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 524

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 30 June 1897

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

940

21 April 1897

Alfred Doryer
Edith Ellen Reed

Alfred Boryer
Edith Ellen Reed
💍 1897/4886

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Servant

26
22

Gisborne
Gisborne

6 years
20 months

Residence of Mary Odlum, Derby Street, Gisborne

97/1255

21 April 1897

Rev. I. D. Begbie, Wesleyan

No	940
Date of Notice	21 April 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Doryer	Edith Ellen Reed
BDM Match (96%)	Alfred Boryer	Edith Ellen Reed
	💍 1897/4886
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Servant
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	6 years	20 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mary Odlum, Derby Street, Gisborne
Folio	97/1255
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 April 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. D. Begbie, Wesleyan

941

27 April 1897

Henry Moore
Esther Elizabeth Benson

Henry Moore
Elizabeth Esther Benson
💍 1897/4899

Bachelor
Spinster

Horse Trainer
None

23
25

Makaraka
Makaraka

12 years
25 years

Residence of William Walsh, Makaraka

97/1345

27 April 1897

Rev. J. E. Jose, Church of England

No	941
Date of Notice	27 April 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Moore	Esther Elizabeth Benson
BDM Match (70%)	Henry Moore	Elizabeth Esther Benson
	💍 1897/4899
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Horse Trainer	None
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Makaraka	Makaraka
Length of Residence	12 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Residence of William Walsh, Makaraka
Folio	97/1345
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 April 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. E. Jose, Church of England

942

21 May 1897

Alfred Henry Steele
Elizabeth Bridget Queenin

Alfred Henry Steele
Ellen Bridget Queenin
💍 1897/4901

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist
None

25
25

Gisborne
Gisborne

4 months
12 years

Residence of Thomas Benjamin Sweet, Whataupoko

97/1347

21 May 1897

Rev. J. C. Ahern, Roman Catholic

No	942
Date of Notice	21 May 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Henry Steele	Elizabeth Bridget Queenin
BDM Match (88%)	Alfred Henry Steele	Ellen Bridget Queenin
	💍 1897/4901
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist	None
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	4 months	12 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Thomas Benjamin Sweet, Whataupoko
Folio	97/1347
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 May 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Ahern, Roman Catholic

943

26 May 1897

James Carnachan
Roa Kania

James Carnachan
Roa Kaula
💍 1897/4883

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
None

32
19

Gisborne
Gisborne

7 years
19 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

97/1352

Hemi Kourta, father of the said Roa Kania

26 May 1897

W. A. Barton, Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

No	943
Date of Notice	26 May 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Carnachan	Roa Kania
BDM Match (89%)	James Carnachan	Roa Kaula
	💍 1897/4883
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	None
Age	32	19
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	7 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne
Folio	97/1352
Consent	Hemi Kourta, father of the said Roa Kania
Date of Certificate	26 May 1897
Officiating Minister	W. A. Barton, Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

944

2 June 1897

Charles Moore
Bridget Pollard

Charles Moore
Bridget Pollard
💍 1897/4879

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Domestic Servant

44
41

Gisborne
Gisborne

18 months
2 years

Roman Catholic Chapel, Gisborne

97/1348

2 June 1897

Rev. J. C. Ahern, Roman Catholic

No	944
Date of Notice	2 June 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Moore	Bridget Pollard
	💍 1897/4879
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Domestic Servant
Age	44	41
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	18 months	2 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Chapel, Gisborne
Folio	97/1348
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Ahern, Roman Catholic

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).