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 293

District of Ashburton 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	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
1014	3 July 1897	James Scott Christina McKay	James Scott Christina McKay 💍 1897/2019	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Dressmaker	27 28	Tinwald Tinwald	4 days 110 days	Private Dwelling of Alexander McKay, Morly Farm, Tinwald	97/3209	3 July 1897	Revd. James Skinner
1015	10 July 1897	Robert Brown Hamilton Maxwell Alice Eliza Frampton	Robert Brown Hamilton Manwell Alice Eliza Frampton 💍 1897/1995	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	29 23	Willowby Willowby	8 years 12 years at Willowby	Wesleyan Church at Willowby	97/3206	10 July 1897	Revd. J. J. Mather
1016	16 July 1897	James Roberts Begg Emily Maria Hill	James Robert Begg Emily Maria Hill 💍 1897/2020	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	33 22	Wakanui Wakanui	5 years 22 years	Wesleyan Church	97/3210	16 July 1897	Revd. R. Taylor
1017	19 July 1897	Thomas Mellory Margaret Smith	Thomas McAvoy Margaret Smith 💍 1897/1992 Thomas Todd Margaret Smith 💍 1897/3061 John Mackay Margaret Smith 💍 1898/994 Charles Edward Borne Margaret Smith 💍 1897/139	Bachelor Widow	Labourer	23 38	Graham's Road Tinwald Graham's Road Tinwald	6 months 22 years Ashburton	Registrar's Office	97/3203	19 July 1897	J. Ward, Registrar
1018	24 July 1897	Cyril Henry Black Clara Carter-Corbitt	Cyril Henry Black Clara Carter Corbitt 💍 1897/2021	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	24 23	Greenstreet Ashburton Forks	15 years 23 years Ashburton	Wesleyan Church	97/3211	24 July 1897	Revd. R. Taylor
1019	3 August 1897	Robert Muckie Dunlop Jessie Pitford	Robert Mackie Dunlop Jessie Pickford 💍 1897/2003	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	25 23	Ashburton Inverton	7 years 20 years at Ashburton	Private Dwelling of Robert Muckie Dunlop	97/3207	3 August 1897	Revd. Geo. B. Inglis
1020	6 August 1897	Henry J. L. Williams Elizabeth Boswell	Henry Joseph Lancelot Williams Elizabeth Boswell 💍 1897/2023	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Tailoress	21 21	Tinwald Hampstead	19 years 14 years Ashburton	Private Dwelling of John Olphert at Ashburton	97/3214	6 August 1897	Revd. John Olphert
1021	17 August 1897	Charles John Moore Agnes Washington M. R. Pauling	Charles John Moore Agnes Washington 💍 1897/2014	Bachelor Divorced	Constable Nurse	31 29	Ashburton Ashburton	4 years 20 years	Private Dwelling of Mr. M. Pauling at Ashburton	97/3208	17 August 1897	Revd. Geo. B. Inglis
1022	27 August 1897	Henry Shankinson Knight Mary Elizabeth Sanderson	Henry Hankinson Knight Mary Elizabeth Sanderson 💍 1897/1993	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	34 37	Ashburton Ashburton	8 days 3 days	Registrar's Office	97/3204	27 August 1897	J. Ward, Registrar
1023	30 August 1897	Thomas Henry Matam Joan Moodie	Thomas Henry Watson Joan Moodie 💍 1897/2022	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Weaver	24 21	Tinwald Allenton	8 years 6 years Allenton	Private Dwelling of Peter Moodie at Allenton	97/3212	7 September 1897	Revd. R. Taylor
1024	1 September 1897	Patrick McMenamin Mary Murphy	Patrick McMenamin Mary Murphy 💍 1897/3356	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic Servant	38 28	Ashburton Ashburton	3 days 3 days	Roman Catholic Church	97/4926	1 September 1897	Revd. Canon O'Donnell

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 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).