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 414

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 March 1897 Registrar John Winstanley Wilkins

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

28 January 1897

Frederick Snowden
Martha Craig

Frederick Snowden
Martha Craig
💍 1897/4444

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor

42
28

Invercargill
Invercargill

4 years
2 years

House of Rev Geo Lindsay, Kelvin Street, Invercargill

97/895

28 January 1897

Rev Geo Lindsay

No	15
Date of Notice	28 January 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Snowden	Martha Craig
	💍 1897/4444
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor
Age	42	28
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 years	2 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev Geo Lindsay, Kelvin Street, Invercargill
Folio	97/895
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev Geo Lindsay

28 January 1897

William Joseph Preston
Hannah Eliza Fox

William Joseph Preston
Hannah Eliza Fox
💍 1897/4451

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23
24

Invercargill
Clifton

3 days
24 years

English Church, Clifton

97/902

28 January 1897

Ven Archdeacon Stacker

No	16
Date of Notice	28 January 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Joseph Preston	Hannah Eliza Fox
	💍 1897/4451
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Clifton
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Clifton
Folio	97/902
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1897
Officiating Minister	Ven Archdeacon Stacker

30 January 1897

William King
Mary Christina Little

William King
Mary Christina Gibbs
💍 1897/4464

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

33
17

One Tree Point
Seaward Bush

16 months
3 years

Office of the Registrar, Invercargill

97/892

Edward Henry Little, Father

30 January 1897

J. W. Wilkin, Registrar

No	17
Date of Notice	30 January 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William King	Mary Christina Little
BDM Match (88%)	William King	Mary Christina Gibbs
	💍 1897/4464
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	33	17
Dwelling Place	One Tree Point	Seaward Bush
Length of Residence	16 months	3 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar, Invercargill
Folio	97/892
Consent	Edward Henry Little, Father
Date of Certificate	30 January 1897
Officiating Minister	J. W. Wilkin, Registrar

30 January 1897

John Kingsland
Jane Fairbairn

John Kingsland
Jane Fairbairn
💍 1897/4452

Widower
Spinster

Confectioner

43
26

Invercargill
Invercargill

28 years
26 years

Church of England, Tay Street, Invercargill

97/903

30 January 1897

Ven Archdeacon Stacker

No	18
Date of Notice	30 January 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Kingsland	Jane Fairbairn
	💍 1897/4452
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Confectioner
Age	43	26
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	28 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	97/903
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1897
Officiating Minister	Ven Archdeacon Stacker

2 February 1897

William Julian Bardsley
Lucy Jane Jefcoate

William Julian Bardsley
Lucy Jane Jefcoate
💍 1897/3418

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

31
22

Napier
Oteramika

2 years
5 years

House of Dr Thos Jefcoate, The Grange, Oteramika

97/913

2 February 1897

Rev Frank W. Boreham

No	19
Date of Notice	2 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Julian Bardsley	Lucy Jane Jefcoate
	💍 1897/3418
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Napier	Oteramika
Length of Residence	2 years	5 years
Marriage Place	House of Dr Thos Jefcoate, The Grange, Oteramika
Folio	97/913
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev Frank W. Boreham

5 February 1897

James Carnegy Gardner
Fanny Beatrice Grigor

James Carnegy Gardner
Fanny Beatrice Grigor
💍 1897/4446

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25
29

Invercargill
Invercargill

3 days
29 years

House of Dr W. P. Grigor, North Street, Invercargill

97/897

5 February 1897

Rev J. Gibson Smith

No	20
Date of Notice	5 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Carnegy Gardner	Fanny Beatrice Grigor
	💍 1897/4446
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25	29
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	29 years
Marriage Place	House of Dr W. P. Grigor, North Street, Invercargill
Folio	97/897
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Gibson Smith

8 February 1897

John Findlay
Mary Whamond Brown

John Findlay
Mary Whamond Brown
💍 1897/4447

Widower
Spinster

Insurance Clerk

29
26

Invercargill
Invercargill

29 years
26 years

House of Mr Walter Brown, Tay Street, Invercargill

97/898

8 February 1897

Rev J. Gibson Smith

No	21
Date of Notice	8 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Findlay	Mary Whamond Brown
	💍 1897/4447
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Insurance Clerk
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	29 years	26 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr Walter Brown, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	97/898
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Gibson Smith

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).