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 297

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1897 Registrar J. W. Parkinson

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

25 January 1897

James Fester
Dinna Mary Shaw

James Fisher
Emma Mary Shaw
💍 1897/3968

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Machinist

27
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

18 years
21 years

House of Mr. W.C. Shaw, May Street, Richmond

97/137

25 January 1897

Rev. J. T. Burrows, Wesleyan

No	28
Date of Notice	25 January 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Fester	Dinna Mary Shaw
BDM Match (78%)	James Fisher	Emma Mary Shaw
	💍 1897/3968
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Machinist
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	18 years	21 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. W.C. Shaw, May Street, Richmond
Folio	97/137
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. T. Burrows, Wesleyan

25 January 1897

Arthur Dole Blakiston
Mabel Bohun Hannah

Arthur John Blakiston
Mabel Boham Hennah
💍 1897/3961

Bachelor
Spinster

Stationer
Governess

34
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

14 days
30 years

St. Mary's, Christchurch

97/730

25 January 1897

Rev. H. A. Watson, Church of England

No	29
Date of Notice	25 January 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Dole Blakiston	Mabel Bohun Hannah
BDM Match (85%)	Arthur John Blakiston	Mabel Boham Hennah
	💍 1897/3961
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stationer	Governess
Age	34	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	14 days	30 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's, Christchurch
Folio	97/730
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. A. Watson, Church of England

26 January 1897

James Sutton
Kathleen Eliza Jones

Isaac James Sutton
Kathleen Eliza Jones
💍 1897/1114

Widower
Spinster

Gardener
Domestic

47
36

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
4 days

Home of Rev. J. Blanshard, Lichfield Street, Christchurch

97/1953

26 January 1897

Rev. J. Blanshard, Presbyterian

No	30
Date of Notice	26 January 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Sutton	Kathleen Eliza Jones
BDM Match (83%)	Isaac James Sutton	Kathleen Eliza Jones
	💍 1897/1114
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Domestic
Age	47	36
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Home of Rev. J. Blanshard, Lichfield Street, Christchurch
Folio	97/1953
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Blanshard, Presbyterian

26 January 1897

Harry Fan
Edith Smith

Harry Fass
Edith Smith
💍 1897/3980

Bachelor
Spinster

Jeweller

23
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
2 years

Home of Rev. J. Dawson Cambridge Terrace, Christchurch

97/725

26 January 1897

Rev. J. Dawson, Primitive Methodist

No	31
Date of Notice	26 January 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Fan	Edith Smith
BDM Match (90%)	Harry Fass	Edith Smith
	💍 1897/3980
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jeweller
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Home of Rev. J. Dawson Cambridge Terrace, Christchurch
Folio	97/725
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Dawson, Primitive Methodist

26 January 1897

Thomas William Curran
Esther Jane Zoe Davies

Thomas William Curran
Esther Jane Zoe Davies
💍 1897/4333

Bachelor
Spinster

Currier
Nurse

29
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
29 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

97/690

26 January 1897

Registrar, J. W. Parkinson

No	32
Date of Notice	26 January 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas William Curran	Esther Jane Zoe Davies
	💍 1897/4333
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Currier	Nurse
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	97/690
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1897
Officiating Minister	Registrar, J. W. Parkinson

26 January 1897

Walter Ernest Rose
Jane Stark

Walter Ernest Rose
Jane Stark
💍 1897/4334

Bachelor
Spinster

Commission Agent

24
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

24 years
2 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

97/691

26 January 1897

Registrar, J. W. Parkinson

No	33
Date of Notice	26 January 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Ernest Rose	Jane Stark
	💍 1897/4334
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commission Agent
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	24 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	97/691
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1897
Officiating Minister	Registrar, J. W. Parkinson

27 January 1897

Alexander Wilson
Clara Edith Earnshaw

Alexander Wilson
Clara Edith Earnshaw
💍 1897/3977

Widower
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

40
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

38 years
22 years

St. Andrews Manse, Tuam Street, Christchurch

97/745

27 January 1897

Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

No	34
Date of Notice	27 January 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Wilson	Clara Edith Earnshaw
	💍 1897/3977
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	40	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	38 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Manse, Tuam Street, Christchurch
Folio	97/745
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

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 1908. 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).