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 738

District of Greymouth Quarter ending 31 December 1897 Registrar Benjamin Harper

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

30 October 1897

Basil Arthur Marris
Elizabeth Berdinner

Bezil Arthur Marvis
Elizabeth Berdinner
💍 1897/3705

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Clerk

24
20

Westport
Kumara

3 days in Greymouth
3 days in Greymouth

The Roman Catholic Church, Greymouth

97/4190

William Berdinner, Father

9 October 1897

Rev. D. P. Carew

No	30
Date of Notice	30 October 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Basil Arthur Marris	Elizabeth Berdinner
BDM Match (92%)	Bezil Arthur Marvis	Elizabeth Berdinner
	💍 1897/3705
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Clerk
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Westport	Kumara
Length of Residence	3 days in Greymouth	3 days in Greymouth
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church, Greymouth
Folio	97/4190
Consent	William Berdinner, Father
Date of Certificate	9 October 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. P. Carew

16 October 1897

George Laxton Hodgkenson
Jane Ellen Hewitt

George Saxton Hodgkinson
Jane Ellen Hewitt
💍 1897/3669

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

22
25

Stillwater
Masterton

6 days in Greymouth
3 days in Greymouth

Wesleyan Church, Greymouth

97/4896

16 October 1897

Rev. L. J. Garlick

No	31
Date of Notice	16 October 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Laxton Hodgkenson	Jane Ellen Hewitt
BDM Match (96%)	George Saxton Hodgkinson	Jane Ellen Hewitt
	💍 1897/3669
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	22	25
Dwelling Place	Stillwater	Masterton
Length of Residence	6 days in Greymouth	3 days in Greymouth
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Greymouth
Folio	97/4896
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 October 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. J. Garlick

29 October 1897

Edward Francis King
Ellena Mary Shannahan

Edward Francis King
Ellen Mary Tamahau
💍 1897/3706

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman

39
27

Greymouth
Greymouth

3 days in Greymouth
12 years at Greymouth

The Roman Catholic Church, Greymouth

97/4191

29 October 1897

Rev. D. P. Carew

No	32
Date of Notice	29 October 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Francis King	Ellena Mary Shannahan
BDM Match (86%)	Edward Francis King	Ellen Mary Tamahau
	💍 1897/3706
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman
Age	39	27
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	3 days in Greymouth	12 years at Greymouth
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church, Greymouth
Folio	97/4191
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 October 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. P. Carew

10 November 1897

William Albert Stephens
Lucy Warnes

William Albert Stephens
Lucy Warnes
💍 1897/3116

Bachelor
Spinster

Nurseryman

28
24

Rangiora
Greymouth

4 days in Greymouth
24 years Greymouth

The Wesleyan Church, Greymouth

97/4611

10 November 1897

Rev. L. J. Garlick

No	33
Date of Notice	10 November 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Albert Stephens	Lucy Warnes
	💍 1897/3116
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Nurseryman
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Rangiora	Greymouth
Length of Residence	4 days in Greymouth	24 years Greymouth
Marriage Place	The Wesleyan Church, Greymouth
Folio	97/4611
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 November 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. J. Garlick

13 November 1897

Frederick Havill
Annie Kennedy

Frederick Havill
Annie Kennedy
💍 1897/380

Frederick Pulman
Agnes Kennedy
💍 1898/85

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

20
30

Kanieri Forks
Kanieri Forks

4 days in Greymouth
4 days in Greymouth

The Church of England, Greymouth

97/4196

13 November 1897

Rev. Geo. W. York

No	34
Date of Notice	13 November 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Havill	Annie Kennedy
	💍 1897/380
BDM Match (70%)	Frederick Pulman	Agnes Kennedy
	💍 1898/85
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	20	30
Dwelling Place	Kanieri Forks	Kanieri Forks
Length of Residence	4 days in Greymouth	4 days in Greymouth
Marriage Place	The Church of England, Greymouth
Folio	97/4196
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 November 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. W. York

13 November 1897

James Lynn
Mary Griffin

James Lynn
Mary Griffin
💍 1897/3707

Bachelor
Spinster

Livery Stable Keeper

30
24

Greymouth
Greymouth

13 years
13 years

The Roman Catholic Church at Greymouth

97/4192

13 November 1897

Rev. D. P. Carew

No	35
Date of Notice	13 November 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Lynn	Mary Griffin
	💍 1897/3707
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Livery Stable Keeper
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	13 years	13 years
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church at Greymouth
Folio	97/4192
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 November 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. P. Carew

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 1908. 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).