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 435

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 31 March 1897 Registrar H.H.G. Ralfe

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

1893

1 February 1897

Robert Bruce Haig
Joanna Clarke

Robert Bruce Haig
Joanna Clarke
💍 1897/4500

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

30
28

Oamaru
Oamaru

13 months
6 years

At the Manor of St Paul's Presbyterian Church, Eden Street, Oamaru

97/914

1 February 1897

Rev. James Milne, Presbyterian minister

No	1893
Date of Notice	1 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Bruce Haig	Joanna Clarke
	💍 1897/4500
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	13 months	6 years
Marriage Place	At the Manor of St Paul's Presbyterian Church, Eden Street, Oamaru
Folio	97/914
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Milne, Presbyterian minister

1894

27 February 1897

David Flynn
Nellie Mc.Lew

David Flynn
Nellie McLew
💍 1897/4504

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

24
23

Oamaru
Oamaru

4 days
3 days

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages at Oamaru

97/921

27 February 1897

H.H.G. Ralfe, Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru

No	1894
Date of Notice	27 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Flynn	Nellie Mc.Lew
BDM Match (96%)	David Flynn	Nellie McLew
	💍 1897/4504
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	4 days	3 days
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages at Oamaru
Folio	97/921
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1897
Officiating Minister	H.H.G. Ralfe, Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru

1895

15 March 1897

Ernest Richard Speid
Katherine Russell

Ernest Rickard Speid
Catherine Russell
💍 1897/4502

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

27
20

Waiareka
Waiareka

8 years
20 years

At the house of Mr. W. Russell at Waiareka

97/918

William Russell, father

15 March 1897

Rev. James Standring, Presbyterian minister

No	1895
Date of Notice	15 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Richard Speid	Katherine Russell
BDM Match (95%)	Ernest Rickard Speid	Catherine Russell
	💍 1897/4502
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Waiareka	Waiareka
Length of Residence	8 years	20 years
Marriage Place	At the house of Mr. W. Russell at Waiareka
Folio	97/918
Consent	William Russell, father
Date of Certificate	15 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Standring, Presbyterian minister

1896

17 March 1897

William Francis Charles Walter Donald Ward
Emily Williams

William Francis Charles Walter Donald Ward
Emily Williams
💍 1897/4505

William James Thompson
Emily Williams
💍 1897/4963

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Servant

21
22

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 weeks
2 years

At the office of the Registrar of Marriages at Oamaru

97/922

17 March 1897

H.H.G. Ralfe, Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru

No	1896
Date of Notice	17 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Francis Charles Walter Donald Ward	Emily Williams
	💍 1897/4505
BDM Match (68%)	William James Thompson	Emily Williams
	💍 1897/4963
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Servant
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 weeks	2 years
Marriage Place	At the office of the Registrar of Marriages at Oamaru
Folio	97/922
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 March 1897
Officiating Minister	H.H.G. Ralfe, Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru

1897

22 March 1897

John Achmole Taylor
Edith Florence Grave

John Ashmore Taylor
Edith Florence Grave
💍 1897/3604

Bachelor
Spinster

Manager

23
23

Oamaru

22 years

St. Lukes Church of England, Oamaru

97/2346

22 March 1897

Ven. Archdeacon H.G. Gould, Church of England Minister

No	1897
Date of Notice	22 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Achmole Taylor	Edith Florence Grave
BDM Match (95%)	John Ashmore Taylor	Edith Florence Grave
	💍 1897/3604
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Manager
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place		Oamaru
Length of Residence		22 years
Marriage Place	St. Lukes Church of England, Oamaru
Folio	97/2346
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon H.G. Gould, Church of England Minister

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).