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 294

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1897 Registrar J. W. Parkerson

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 January 1897

Frederick Whitehead
Amelia Hall Reese Turton

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
18 years

Registrar's Office

97/687

19 January 1897

Registrar J. W. Parkerson

No	21
Date of Notice	19 January 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Whitehead	Amelia Hall Reese Turton
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	97/687
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1897
Officiating Minister	Registrar J. W. Parkerson

19 January 1897

George Henry Moody
Maria Elizabeth Marshall

George Henry Moody
Marion Elizabeth Marshall
💍 1897/3978

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic

27
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

27 years
4 years

House of Rev. J. Bowron, Cambridge Terrace, Christchurch

97/723

19 January 1897

Rev. J. Bowron, Methodist

No	22
Date of Notice	19 January 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Moody	Maria Elizabeth Marshall
BDM Match (96%)	George Henry Moody	Marion Elizabeth Marshall
	💍 1897/3978
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	27 years	4 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. J. Bowron, Cambridge Terrace, Christchurch
Folio	97/723
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Bowron, Methodist

19 January 1897

William Ernest Miles
Minnie Peerepoint Edwards

William Ernest Mills
Mazzie Pierrepoint Edwards
💍 1897/1165

Bachelor
Spinster

Solicitor

27
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

27 years
16 years

St. John's Church, Latimer Square, Christchurch

97/2003

19 January 1897

Rev. H. E. M. Watson, Church of England

No	23
Date of Notice	19 January 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Ernest Miles	Minnie Peerepoint Edwards
BDM Match (88%)	William Ernest Mills	Mazzie Pierrepoint Edwards
	💍 1897/1165
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Solicitor
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	27 years	16 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Latimer Square, Christchurch
Folio	97/2003
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. E. M. Watson, Church of England

20 January 1897

James William Miller
Sarah Maria Debenham

James William Miller
Sarah Maria Lebeau
💍 1897/4331

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

31
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

12 years
18 years

Registrar's Office

97/689

Frank Debenham, father

20 January 1897

Registrar J. W. Parkerson

No	24
Date of Notice	20 January 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James William Miller	Sarah Maria Debenham
BDM Match (90%)	James William Miller	Sarah Maria Lebeau
	💍 1897/4331
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	31	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	12 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	97/689
Consent	Frank Debenham, father
Date of Certificate	20 January 1897
Officiating Minister	Registrar J. W. Parkerson

20 January 1897

Ernest Frederick Fowler
Gertrude Adeline Pearce

Ernest Fredrick Fowler
Gertrude Adeline Pearce
💍 1897/3943

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor

28
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

28 years
10 years

House of Mr. E. C. Pearce, Holly Road, St. Albans

97/712

20 January 1897

Rev. R. Brown, Presbyterian

No	25
Date of Notice	20 January 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Frederick Fowler	Gertrude Adeline Pearce
BDM Match (98%)	Ernest Fredrick Fowler	Gertrude Adeline Pearce
	💍 1897/3943
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	28 years	10 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. E. C. Pearce, Holly Road, St. Albans
Folio	97/712
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Brown, Presbyterian

22 January 1897

Daniel Stewart
Sarah Jane Perkins

Daniel Deavoll
Sarah Perkins
💍 1897/3889

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter, Farmer
Dressmaker

38
25

Christchurch
Heathcote Valley

12 years
25 years

Episcopalian Church

97/784

22 January 1897

Rev. C. H. Gosset, Church of England

No	26
Date of Notice	22 January 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Stewart	Sarah Jane Perkins
BDM Match (61%)	Daniel Deavoll	Sarah Perkins
	💍 1897/3889
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter, Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	38	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Heathcote Valley
Length of Residence	12 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Episcopalian Church
Folio	97/784
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Gosset, Church of England

20 January 1897

Cumming Crooke
Rosina Brooke

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

30 years
13 years

St. Mark's Church

97/768

23 January 1897

Rev. J. A. Meyer, Church of England

No	27
Date of Notice	20 January 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cumming Crooke	Rosina Brooke
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	30 years	13 years
Marriage Place	St. Mark's Church
Folio	97/768
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Meyer, Church of England

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).