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 759

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 1897 Registrar J. M. Henderson

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

430

1 November 1897

Elijah (known by the name) Thomas Henry Round
Margaret O'Keeffe

Thomas Henry Round
Margaret OKeeffe
💍 1897/2846

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

22
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

22 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

97/4226

1 November 1897

J. W. Parkerson, Registrar

No	430
Date of Notice	1 November 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Elijah (known by the name) Thomas Henry Round	Margaret O'Keeffe
BDM Match (67%)	Thomas Henry Round	Margaret OKeeffe
	💍 1897/2846
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	22 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	97/4226
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 November 1897
Officiating Minister	J. W. Parkerson, Registrar

431

1 November 1897

Christopher Atkinson
Isabella Williamson

Christopher Atkinson
Isabella Williamson
💍 1897/2867

Bachelor
Spinster

Agent

39
29

Christchurch
Ashburton

14 years
29 years

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Ashburton

97/4257

1 November 1897

Rev. [illegible] English, Presbyterian

No	431
Date of Notice	1 November 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Christopher Atkinson	Isabella Williamson
	💍 1897/2867
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Agent
Age	39	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Ashburton
Length of Residence	14 years	29 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Ashburton
Folio	97/4257
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 November 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. [illegible] English, Presbyterian

432

1 November 1897

William Henry Strange
Rose Ellen McHenry

William Henry Strange
Rose Ellen McHenry
💍 1897/2873

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Domestic

23
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
5 years

Roman Catholic Church, Barbadoes Street, Christchurch

97/4280

1 November 1897

Rev. Father Galerne, Roman Catholic

No	432
Date of Notice	1 November 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Strange	Rose Ellen McHenry
	💍 1897/2873
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Domestic
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Barbadoes Street, Christchurch
Folio	97/4280
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 November 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Galerne, Roman Catholic

433

1 November 1897

William Palmer Here
Helen Howe

William Palmer Hern
Helen Hore
💍 1897/302

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

23
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

21 years
20 years

St. Michael's Church, Christchurch

97/4764

1 November 1897

Rev. A. B. Chappell, Wesleyan

No	433
Date of Notice	1 November 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Palmer Here	Helen Howe
BDM Match (92%)	William Palmer Hern	Helen Hore
	💍 1897/302
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	21 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Christchurch
Folio	97/4764
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 November 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. B. Chappell, Wesleyan

434

2 November 1897

Alfred Large
Elizabeth Bunton

Alfred Large
Elizabeth Bennton
💍 1897/227

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic

22
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

20 years
20 years

St. Mary's Church, Merivale

97/4304

2 November 1897

Rev. H. A. Watson, Church of England

No	434
Date of Notice	2 November 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Large	Elizabeth Bunton
BDM Match (94%)	Alfred Large	Elizabeth Bennton
	💍 1897/227
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Merivale
Folio	97/4304
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 November 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. A. Watson, Church of England

435

4 November 1897

Thomas Wilson Reese
Georgina Willie Whitelaw

Thomas Wilson Neese
Georgina Willison Whiteland
💍 1897/3344

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

30
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

30 years
26 years

St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Christchurch

97/4903

4 November 1897

Rev. F. R. Fleuslie, Presbyterian

No	435
Date of Notice	4 November 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Wilson Reese	Georgina Willie Whitelaw
BDM Match (88%)	Thomas Wilson Neese	Georgina Willison Whiteland
	💍 1897/3344
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	30 years	26 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Christchurch
Folio	97/4903
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. R. Fleuslie, Presbyterian

436

4 November 1897

Henry James Holder
Annie Cornelins Gallop

Bachelor
Spinster

Customs Officer

40
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
3 weeks

Baptist Church, Oxford Terrace, Christchurch

97/4300

4 November 1897

Rev. C. Dallaston, Baptist

No	436
Date of Notice	4 November 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry James Holder	Annie Cornelins Gallop
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Customs Officer
Age	40	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Oxford Terrace, Christchurch
Folio	97/4300
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Dallaston, Baptist

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 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).