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 632

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 June 1897 Registrar S. Jago

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

19 May 1897

John Parsons Law
Mary Grace Williams

John Parsons Lang
Mary Grace Williams
💍 1897/512

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

24
21

Napier
Napier

8 years
8 years

Residence of Brides parents, Carlyle St, Napier

97/1491

19 May 1897

Rev. W. H. Beck, Wesleyan

No	47
Date of Notice	19 May 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Parsons Law	Mary Grace Williams
BDM Match (94%)	John Parsons Lang	Mary Grace Williams
	💍 1897/512
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	8 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Brides parents, Carlyle St, Napier
Folio	97/1491
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 May 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Beck, Wesleyan

21 May 1897

Patrick Cornelius Fincham
Mary Josephine Monahan

Patrick Cornelius Linehan
Mary Josephine Monahan
💍 1897/1224

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic

27
27

Napier
Napier

2 years
13 years

Catholic Church, Napier

97/2089

21 May 1897

Rev. Father Grogan, Roman Catholic

No	48
Date of Notice	21 May 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Cornelius Fincham	Mary Josephine Monahan
BDM Match (94%)	Patrick Cornelius Linehan	Mary Josephine Monahan
	💍 1897/1224
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	2 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church, Napier
Folio	97/2089
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 May 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Grogan, Roman Catholic

31 May 1897

Thomas Henry Crawford
Anastasia Byrne

Thomas Henry Crawford
Anastasia Byrne
💍 1897/2356

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic

27
21

Puketitiri
Napier

16 months
10 years

Manse, Napier

97/3625

31 May 1897

Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	49
Date of Notice	31 May 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Crawford	Anastasia Byrne
	💍 1897/2356
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Puketitiri	Napier
Length of Residence	16 months	10 years
Marriage Place	Manse, Napier
Folio	97/3625
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson, Presbyterian

31 May 1897

Joseph Diamond
Martha Kelly

Joseph Diamond
Martha Kelly
💍 1897/1225

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

37
28

Pahiatua, Napier
Napier

4 years
9 years

Roman Catholic Church, Napier

97/2090

31 May 1897

Rev. Father Grogan, Roman Catholic

No	50
Date of Notice	31 May 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Diamond	Martha Kelly
	💍 1897/1225
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	37	28
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua, Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	4 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Napier
Folio	97/2090
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Grogan, Roman Catholic

4 June 1897

Harry Bernard Stewart
Martha Bailey Smith

Harry Bernard Stewart
Martha Bailey Smith
💍 1897/532

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

30
20

Spit
Spit

9 years
10 years

Residence of Brides Parents, Kowhai Road, Napier

97/1498

Edmund Smith, Father

4 June 1897

Rev. B. Connor, Presbyterian

No	51
Date of Notice	4 June 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Bernard Stewart	Martha Bailey Smith
	💍 1897/532
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	30	20
Dwelling Place	Spit	Spit
Length of Residence	9 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Brides Parents, Kowhai Road, Napier
Folio	97/1498
Consent	Edmund Smith, Father
Date of Certificate	4 June 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Connor, Presbyterian

8 June 1897

Alfred North Hartley Kirkham
Mary McGlashan

Alfred North Hartley Kirkham
Mary McGlachan
💍 1897/533

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

23
19

Eskdale
Eskdale

6 years
3 years

Residence of Brides father, Eskdale

97/1499

8 June 1897

Rev. B. Connor, Presbyterian

No	52
Date of Notice	8 June 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred North Hartley Kirkham	Mary McGlashan
BDM Match (96%)	Alfred North Hartley Kirkham	Mary McGlachan
	💍 1897/533
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Eskdale	Eskdale
Length of Residence	6 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Brides father, Eskdale
Folio	97/1499
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 June 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Connor, Presbyterian

8 June 1897

Alfred McQuade
Alice Mary Burton

Alfred McQuade
Alice Mary Burton
💍 1897/502

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Laborer
Domestic

29
23

Pukangata, Napier
Taradale

3 years
2 months

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier

97/1488

8 June 1897

S. Jago, Registrar

No	53
Date of Notice	8 June 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred McQuade	Alice Mary Burton
	💍 1897/502
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Laborer	Domestic
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Pukangata, Napier	Taradale
Length of Residence	3 years	2 months
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier
Folio	97/1488
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 June 1897
Officiating Minister	S. Jago, Registrar

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).