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 298

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	Consent	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
305	20 July 1897	James Thomas Small Amelia Philp	James Thomas Small Amelia Philp 💍 1897/2015	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	25 25	Christchurch Christchurch	18 years 3 years	Registrar Office	97/3228		20 July 1897	Registrar, J. Carkern
306	22 July 1897	Thomas George Owles Elizabeth Vaile	Thomas George Owen Elizabeth Vaile 💍 1897/2081	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic	31 24	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 3 days	Barbadoes St, Christchurch	97/3289		22 July 1897	Rev. S. Cunnings, Roman Catholic
307	22 July 1897	Daniel Spence Emma Cook	Daniel Spence Emma Cooke 💍 1897/2057	Bachelor Spinster	Waiter Fitter	20 21	Christchurch Christchurch	20 years 13 years	House of Mr. G. Holt, Harper St, Sydenham	97/3213		22 July 1897	Rev. R. S. Allan, Presbyterian
308	23 July 1897	Matthew James Worden Alice Roberta Ormandy	Matthew James Woodward Alice Leberta Ormandy 💍 1897/2035	Bachelor Spinster	Machinist Dressmaker	25 24	Christchurch Christchurch	17 years 24 years	House of Mr. J. G. Ormandy, Worcester Street, Christchurch	97/3250		23 July 1897	Rev. I. Sarginson, Congregational
309	23 July 1897	Matthew Henry Slater Ethel Maude Cocker	Matthew Henry Slater Ethel Maria Sarah Cocker 💍 1897/2091	Bachelor Spinster	Joiner	26 20	Christchurch Christchurch	4 months 4 weeks	St. Johns Church, Woolston	97/3307	Robert Cocker, Father	23 July 1897	Rev. C. H. Gosset, Church of England
310	26 July 1897	Walter Henry Knight Jane Murray	Walter Mark Knight Jane Murray 💍 1897/2016	Bachelor Spinster	Fitter Domestic	21 19	Christchurch Christchurch	4 years 19 years	Registrar Office, Christchurch	97/3229	Thomas Murray, Father	26 July 1897	Registrar, J. M. Vankerson
311	26 July 1897	Frederick Charles Berry Edith Sara Bothwell	Frederick Charles Berry Edith Sara Woodward 💍 1897/372	Bachelor Spinster	Jeweller	27 28	Christchurch Christchurch	4 days 8 years	House of Mr. Bridge, Armagh St	97/3244		26 July 1897	Rev. W. G. Parsons, Wesleyan
312	26 July 1897	Edmund Hope Cowles Alice Nora Raworth	Edmund Hugh Comer Alice Flour Raxworthy 💍 1897/2193	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	29 25	Christchurch Christchurch	29 years 25 years	House of Mr. Thos. Raworth, Upper Riccarton	97/3391		26 July 1897	Rev. S. Shorley, Wesleyan

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).