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 299

District of Christchurch 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
313	26 July 1897	Edward Holmes Gardner Janet Carrie Spence	Edward Holness Gardner Janet Currie 💍 1897/2092	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	26 22	Christchurch Christchurch	4 days 22 years	Presbyterian Church	97/3308	26 July 1897	Rev. W. Scorgie, Presbyterian
314	26 July 1897	George Blackman Margaret McGrath	George Blackmore Margaret McGrath 💍 1897/2041	Bachelor Spinster	Woolwasher Domestic	22 23	Christchurch Christchurch	22 years, Rifnd Terrace 5 years	St. Michael's Church	97/3256	26 July 1897	Rev. A. W. Averill, Church of England
315	27 July 1897	Albert Guy Emerson Georgina Maitland Gallop	Albert Tivy Emerson Georgina Maitland Gallop 💍 1897/2093	Bachelor Spinster	Police Constable	26 28	Christchurch Christchurch	5 days 6 years	Holy Trinity Church	97/3304	27 July 1897	Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Church of England
316	27 July 1897	Alfred James Boyce Beatrice Ann Fraser	Alfred James Boyce Beatrice Ann Fraser 💍 1897/2058	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Dressmaker	27 26	Christchurch Christchurch, 14 Johnston St. Sydenham	3 days 14 years	House of Mr. A. Tawedea	97/3294	27 July 1897	Rev. R. S. Cellan, Presbyterian
317	27 July 1897	Philip Schmack Catherine McNabb	Philip Schmack Catherine McNabb 💍 1897/2102	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	33 25	Christchurch Christchurch	33 years 6 years	Pro-Cathedral, Barbados Street	97/3294	27 July 1897	Rev. J. S. Cummings, Roman Catholic
318	28 July 1897	Thomas Edward Thomson Matilda Cornish	Thomas Edward Thompson Matilda Cornish 💍 1897/2032	Bachelor Spinster	Grocer	21 22	Christchurch Christchurch, 20 Merivale	6 years 20 years	St. Mary's Church	97/3297	28 July 1897	Rev. H. A. Watson, Church of England
319	28 July 1897	Frank Rogherki Joanna Schimanski	Frank Rogatski Johanna Schimanski 💍 1897/2094	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	22 21	Christchurch Christchurch	3 years 21 years	St. Mary's Church, Manchester Street	97/3292	28 July 1897	Rev. J. T. Marnane, Roman Catholic
320	29 July 1897	Charles Bonnett Emma Lye	Charles Bourke Emma Lye 💍 1897/2042	Bachelor Spinster	School Master	30 24	Christchurch Christchurch	5 days 24 years	St. Michael's Church	97/3257	29 July 1897	Rev. A. W. Averill, 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 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).