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 315

District of Geraldine Quarter ending 31 March 1897 Registrar Agnes Andrews

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

486

9 January 1897

Edward Michael Johnson
Ellen Elizabeth O'Halloran

Edward Michael Johnson
Ellen Elizabeth O'Halloran
💍 1897/3412

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

23
23

Orari
Pleasant Valley

14 years
6 years

Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine

97/807

9 January 1897

Rev. H. G. Bowers (Roman Catholic)

No	486
Date of Notice	9 January 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Michael Johnson	Ellen Elizabeth O'Halloran
	💍 1897/3412
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Orari	Pleasant Valley
Length of Residence	14 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine
Folio	97/807
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Bowers (Roman Catholic)

487

15 January 1897

Charles Edwin Roy
Susan Alice Wood

Charles Edwin Ray
Susan Alice Wood
💍 1897/3902

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler
Domestic Duties

28
18

Orari Gorge
Woodbury

6 years
18 years

The House of Mr. William Hanson, Woodbury

97/808

William Hanson, Guardian

15 January 1897

Rev. James Preston (Church of England)

No	487
Date of Notice	15 January 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edwin Roy	Susan Alice Wood
BDM Match (97%)	Charles Edwin Ray	Susan Alice Wood
	💍 1897/3902
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler	Domestic Duties
Age	28	18
Dwelling Place	Orari Gorge	Woodbury
Length of Residence	6 years	18 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr. William Hanson, Woodbury
Folio	97/808
Consent	William Hanson, Guardian
Date of Certificate	15 January 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Preston (Church of England)

488

25 January 1897

Matthew Daley
Honora Cronin

Matthew Daley
Honora Cronin
💍 1897/4392

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Servant

38
27

Orari
Rangitata

6 years
8 months

Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine

97/809

25 January 1897

Rev. H. G. Bowers (Roman Catholic)

No	488
Date of Notice	25 January 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Matthew Daley	Honora Cronin
	💍 1897/4392
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Servant
Age	38	27
Dwelling Place	Orari	Rangitata
Length of Residence	6 years	8 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine
Folio	97/809
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Bowers (Roman Catholic)

489

30 January 1897

Charles Alexander Crowe
Violet Isabel Temple

Charles Alexander Crowe
Violet Isabel Temple
💍 1897/4403

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28
19

Pleasant Valley
Pleasant Valley

5 years
16 years

St. Mary's Church, Geraldine

97/810

Edwyn Frederick Temple, Father

30 January 1897

Rev. James Preston (Church of England)

No	489
Date of Notice	30 January 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Alexander Crowe	Violet Isabel Temple
	💍 1897/4403
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	19
Dwelling Place	Pleasant Valley	Pleasant Valley
Length of Residence	5 years	16 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Geraldine
Folio	97/810
Consent	Edwyn Frederick Temple, Father
Date of Certificate	30 January 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Preston (Church of England)

490

2 February 1897

Arthur Leslie Temple
Ida Blennerhassett Tincler

Arthur Teopic Temple
Ida Blennerhassett Tincler
💍 1897/4410

Bachelor
Spinster

Commission Agent
Governess

28
23

Castlewood
Rotorua, Woodbury

4 years
2 years

St. Mary's Church, Geraldine

97/811

2 February 1897

Rev. James Preston (Church of England)

No	490
Date of Notice	2 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Leslie Temple	Ida Blennerhassett Tincler
BDM Match (90%)	Arthur Teopic Temple	Ida Blennerhassett Tincler
	💍 1897/4410
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commission Agent	Governess
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Castlewood	Rotorua, Woodbury
Length of Residence	4 years	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Geraldine
Folio	97/811
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Preston (Church of England)

491

24 February 1897

Arthur James Cooling
Sarah Kate Jenkins

Arthur James Cooling
Sarah Kate Jenkins
💍 1897/4411

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

24
22

Peel Forest
Peel Forest

5 years
20 years

St. Stephen's Church, Peel Forest

97/812

24 February 1897

Rev. James Preston (Church of England)

No	491
Date of Notice	24 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur James Cooling	Sarah Kate Jenkins
	💍 1897/4411
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Peel Forest	Peel Forest
Length of Residence	5 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Stephen's Church, Peel Forest
Folio	97/812
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Preston (Church 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 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).