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 302

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1897 Registrar J. M. Fullarton

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

24 February 1897

Francis Weston
Emily Jane Philpott

Francis Weston
Emily Jane Philpott
💍 1897/4440

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic

21
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

21 years
28 years

House of Mrs. J. Philpott, Crescent Rd, St. Albans

97/766

24 February 1897

Rev. J. A. Lusford, Wesleyan

No	64
Date of Notice	24 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Weston	Emily Jane Philpott
	💍 1897/4440
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic
Age	21	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	21 years	28 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. J. Philpott, Crescent Rd, St. Albans
Folio	97/766
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Lusford, Wesleyan

24 February 1897

Frederick Charles Begwood
Annie Williamson

Frederick Charles Bigwood
Annie Williamson
💍 1897/4417

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Milliner

21
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

21 years
19 years

St. Michael's Church

97/709

Mary Williamson, Mother

24 February 1897

Rev. W. Averill, Church of England

No	65
Date of Notice	24 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Charles Begwood	Annie Williamson
BDM Match (98%)	Frederick Charles Bigwood	Annie Williamson
	💍 1897/4417
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Milliner
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	21 years	19 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church
Folio	97/709
Consent	Mary Williamson, Mother
Date of Certificate	24 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Averill, Church of England

24 February 1897

John Alfred Bennett
Bridget Beatrice Burns

John Alfred Bennett
Bridget Beatrice Burns
💍 1897/3908

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Grader
Domestic

26
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

17 years
4 years

Roman Catholic Church, Barbadoes Street

97/791

24 February 1897

Rev. Father Cumming, Roman Catholic

No	66
Date of Notice	24 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Alfred Bennett	Bridget Beatrice Burns
	💍 1897/3908
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Grader	Domestic
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	17 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Barbadoes Street
Folio	97/791
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Cumming, Roman Catholic

26 February 1897

Gilbert Walter Coventry
Elizabeth Ann Storey

Gilbert Walter Coventry
Elizabeth Ann Skoey
💍 1897/3944

Widower
Widow

Retired Officer in Army

59
43

Christchurch
Christchurch

18 years
10 years

House of Rev. R. Erwin, Riccarton

97/713

26 February 1897

Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	67
Date of Notice	26 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gilbert Walter Coventry	Elizabeth Ann Storey
BDM Match (95%)	Gilbert Walter Coventry	Elizabeth Ann Skoey
	💍 1897/3944
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Retired Officer in Army
Age	59	43
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	18 years	10 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. R. Erwin, Riccarton
Folio	97/713
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

26 February 1897

William Edward Legge
Edith Augusta Webb

William Edward Legge
Edith Agusta Webb
💍 1897/3972

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Servant

24
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

24 years
15 years

House of W. J. Webb, York Street, Opawa

97/740

26 February 1897

Rev. J. Orchard, Wesleyan

No	68
Date of Notice	26 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Edward Legge	Edith Augusta Webb
BDM Match (97%)	William Edward Legge	Edith Agusta Webb
	💍 1897/3972
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Servant
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	24 years	15 years
Marriage Place	House of W. J. Webb, York Street, Opawa
Folio	97/740
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Orchard, Wesleyan

27 February 1897

Henry Should
Mary Ann Gregory

Henry Mould
Mary Ann Gregory
💍 1897/4432

Widower
Widow

Fruiterer

64
54

Christchurch
Christchurch

36 years
15 years

Holy Trinity, Avonside

97/781

27 February 1897

Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	69
Date of Notice	27 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Should	Mary Ann Gregory
BDM Match (92%)	Henry Mould	Mary Ann Gregory
	💍 1897/4432
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Fruiterer
Age	64	54
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	36 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity, Avonside
Folio	97/781
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

27 February 1897

James Francis Biddles
Elizabeth Hobbs

James Fraser
Elizabeth Hobbs
💍 1897/3945

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler
Tailoress

26
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

26 years
26 years

House of Thos. Hobbs, Selwyn Street, Christchurch

97/714

27 February 1897

Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	70
Date of Notice	27 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Francis Biddles	Elizabeth Hobbs
BDM Match (76%)	James Fraser	Elizabeth Hobbs
	💍 1897/3945
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler	Tailoress
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	26 years	26 years
Marriage Place	House of Thos. Hobbs, Selwyn Street, Christchurch
Folio	97/714
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Erwin, Presbyterian

27 February 1897

Andrew James Butler
Isabella Franks

Andrew James McEntee
Isabella Franks
💍 1897/4338

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23
17

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office

97/695

Francis William Franks, Father

27 February 1897

Registrar, J. W. Pakenham

No	71
Date of Notice	27 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew James Butler	Isabella Franks
BDM Match (85%)	Andrew James McEntee	Isabella Franks
	💍 1897/4338
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23	17
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	97/695
Consent	Francis William Franks, Father
Date of Certificate	27 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Registrar, J. W. Pakenham

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).