Intentions to Marry, 1897 January-June

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840411, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, June 25 2025

1897 is bound in two volumes, January-June and July-December.

Page 017

District of Auckland Quarter ending

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

11 February 1897

George Head
Susan Bradshaw

George Head
Susan Bradshaw
💍 1897/4057

Bachelor
Spinster

Cab proprietor

27
24

Auckland
Auckland

27 years
22 years

St. Patrick's Cathedral

97/86

11 February 1897

Rev. M. Egan, Roman Catholic

No	73
Date of Notice	11 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Head	Susan Bradshaw
	💍 1897/4057
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cab proprietor
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	27 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Cathedral
Folio	97/86
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Egan, Roman Catholic

12 February 1897

Frederick Haddrill
Charlotte Wright

Frederick Haddrill
Charlotte Wright
💍 1897/3782

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook

28 years
52

Auckland
Lake Takapuna

2 years
22 years

House of Mr. W. Wright

97/49

12 February 1897

Rev. J. Crump, Wesleyan Methodist

No	74
Date of Notice	12 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Haddrill	Charlotte Wright
	💍 1897/3782
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook
Age	28 years	52
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Lake Takapuna
Length of Residence	2 years	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. W. Wright
Folio	97/49
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Crump, Wesleyan Methodist

12 February 1897

John Heaton
Laura Margaret Dunwoodie

John Heaton Von Sturmer
Laura Margaret Dunwoodie
💍 1897/4056

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway clerk

22
21

Auckland
Onehunga

7 years
21 years

Presbyterian Church

97/77

12 February 1897

Rev. P. McQueen, Presbyterian

No	75
Date of Notice	12 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Heaton	Laura Margaret Dunwoodie
BDM Match (74%)	John Heaton Von Sturmer	Laura Margaret Dunwoodie
	💍 1897/4056
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway clerk
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Onehunga
Length of Residence	7 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	97/77
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. McQueen, Presbyterian

13 February 1897

John Chandler
Sarah Roberts

John Chandler
Sarah Roberts
💍 1897/3771

Widower
Spinster

Gardener

49
35

Waikar
Mt. Eden

20 years
5 years

St. Barnabas Church

97/39

13 February 1897

Rev. W. H. Johnston, Church of England

No	76
Date of Notice	13 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Chandler	Sarah Roberts
	💍 1897/3771
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	49	35
Dwelling Place	Waikar	Mt. Eden
Length of Residence	20 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Barnabas Church
Folio	97/39
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Johnston, Church of England

13 February 1897

Kenneth McLennan
Grace Blomfield

Kenneth McLennan
Grace Blomfield
💍 1897/3752

Bachelor
Spinster

Boat builder

31
34

Auckland
Auckland

31 years
34 years

House of W. J. Blomfield, Jervois Road

97/118

13 February 1897

Rev. R. F. Macnicol, Presbyterian

No	77
Date of Notice	13 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Kenneth McLennan	Grace Blomfield
	💍 1897/3752
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boat builder
Age	31	34
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	31 years	34 years
Marriage Place	House of W. J. Blomfield, Jervois Road
Folio	97/118
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. F. Macnicol, Presbyterian

15 February 1897

William John Hopkins
Milvena Mary Hill

William John Hopkins
Milvenia Mary Hill
💍 1897/4082

Bachelor
Spinster

Hand

25
23

Auckland
Beford Street

25 years
22 years

House of N. G. Hill

97/138

15 February 1897

M. G. Aldridge, Church of Christ

No	78
Date of Notice	15 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Hopkins	Milvena Mary Hill
BDM Match (97%)	William John Hopkins	Milvenia Mary Hill
	💍 1897/4082
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hand
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Beford Street
Length of Residence	25 years	22 years
Marriage Place	House of N. G. Hill
Folio	97/138
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1897
Officiating Minister	M. G. Aldridge, Church of Christ

15 February 1897

David Joseph Morris
Sarah Annie Wyatt

David Joseph Morris
Sarah Annie Wyatt
💍 1897/4020

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook

34
26

Auckland
Auckland

19 months
7 years

Registrar's Office

97/22

15 February 1897

E. A. Lyons, Registrar

No	79
Date of Notice	15 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Joseph Morris	Sarah Annie Wyatt
	💍 1897/4020
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook
Age	34	26
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	19 months	7 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	97/22
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1897
Officiating Minister	E. A. Lyons, Registrar

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 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).