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 784

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1897 Registrar J. M. Markuson

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

180

26 April 1897

John Garrett Crump
Ada Lilly Gray Mohr

John Garrett Crump
Ada Lily May Mohr
💍 1897/1146

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinetmaker

32
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
20 years

St. John's Church, Latimer Square, Christchurch

97/2008

Phillip Mohr, Father

26 April 1897

Rev. H. C. Warburton, Church of England

No	180
Date of Notice	26 April 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Garrett Crump	Ada Lilly Gray Mohr
BDM Match (92%)	John Garrett Crump	Ada Lily May Mohr
	💍 1897/1146
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinetmaker
Age	32	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Latimer Square, Christchurch
Folio	97/2008
Consent	Phillip Mohr, Father
Date of Certificate	26 April 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. C. Warburton, Church of England

181

26 April 1897

William Alfred Jukim
Mary White

William Alfred Inkson
Mary White
💍 1897/2067

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman

38
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
28 years

Roman Catholic Church, Barbadoes Street, Christchurch

97/3282

26 April 1897

Rev. S. Cummings, Roman Catholic

No	181
Date of Notice	26 April 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Alfred Jukim	Mary White
BDM Match (88%)	William Alfred Inkson	Mary White
	💍 1897/2067
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman
Age	38	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Barbadoes Street, Christchurch
Folio	97/3282
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 April 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Cummings, Roman Catholic

182

26 April 1897

Richard John Carter Auston
Annie Cairns

Richard John Carter Austin
Annie Cairns
💍 1897/2056

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

22
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

21 years
22 years

House of Rev. J. M. Simpson, Cambridge Terrace, Christchurch

97/3272

26 April 1897

Rev. J. M. Simpson, Presbyterian

No	182
Date of Notice	26 April 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard John Carter Auston	Annie Cairns
BDM Match (98%)	Richard John Carter Austin	Annie Cairns
	💍 1897/2056
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	21 years	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. J. M. Simpson, Cambridge Terrace, Christchurch
Folio	97/3272
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 April 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Simpson, Presbyterian

183

27 April 1897

Hugh Henry Mathias
Amy Mathias

Hugh Henry Mathias
Amy Mathias
💍 1897/1127

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk in Holy Orders

34
34

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

St. Michael's Church, Christchurch

97/1989

27 April 1897

Rev. A. W. Averill, Church of England

No	183
Date of Notice	27 April 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Henry Mathias	Amy Mathias
	💍 1897/1127
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk in Holy Orders
Age	34	34
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Christchurch
Folio	97/1989
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 April 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Averill, Church of England

184

27 April 1897

Henry John Collins
Annie Elizabeth Birts

Henry John Collins
Annie Elizabeth Birt
💍 1897/1103

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmonger

26
31

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

97/1965

27 April 1897

Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Markuson

No	184
Date of Notice	27 April 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry John Collins	Annie Elizabeth Birts
BDM Match (98%)	Henry John Collins	Annie Elizabeth Birt
	💍 1897/1103
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmonger
Age	26	31
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	97/1965
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 April 1897
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Markuson

185

28 April 1897

George Frederick William Voice
Elizabeth Sadler

George Frederick William Voice
Elizabeth Sadler
💍 1897/1176

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

20 years
22 years

Wesleyan Church, Lower High Street, Christchurch

97/2038

28 April 1897

Rev. W. Findley, Wesleyan Methodist

No	185
Date of Notice	28 April 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Frederick William Voice	Elizabeth Sadler
	💍 1897/1176
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Lower High Street, Christchurch
Folio	97/2038
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 April 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Findley, Wesleyan Methodist

186

28 April 1897

John Arthur Heskett
Claude Jane Williams

John Arthur Hesketh
Clara Jane Williams
💍 1897/1155

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

33
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
17 years

House of Rev. F. Williams, Opawa

97/1999

28 April 1897

Rev. C. Porter, Wesleyan

No	186
Date of Notice	28 April 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Arthur Heskett	Claude Jane Williams
BDM Match (90%)	John Arthur Hesketh	Clara Jane Williams
	💍 1897/1155
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	33	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	17 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. F. Williams, Opawa
Folio	97/1999
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 April 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Porter, Wesleyan

187

29 April 1897

David Patrice Ross
Laura Morland

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Teacher

29
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

29 years
29 years

House of Mr. W. Morland, Spreydon

97/2067

29 April 1897

Rev. J. North, Baptist

No	187
Date of Notice	29 April 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Patrice Ross	Laura Morland
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Teacher
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	29 years	29 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. W. Morland, Spreydon
Folio	97/2067
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 April 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. North, Baptist

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).