clive Hawkes Bay

7 years
4 years

Roman Catholic Church Hastings

97/315

27 February 1897

Rev. Father Smyth

No	6
Date of Notice	27 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Crowbie	Kate Long
BDM Match (96%)	Robert Crombie	Kate Long
	💍 1897/857
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor
Age	41	35
Dwelling Place	West Clive Hawkes Bay	West Clive Hawkes Bay
Length of Residence	7 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Hastings
Folio	97/315
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Smyth

29 March 1897

James Hamilton Taylor
Grace Rose Myres Fulford

James Hamilton Taylor
Grace Rosa Myra Fulford
💍 1897/861

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor

34
24

Havelock Hawkes Bay
Havelock Hawkes Bay

2 years
10 years

Presbyterian Church Havelock

97/319

29 March 1897

Rev. R. Fraser

No	7
Date of Notice	29 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Hamilton Taylor	Grace Rose Myres Fulford
BDM Match (94%)	James Hamilton Taylor	Grace Rosa Myra Fulford
	💍 1897/861
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor
Age	34	24
Dwelling Place	Havelock Hawkes Bay	Havelock Hawkes Bay
Length of Residence	2 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Havelock
Folio	97/319
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Fraser

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).