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 801

District of Geraldine Quarter ending 30 June 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

494

6 April 1897

Edward Lethbridge
Isabella McDonald

Edward Titheridge
Isabella McDonald
💍 1897/1244

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
General Servant

22
20

Belfield Orari
Orari Bridge

9 years
1 month

Presbyterian Church, Geraldine

97/2109

Alexander McDonald, Father

6 April 1897

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	494
Date of Notice	6 April 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Lethbridge	Isabella McDonald
BDM Match (91%)	Edward Titheridge	Isabella McDonald
	💍 1897/1244
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	General Servant
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Belfield Orari	Orari Bridge
Length of Residence	9 years	1 month
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Geraldine
Folio	97/2109
Consent	Alexander McDonald, Father
Date of Certificate	6 April 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

495

28 April 1897

John Dooley
Mary Farrell

John Dooley
Mary Farrell
💍 1897/1245

Widower
Widow

Hotel Keeper

50
37

Geraldine
Geraldine

2 years
1 month

Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine

97/2110

28 April 1897

Rev. H. G. Bowers, Roman Catholic

No	495
Date of Notice	28 April 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Dooley	Mary Farrell
	💍 1897/1245
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Hotel Keeper
Age	50	37
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	2 years	1 month
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine
Folio	97/2110
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 April 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Bowers, Roman Catholic

496

11 May 1897

Charles Henry Haight
Elizabeth Tate

Charles Henry Wright
Elizabeth Tate
💍 1897/3562

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
24

Opihi
Tengawai

7 years
13 years

The House of Mr John Tate, Tengawai

97/4326

11 May 1897

Rev. Joseph White, Presbyterian

No	496
Date of Notice	11 May 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Haight	Elizabeth Tate
BDM Match (95%)	Charles Henry Wright	Elizabeth Tate
	💍 1897/3562
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Opihi	Tengawai
Length of Residence	7 years	13 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr John Tate, Tengawai
Folio	97/4326
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 May 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. Joseph White, Presbyterian

497

8 June 1897

William Henry White
Bessie Annie Orton

William Henry White
Betsie Annie Orton
💍 1897/1246

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer

22
23

Geraldine
Woodbury

4 days
3 days

St. Thomas' Church, Woodbury

97/2111

8 June 1897

Rev. James Preston, Church of England

No	497
Date of Notice	8 June 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry White	Bessie Annie Orton
BDM Match (97%)	William Henry White	Betsie Annie Orton
	💍 1897/1246
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Woodbury
Length of Residence	4 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Thomas' Church, Woodbury
Folio	97/2111
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 June 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Preston, Church of England

498

16 June 1897

William Coombs
Selina Gardner

William Coombs
Selina Gardner
💍 1897/1247

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Domestic Duties

32
20

Geraldine
Raukapuka Downs

23 years
20 years

The House of Mr James Fraser, Geraldine

97/2112

Hannah Gardner, Mother

16 June 1897

Rev. Henry Williams, Primitive Methodist

No	498
Date of Notice	16 June 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Coombs	Selina Gardner
	💍 1897/1247
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Domestic Duties
Age	32	20
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Raukapuka Downs
Length of Residence	23 years	20 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr James Fraser, Geraldine
Folio	97/2112
Consent	Hannah Gardner, Mother
Date of Certificate	16 June 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Williams, Primitive Methodist

499

19 June 1897

George Barber
Eliza Ann Drowtine

George Barber
Eliza Ann Prouting
💍 1897/1248

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

47
28

Geraldine
Geraldine

2 months
22 years

The House of Mr George Drowtine, Geraldine

97/2113

19 June 1897

Rev. Henry Williams, Primitive Methodist

No	499
Date of Notice	19 June 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Barber	Eliza Ann Drowtine
BDM Match (92%)	George Barber	Eliza Ann Prouting
	💍 1897/1248
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	47	28
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	2 months	22 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr George Drowtine, Geraldine
Folio	97/2113
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 June 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Williams, Primitive 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 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).