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 305

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1897 Registrar J. M. 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

8 March 1897

Alexander Scrimgeour
Ada Dalworth

Alexander Scrimgeour
Ada Dalwood
💍 1897/4316

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Domestic

24
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

24 years
21 years

Church of St. Andrews, Inner Street, Christchurch

97/750

8 March 1897

Rev. A. H. Dreadwell, Presbyterian

No	88
Date of Notice	8 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Scrimgeour	Ada Dalworth
BDM Match (88%)	Alexander Scrimgeour	Ada Dalwood
	💍 1897/4316
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Domestic
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	24 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Church of St. Andrews, Inner Street, Christchurch
Folio	97/750
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. H. Dreadwell, Presbyterian

9 March 1897

William John Lile
Edith Miriam Henderson

William John Lile
Edith Miriam Henderson
💍 1897/4434

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Operator

26
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Holy Trinity, Avonside

97/753

Florence Henderson, Mother

9 March 1897

Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Church of England

No	89
Date of Notice	9 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Lile	Edith Miriam Henderson
	💍 1897/4434
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Operator
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity, Avonside
Folio	97/753
Consent	Florence Henderson, Mother
Date of Certificate	9 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Church of England

9 March 1897

George Frederick Dunn
Sarah Arnold

George Frederick Dunn
Sarah Arnold
💍 1897/3947

Bachelor
Spinster

Coach painter

22
21

Christchurch
Richmond

22 years
21 years

House of Mr. Charles Dunn

97/715

9 March 1897

Rev. S. J. Baker, Congregational

No	90
Date of Notice	9 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Frederick Dunn	Sarah Arnold
	💍 1897/3947
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coach painter
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Richmond
Length of Residence	22 years	21 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Charles Dunn
Folio	97/715
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. J. Baker, Congregational

9 March 1897

William James Moir
Maude Cotton

William James Moir
Maud Cotton
💍 1897/4433

Bachelor
Spinster

Miller

27
24

Christchurch
Avonside

3 days
3 years

Holy Trinity, Christchurch

97/787

9 March 1897

Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Church of England

No	91
Date of Notice	9 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Moir	Maude Cotton
BDM Match (96%)	William James Moir	Maud Cotton
	💍 1897/4433
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miller
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Avonside
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity, Christchurch
Folio	97/787
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Church of England

11 March 1897

John Dadie
Miriam Bailey

John Wylie
Sarah Ann Bailey
💍 1897/2636

Bachelor
Widow

Engine Driver
Domestic

51
39

Christchurch
Christchurch

16 years
14 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

97/702

11 March 1897

Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Parkerson

No	92
Date of Notice	11 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Dadie	Miriam Bailey
BDM Match (60%)	John Wylie	Sarah Ann Bailey
	💍 1897/2636
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic
Age	51	39
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	16 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	97/702
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Parkerson

12 March 1897

George Alfred Shirley
Elizabeth Jane Dunsmore

George Alfred Shirley
Elizabeth Jane Dunsmore
💍 1897/4313

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

33
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
7 years

St. Andrews Manse

97/747

12 March 1897

Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

No	93
Date of Notice	12 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Alfred Shirley	Elizabeth Jane Dunsmore
	💍 1897/4313
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	33	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Manse
Folio	97/747
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Webster, Presbyterian

15 March 1897

Arthur Wilson
Sarah Annie Everett

Arthur Wilson
Sarah Annie Everett
💍 1897/3958

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

23
18

Christchurch
Christchurch

23 years
2 years

Registrar's Office

97/703

Moses Everett, Father

15 March 1897

Registrar of Marriages, J. W. Parkerson

No	94
Date of Notice	15 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Wilson	Sarah Annie Everett
	💍 1897/3958
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	23	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	23 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	97/703
Consent	Moses Everett, Father
Date of Certificate	15 March 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).