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 269

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 September 1897

No	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
37	8 July 1897	Francis Arthur Louis Wells Annie Whitwell	Francis Arthur Louis Wells Annie Whitwell 💍 1897/1951	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep-farmer Draper	28 33	Russell Street The Port Nelson	10 days 3 days	Residence of Ralph Beny, Jackson She Port	97/3153		8 July 1897	Rev. H. MacKenzie, Presbyterian Minister
38	8 July 1897	Reinhold Julius Scholtz Mary Philomena Downer	Renheld Asmus Marion Julius Scholtz Mary Philomena Downey 💍 1897/1975	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith Domestic Duties	23 24	Bridge Street Nelson Washington Road	3 weeks 24 years	Roman Catholic Church, Manyka Street Nelson	97/3162		8 July 1897	W. J. Mahoney, Roman Catholic Priest
39	12 July 1897	Charles Crowell Lucy Lee	Charles Croawell Lucy Lee 💍 1897/1947	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic Servant	55 42	Collingwood Street Collingwood Street	14 days 14 days	Office of the Registrar of Births Deaths & Marriages Nelson	97/3150		12 July 1897	H. Calders, Registrar
40	24 July 1897	Charles Pearce Alice Maud Pearson	Charles Pearce Alice Maud Reardon 💍 1897/3504	Bachelor Spinster	Hairdresser Domestic Duties	27 26	Hardy Street South Street	3 days 6 weeks	The residence of Mary Agnes Pearson, South Street Nelson	97/3163		24 July 1897	W. J. Mahoney, Roman Catholic Priest
41	26 July 1897	John Jenkinson Mabel Florence Wood	John Jenkinson Mabel Florence Good 💍 1897/3497	Bachelor Spinster	Coach-builder Domestic Duties	28 24	Nile Street East Nile Street East	5 days 24 years	Residence of Walter Thomas Wood, Nile Street East Nelson	97/3160		26 July 1897	J. P. Kempthorne, Church of England Minister
42	11 August 1897	John Revell Marion Elizabeth Roil	John Revell Marion Elizabeth Roil 💍 1897/1953	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic Duties	27 22	Stoke Stoke	3 days 22 years	Residence of Janet Roil, Stoke	97/3155		11 August 1897	J. S. Marshall, Wesleyan Minister
43	16 August 1897	Francis Harris Amelia Kidson	Francis Harris Amelia Kidson 💍 1897/1962	Bachelor Spinster	Marine-fireman Domestic Duties	27 21	Russell Street Nelson Russell Street Nelson	3 days 21 years	Residence of Charles Benny, Kidson Street Nelson	97/3157		16 August 1897	F. W. Chatterton, Church of England Clergyman
44	26 August 1897	Ah Hawk Helaise Esther Sowman	Ah Hawk Adelaide Esther Sowman 💍 1897/1948	Bachelor Spinster	Cook Shop Assistant	29 24	Trafalgar Street Halifax Street	5 days 5 months	Office of Registrar of Marriages Nelson	97/3151		26 August 1897	H. Calders, Registrar
45	4 September 1897	John King Jane Harris	John King Jane Harris 💍 1897/3505	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic Duties	35 35	Wakefield Quay Trafalgar Street	3 days 9 months	Catholic Station, Manyka Street Nelson	97/3164		4 September 1897	W. J. Mahoney, Roman Catholic Priest
46	11 September 1897	John William Blick Eliza Meads	John William Blick Eliza Meads 💍 1897/1952	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic Servant	27 20	Grove Street Grove Street	27 years 20 years	My own residence, Grove Street Nelson	97/3154	Eliza Meads, mother	11 September 1897	F. W. Chatterton, Church of England Minister
47	13 September 1897	Henry Joseph Pearcy Florence Edith Clara Hogan	Henry Truefitt Pearcy Florence Edith Clara Hogan 💍 1897/1972	Bachelor Spinster	Fireman Domestic Servant	21 22	Russell Street Beachville	8 days 21 days	Residence of Alfred Frost, Beachville Nelson	97/3158		13 September 1897	J. W. Chatterton, Church of England Minister
48	16 September 1897	Frederick William Larsen Annie Milroy	Frederick William Larsen Annie Milroy 💍 1897/1974	Bachelor Spinster	Plumber & Gasfitter Dressmaker	24 25	Haven Road Nelson St. Vincent Street	3 days 3 days	Congregational Church, Hardy Street Nelson	97/3161		16 September 1897	S. T. Prior, Wesleyan Minister
49	16 September 1897	William Lennon May Mabel Olson	William McLennan Mary Mabel Olson 💍 1897/3506	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic Servant	29 25	Alton Street Alton Street	6 days 6 days	Catholic Station, Manyka Street Nelson	97/3165		16 September 1897	W. J. Mahoney, Roman Catholic Priest
50	20 September 1897	Thomas Martimore Susan Brown	Thomas Mortimore Susan Brewer 💍 1897/1954	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 24	Sussex Street Richmond Sussex Street Richmond	9 months 9 months	Wesleyan Church, Richmond	97/3156		20 September 1897	G. J. Marshall, Wesleyan Minister
51	21 September 1897	Richard Charles Ward Ada Maud Ricketts	Richard Charles Ward Ada Maud Ricketts 💍 1897/2770	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	27 21	Cambria Street Nelson Haven Road Nelson	19 years 3 years	At the residence of William Chapman Ricketts, Haven Road Nelson	97/H145		21 September 1897	F. W. Chatterton, 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 1894. More registers will be added as the project continues.

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).