Intentions to Marry, 1897 July-December

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840412, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, June 25 2025

1897 is bound in two volumes, January-June and July-December.

Page 039

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 1 July 1897 to 13 September 1897 Registrar William Alfred Barton

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

951

5 July 1897

George Helps
Sara Elizabeth Houlston Morrow

George Phelps
Sara Elizabeth Hueston Morrow
💍 1897/3490

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Domestic Servant

45
30

Wainui
Gisborne

17 years
17 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

97/2953

5 July 1897

F. W. A. Barlow, Registrar of Marriages

No	951
Date of Notice	5 July 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Helps	Sara Elizabeth Houlston Morrow
BDM Match (89%)	George Phelps	Sara Elizabeth Hueston Morrow
	💍 1897/3490
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Domestic Servant
Age	45	30
Dwelling Place	Wainui	Gisborne
Length of Residence	17 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne
Folio	97/2953
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1897
Officiating Minister	F. W. A. Barlow, Registrar of Marriages

952

6 July 1897

William Jarrell
Charlotte Esther Martin

William Farrell
Charlotte Esther Martin
💍 1897/2681

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
None

29
18

Tolago Bay
Tolago Bay

4 years
15 years

Church of England, Gisborne

97/4021

6 July 1897

Rev. Anthony L. Webb, Church of England

No	952
Date of Notice	6 July 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Jarrell	Charlotte Esther Martin
BDM Match (97%)	William Farrell	Charlotte Esther Martin
	💍 1897/2681
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	None
Age	29	18
Dwelling Place	Tolago Bay	Tolago Bay
Length of Residence	4 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Gisborne
Folio	97/4021
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 July 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. Anthony L. Webb, Church of England

953

6 July 1897

Arthur William Mackley
Lillie Chapman

Arthur William Mackley
Lily Chapman
💍 1897/2682

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
None

29
25

Pakarau
Gisborne

4 years
30 days

Church of England, Gisborne

97/4022

6 July 1897

Rev. Anthony L. Webb, Church of England

No	953
Date of Notice	6 July 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur William Mackley	Lillie Chapman
BDM Match (89%)	Arthur William Mackley	Lily Chapman
	💍 1897/2682
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	None
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Pakarau	Gisborne
Length of Residence	4 years	30 days
Marriage Place	Church of England, Gisborne
Folio	97/4022
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 July 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. Anthony L. Webb, Church of England

954

8 July 1897

Arthur Henry Greaves
Annie Hyde

Arthur Henry Greaves
Annie Hyde
💍 1897/3491

Joseph Herbert Cowden
Annie Hyde
💍 1897/4787

Bachelor
Spinster

Slaughterman
None

22
18

Patutahi
Patutahi

16 years
18 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

97/2754

Henry Hyde, father of the said Annie Hyde

8 July 1897

F. W. A. Barlow, Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

No	954
Date of Notice	8 July 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Henry Greaves	Annie Hyde
	💍 1897/3491
BDM Match (62%)	Joseph Herbert Cowden	Annie Hyde
	💍 1897/4787
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Slaughterman	None
Age	22	18
Dwelling Place	Patutahi	Patutahi
Length of Residence	16 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne
Folio	97/2754
Consent	Henry Hyde, father of the said Annie Hyde
Date of Certificate	8 July 1897
Officiating Minister	F. W. A. Barlow, Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

955

6 July 1897

William Smith
Priscilla Sylvia

William Sheriff
Priscilla Sylva
💍 1897/2683

Bachelor
Spinster

Station Hand
None

25
23

Kaiti
Gisborne

12 months
12 months

Church of England, Gisborne

97/4023

13 July 1897

Rev. Anthony L. Webb, Church of England

No	955
Date of Notice	6 July 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Smith	Priscilla Sylvia
BDM Match (80%)	William Sheriff	Priscilla Sylva
	💍 1897/2683
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Station Hand	None
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Kaiti	Gisborne
Length of Residence	12 months	12 months
Marriage Place	Church of England, Gisborne
Folio	97/4023
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. Anthony L. Webb, 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).