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 300

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 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

5 February 1897

Arthur Justin Butler
Ellen Howell

Arthur Tutin Butler
Ellen Howell
💍 1897/4439

Bachelor
Spinster

Jeweller
Dressmaker

22
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

22 years
26 years

House of Mr. W. H. Butler, Edgeware Road

97/165

5 February 1897

Rev. J. Adcock, Wesleyan

No	49
Date of Notice	5 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Justin Butler	Ellen Howell
BDM Match (95%)	Arthur Tutin Butler	Ellen Howell
	💍 1897/4439
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jeweller	Dressmaker
Age	22	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	22 years	26 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. W. H. Butler, Edgeware Road
Folio	97/165
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Adcock, Wesleyan

5 February 1897

John Henry Cook
Stella Mariner Thungar

John Henry Cook
Stella Marinia Thurgar
💍 1897/3982

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Office Assistant

32
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

32 years
1 week

House of Mrs. H. Meischaw, Britten Street, Linwood

97/129

5 February 1897

Rev. J. Dawson, Methodist

No	50
Date of Notice	5 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Cook	Stella Mariner Thungar
BDM Match (93%)	John Henry Cook	Stella Marinia Thurgar
	💍 1897/3982
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Office Assistant
Age	32	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	32 years	1 week
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. H. Meischaw, Britten Street, Linwood
Folio	97/129
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Dawson, Methodist

6 February 1897

Joseph Henry Vale
Ellen Louisa Ward

Joseph Henry Vale
Ellen Lousia Ward
💍 1897/3981

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

24
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

23 years
10 years

House of Jas. Ward, Peterboro Street, Christchurch

97/126

6 February 1897

Rev. J. Dawson, Methodist

No	51
Date of Notice	6 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Henry Vale	Ellen Louisa Ward
BDM Match (94%)	Joseph Henry Vale	Ellen Lousia Ward
	💍 1897/3981
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	23 years	10 years
Marriage Place	House of Jas. Ward, Peterboro Street, Christchurch
Folio	97/126
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Dawson, Methodist

8 February 1897

Norman Lindsay Macbeth
Lily Florence Wood

Norman Lindsay Macbeth
Lily Florence Wood
💍 1897/4311

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Minter

29
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

28 years
25 years

St. Michael's Church, Christchurch

97/157

8 February 1897

Rev. A. W. Averill, Church of England

No	52
Date of Notice	8 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Lindsay Macbeth	Lily Florence Wood
	💍 1897/4311
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Minter
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	28 years	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Christchurch
Folio	97/157
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Averill, Church of England

8 February 1897

John McLaren
Fanny O'Grady

John McLaren
Fanny O'Grady
💍 1897/3906

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman

29
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 months
1 month

Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch

97/189

8 February 1897

Rev. J. Cummings, Roman Catholic

No	53
Date of Notice	8 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McLaren	Fanny O'Grady
	💍 1897/3906
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 months	1 month
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch
Folio	97/189
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Cummings, Roman Catholic

10 February 1897

William John Robert Thorey
Ellen Julia Voller

William John Roberts
Mercy Ellen Julia Voller
💍 1897/3966

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Tailoress

27
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

18 years
23 years

House of Mrs. Voller, 53 Ferry Road, Linwood

97/135

10 February 1897

Rev. J. J. Soke, Baptist

No	54
Date of Notice	10 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Robert Thorey	Ellen Julia Voller
BDM Match (74%)	William John Roberts	Mercy Ellen Julia Voller
	💍 1897/3966
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Tailoress
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	18 years	23 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Voller, 53 Ferry Road, Linwood
Folio	97/135
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Soke, Baptist

12 February 1897

Samuel Vance Gladstone
Margaret Ellen Cavanagh

Samuel Vaus Gladstone
Margaret Ellen Cavanagh
💍 1897/4312

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Dressmaker

28
31

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 months
17 years

St. Michael's Church, Christchurch

97/158

12 February 1897

Rev. A. W. Averill, Church of England

No	55
Date of Notice	12 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Vance Gladstone	Margaret Ellen Cavanagh
BDM Match (93%)	Samuel Vaus Gladstone	Margaret Ellen Cavanagh
	💍 1897/4312
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Dressmaker
Age	28	31
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 months	17 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Christchurch
Folio	97/158
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Averill, Church of England

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).