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 307

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

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

102

19 March 1897

James Kenneth Julian
Sophia Watters

James Kenneth Julian
Sophia Wallers
💍 1897/4309

Bachelor
Spinster

Porter
Dressmaker

22
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 years
22 years

St. Matthew's Church

97/155

19 March 1897

Rev. H. Hilliam, Church of England

No	102
Date of Notice	19 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Kenneth Julian	Sophia Watters
BDM Match (93%)	James Kenneth Julian	Sophia Wallers
	💍 1897/4309
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Porter	Dressmaker
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church
Folio	97/155
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Hilliam, Church of England

103

19 March 1897

Henry Todd
Elizabeth Clifford Voice

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

23
17

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
17 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

97/106

Mary Elizabeth Todd, Mother

19 March 1897

J. J. M. Vantleson, Registrar of Marriages

No	103
Date of Notice	19 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Todd	Elizabeth Clifford Voice
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	23	17
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	97/106
Consent	Mary Elizabeth Todd, Mother
Date of Certificate	19 March 1897
Officiating Minister	J. J. M. Vantleson, Registrar of Marriages

104

19 March 1897

Thomas John Stephens
Isa Procter

Thomas John Stephens
Isabella Margaret Annie Maitland Proctor
💍 1897/4436

Bachelor
Spinster

Warder

25
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
2 years

St. Michael's Church, Christchurch

97/162

19 March 1897

Rev. A. W. Laverick, Church of England

No	104
Date of Notice	19 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas John Stephens	Isa Procter
BDM Match (63%)	Thomas John Stephens	Isabella Margaret Annie Maitland Proctor
	💍 1897/4436
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warder
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Christchurch
Folio	97/162
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Laverick, Church of England

105

20 March 1897

George Ormsby (Hori Omipi)
Christina Andrew

George Ormsby
Christine Andrew
💍 1897/3950

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist

25
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
27 years

Wesleyan Church, Tuam Street, Christchurch

97/118

20 March 1897

Rev. J. M. Nicholl, Wesleyan

No	105
Date of Notice	20 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Ormsby (Hori Omipi)	Christina Andrew
BDM Match (72%)	George Ormsby	Christine Andrew
	💍 1897/3950
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist
Age	25	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	27 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Tuam Street, Christchurch
Folio	97/118
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Nicholl, Wesleyan

106

20 March 1897

Joseph Baxter
Rose Smith

Joseph Baxter
Rose Smith
💍 1897/4591

John Bain
Rosie Smith
💍 1897/4542

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller

23
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

16 years
16 years

House of Mr. J. W. Smith, Windermere Road, Sydenham

97/102

20 March 1897

Rev. J. Isitt, Wesleyan

No	106
Date of Notice	20 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Baxter	Rose Smith
	💍 1897/4591
BDM Match (65%)	John Bain	Rosie Smith
	💍 1897/4542
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	16 years	16 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. J. W. Smith, Windermere Road, Sydenham
Folio	97/102
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Isitt, Wesleyan

107

20 March 1897

Francis Paul
Elizabeth Effie Beare

Francis Paul
Elizabeth Effie Beare
💍 1897/4425

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller
Saleswoman

27
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

17 years
19 years

Wesleyan Church, Colombo Road, Sydenham

97/175

20 March 1897

Rev. W. G. Parsons, Wesleyan

No	107
Date of Notice	20 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Paul	Elizabeth Effie Beare
	💍 1897/4425
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Saleswoman
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	17 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Colombo Road, Sydenham
Folio	97/175
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. G. Parsons, Wesleyan

108

22 March 1897

Alfred Alexander Horton
Mary Jane Mallett

Alfred Alex Wilson
Mary Jane Mallett
💍 1897/3892

Bachelor
Spinster

Tram Guard

21
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
16 years

St. Peter's Church, Ferry Road

97/196

22 March 1897

Rev. W. Scorgie, Presbyterian

No	108
Date of Notice	22 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Alexander Horton	Mary Jane Mallett
BDM Match (80%)	Alfred Alex Wilson	Mary Jane Mallett
	💍 1897/3892
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tram Guard
Age	21	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	16 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Ferry Road
Folio	97/196
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Scorgie, 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 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).