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 789

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1897

No	Date of Notice	Names and Surnames of Parties	BDM Match	Condition	Calling or Profession	Age	Dwelling Place	Length of Residence	Marriage Place	Folio	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
218	17 May 1897	Hugh Henry Barker Frances Annie Barker	Hugh Henry Francis Annie Barker 💍 1897/1239	Bachelor Spinster	Carter	25 24	Christchurch Burwood	4 years 2 years	All Saints Church	97/2082	17 May 1897	Rev. J. R. Inwood, Church of England
219	18 May 1897	William Francis Baker Ada Mary Rossiter	William Fraser Ada Mary Rossiter 💍 1897/1217	Bachelor Spinster	Law Clerk	30 27	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 1 month	St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Manchester Street, Chch	97/2055	18 May 1897	Rev. Father Malone, Church of England
220	18 May 1897	Vernon More Radcliffe Mary Jane Reid	Vernor Moore Radcliffe Mary Jane Reid 💍 1897/1240	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	25 24	Christchurch Christchurch	20 years 5 years	House of Mr. J. Miller, Peacock Street, Chch	97/2083	18 May 1897	Rev. W. Scorgie, Presbyterian
221	18 May 1897	David Webster Daisy Hanow	David Webster McFedries Daisy Harrow 💍 1897/1109	Bachelor Spinster	Bootmaker Dressmaker	26 22	Christchurch Christchurch	11 years 5 years	Registrar's Office, Chch	97/1970	18 May 1897	Registrar of Marriages, J. W. Mackerson
222	19 May 1897	Benjamin Edward Sheep Helen Lucy Foster	Benjamin Edward James Coleman Helen Lucy Foster 💍 1897/1148	Bachelor Spinster	Station Manager	32 26	Waipara Christchurch	5 years 3 months	St. John's Waipara Church	97/2010	19 May 1897	Rev. H. M. Watson, Church of England
223	19 May 1897	Frederick Hewson Bertha Matilda Witt	Frederick Humm Bertha Matilda Witts-Hewinson 💍 1897/1485	Bachelor Spinster	Wool Classer	25 22	Christchurch Fendalton	25 years 22 years	Episcopal Church	97/2526	19 May 1897	Rev. W. H. Hatch, Church of England
224	19 May 1897	Sidney George James Hardie Helen Caroline Hardie	Sidney George James Helen Caroline Hardie 💍 1897/1208	Bachelor Spinster	Compositor	21 21	Christchurch Albion Hotel	21 years 5 years	Albion Hotel, Christchurch	97/2069	19 May 1897	Rev. J. A. Williams, Baptist
225	20 May 1897	Frederick Guy Horton Edith Harriet Sest	Frederick George Norton Edith Harriet Scott 💍 1897/1178	Bachelor Spinster	Baker	28 25	Christchurch Christchurch	8 years 4 months	Wesleyan Church, Lowle High St.	97/2040	20 May 1897	Rev. W. Findley, Wesleyan Methodist

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 1898. More registers will be added when the Archives NZ Wellington reading room re-opens in September 2025.

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).