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 149

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 March 1897

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 February 1897

John Edward Charles Madigan
Elizabeth Augusta Johnson

John Edward Charles Madigan
Elizabeth Augusta Johnston
💍 1897/3795

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinetmaker
Domestic

32
25

Napier
Napier

16 years
5 years

St Mary's Church, Napier

97/364

22 February 1897

Rev M Grogan, R.C. Priest

No	14
Date of Notice	22 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edward Charles Madigan	Elizabeth Augusta Johnson
BDM Match (98%)	John Edward Charles Madigan	Elizabeth Augusta Johnston
	💍 1897/3795
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinetmaker	Domestic
Age	32	25
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	16 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church, Napier
Folio	97/364
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev M Grogan, R.C. Priest

24 February 1897

Patrick Cramy
Annil Cavanagh

Patrick Cranny
Annie Cavanagh
💍 1897/3796

Widower
Spinster

Storeman
Domestic

55
30

Napier
Napier

30 years
30 years

Roman Catholic Church, Napier

97/365

24 February 1897

Rev M Grogan, R.C. Priest

No	18
Date of Notice	24 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Cramy	Annil Cavanagh
BDM Match (89%)	Patrick Cranny	Annie Cavanagh
	💍 1897/3796
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Domestic
Age	55	30
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	30 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Napier
Folio	97/365
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev M Grogan, R.C. Priest

26 February 1897

Frederick Chas Williams
Alice Louisa Hornby Ingpen

Frederick Charles Williams
Alice Louisa Hornby Ingpen
💍 1897/4248

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

24
24

Napier
Napier

24 years
10 years

Cathedral, Napier

97/333

26 February 1897

Dean Hovell, Napier, Ch: of England

No	19
Date of Notice	26 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Chas Williams	Alice Louisa Hornby Ingpen
BDM Match (94%)	Frederick Charles Williams	Alice Louisa Hornby Ingpen
	💍 1897/4248
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	24 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Cathedral, Napier
Folio	97/333
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Dean Hovell, Napier, Ch: of England

1 March 1897

Alexander Boyd
Margaret Maude Maguire

Alexander Boyd
Margaret Maude Maguire
💍 1897/4245

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic

28
25

Manaia, Napier
Napier

4 years
4 days

Residence of Rev W H Beer, Napier

97/330

1 March 1897

Rev W H Beer, Methodist

No	20
Date of Notice	1 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Boyd	Margaret Maude Maguire
	💍 1897/4245
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Manaia, Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	4 years	4 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev W H Beer, Napier
Folio	97/330
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev W H Beer, Methodist

3 March 1897

Herbert John Bennett
Evelyn Grace Boyd

Herbert John Bennett
Evelyn Grace Boyd
💍 1897/4246

Bachelor
Spinster

Police Constable
Domestic

26
23

Napier
Napier

15 months
23 years

Residence of Mr J King, Marine Parade

97/331

3 March 1897

Rev Wm Thomson, Presbyterian

No	21
Date of Notice	3 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert John Bennett	Evelyn Grace Boyd
	💍 1897/4246
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Police Constable	Domestic
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	15 months	23 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr J King, Marine Parade
Folio	97/331
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev Wm Thomson, Presbyterian

8 March 1897

Wm Budd
Helen Caroline Watt Harrist Gough

Widower
Spinster

Clerk
Restaurant Keeper

54
40

Napier
Napier

10 years
1 Month

St Augustins, Napier

97/337

8 March 1897

Rev W Welsh, Ch: of England

No	22
Date of Notice	8 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wm Budd	Helen Caroline Watt Harrist Gough
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Restaurant Keeper
Age	54	40
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	10 years	1 Month
Marriage Place	St Augustins, Napier
Folio	97/337
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev W Welsh, Ch: of England

8 March 1897

Daniel Jas Jenkins
Minnie Sarah Smith

Daniel James Jenkins
Minnie Sarah Smith
💍 1897/4229

Bachelor
Spinster

Bus Driver
Domestic

25
20

Napier
Napier

3 years
1 year

St Augustins, Napier

97/338

Charles Smith, Father

8 March 1897

Rev W Welsh, Ch: of England

No	23
Date of Notice	8 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Jas Jenkins	Minnie Sarah Smith
BDM Match (95%)	Daniel James Jenkins	Minnie Sarah Smith
	💍 1897/4229
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bus Driver	Domestic
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 years	1 year
Marriage Place	St Augustins, Napier
Folio	97/338
Consent	Charles Smith, Father
Date of Certificate	8 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev W Welsh, Ch: of England

11 March 1897

Wm Henry Money
Margaret Rushton

William Henry Money
Margaret Rushton
💍 1897/4230

Bachelor
Spinster

Wood Turner
Domestic

24
25

Napier
Napier

6 months
6 months

St Augustins Church, Napier

97/339

11 March 1897

Rev W Welsh, Ch: of England

No	24
Date of Notice	11 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wm Henry Money	Margaret Rushton
BDM Match (87%)	William Henry Money	Margaret Rushton
	💍 1897/4230
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wood Turner	Domestic
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	6 months	6 months
Marriage Place	St Augustins Church, Napier
Folio	97/339
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev W Welsh, Ch: 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).