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 299

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1897 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

1 February 1897

Henry King
Ada Maria Johns

Henry King
Tida Maria Lehrs
💍 1897/3963

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic

25
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

25 years
11 years

House of Mr. Fred Jones, Hereford Street, Christchurch

97/732

Mother

2 February 1897

Rev. W. J. Williams, Wesleyan Methodist

No	42
Date of Notice	1 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry King	Ada Maria Johns
BDM Match (84%)	Henry King	Tida Maria Lehrs
	💍 1897/3963
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	11 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Fred Jones, Hereford Street, Christchurch
Folio	97/732
Consent	Mother
Date of Certificate	2 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Williams, Wesleyan Methodist

1 February 1897

Mark Carson
Elizabeth Serena Henderson

Frank Carson
Elizabeth Sevena Henderson
💍 1897/4335

Bachelor
Spinster

Bricklayer
Domestic

21
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

21 years
21 years

Registrar's Office

97/692

2 February 1897

Registrar of Marriages, J. W. Parkerson

No	43
Date of Notice	1 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Mark Carson	Elizabeth Serena Henderson
BDM Match (86%)	Frank Carson	Elizabeth Sevena Henderson
	💍 1897/4335
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer	Domestic
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	21 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	97/692
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. W. Parkerson

1 February 1897

Walter James William Reakes
Victoria Doris Pentecost

Walter James William Neate
Victoria Louisa Pentecost
💍 1897/4336

Bachelor
Spinster

Traveller
Bookbinder

21
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

20 years
21 years

Registrar's Office

97/693

2 February 1897

Registrar of Marriages, J. W. Parkerson

No	44
Date of Notice	1 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter James William Reakes	Victoria Doris Pentecost
BDM Match (88%)	Walter James William Neate	Victoria Louisa Pentecost
	💍 1897/4336
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Traveller	Bookbinder
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	97/693
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. W. Parkerson

1 February 1897

Albert Edward Watson
Nellie McCracken

Albert Edward Watson
Nellie McCracken
💍 1897/3960

Bachelor
Spinster

Groom

23
18

Christchurch
Linwood

23 years
18 years

Church of Lord, Shepherd's Bush

97/721

Alexander McCracken, Father

3 February 1897

Rev. H. J. Gilbert, Church of England

No	45
Date of Notice	1 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Watson	Nellie McCracken
	💍 1897/3960
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Groom
Age	23	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	23 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Church of Lord, Shepherd's Bush
Folio	97/721
Consent	Alexander McCracken, Father
Date of Certificate	3 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. J. Gilbert, Church of England

1 February 1897

John Thomas Priestnall
Annie Ware

John Thomas Priestnall
Annie Ware
💍 1897/3967

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Clerk

28
22

Christchurch
Sydenham

28 years
22 years

House of Rev. J. Sarginson, Wilson Road

97/736

4 February 1897

Rev. J. Sarginson, Congregational

No	46
Date of Notice	1 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas Priestnall	Annie Ware
	💍 1897/3967
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Clerk
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	28 years	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. J. Sarginson, Wilson Road
Folio	97/736
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Sarginson, Congregational

1 February 1897

Edward O'Connell
Sarah Trejance

Edward O'Connor
Sarah Trigance
💍 1897/3905

Bachelor
Spinster

Plasterer

31
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

31 years
21 years

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Manchester Street

97/788

4 February 1897

Rev. Father Marnane, Roman Catholic

No	47
Date of Notice	1 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward O'Connell	Sarah Trejance
BDM Match (84%)	Edward O'Connor	Sarah Trigance
	💍 1897/3905
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plasterer
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	31 years	21 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Manchester Street
Folio	97/788
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Marnane, Roman Catholic

1 February 1897

Michael John Hartigan
Annie Harriet Collins

Michael John Hartigan
Annie Harriet Collins
💍 1897/4337

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

27
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
10 years

Registrar's Office

97/694

4 February 1897

Registrar of Marriages, J. W. Parkerson

No	48
Date of Notice	1 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael John Hartigan	Annie Harriet Collins
	💍 1897/4337
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	97/694
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. W. Parkerson

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).