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 023

District of Auckland Quarter ending 31 March 1897 Registrar E. H. Lyons

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

113

4 March 1897

Edward Brown
Lucy Blott

Edward Brown Cuthbertson
Lucy Blott
💍 1897/4068

Bachelor
Spinster

Brass founder

36
26

Auckland
Northcote

27 years

House of W. G. Roberts

97/96

4 March 1897

Rev. G. B. Monro, Presbyterian

No	113
Date of Notice	4 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Brown	Lucy Blott
BDM Match (75%)	Edward Brown Cuthbertson	Lucy Blott
	💍 1897/4068
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Brass founder
Age	36	26
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Northcote
Length of Residence	27 years
Marriage Place	House of W. G. Roberts
Folio	97/96
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Monro, Presbyterian

114

6 March 1897

Robert Burn
Marguerite Augustine Watson

Robert Bunn Scott
Margueritte Augustine Watson
💍 1897/3758

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

21 years
21

Auckland
Ponsonby

House of Mr. Damesford

97/125

6 March 1897

Rev. R. F. Macnicol, Presbyterian

No	114
Date of Notice	6 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Burn	Marguerite Augustine Watson
BDM Match (78%)	Robert Bunn Scott	Margueritte Augustine Watson
	💍 1897/3758
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	21 years	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Ponsonby
Length of Residence
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Damesford
Folio	97/125
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. F. Macnicol, Presbyterian

115

6 March 1897

David Wilson
Mary Harriet Reynolds

David Wilson
Mary Harriet Reynolds
💍 1897/3770

Bachelor
Spinster

Gentleman

32
25

Auckland
Auckland

3 years
6 years

St. Mary's Church

97/38

6 March 1897

Rev. G. McMurray, Church of England

No	115
Date of Notice	6 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Wilson	Mary Harriet Reynolds
	💍 1897/3770
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gentleman
Age	32	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 years	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church
Folio	97/38
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. McMurray, Church of England

116

8 March 1897

Robert Thomas Williamson
Margaret Ann Newhousen

Robert Thomas Williamson
Margaret Ann Nesshausen
💍 1897/4039

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

28
34

Gisborne
Gisborne

3 years
1 year

Church of England

97/67

8 March 1897

Rev. J. Bates, Church of England

No	116
Date of Notice	8 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Thomas Williamson	Margaret Ann Newhousen
BDM Match (94%)	Robert Thomas Williamson	Margaret Ann Nesshausen
	💍 1897/4039
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	28	34
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	3 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Church of England
Folio	97/67
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Bates, Church of England

117

8 March 1897

Horace Gorell
Ada Elizabeth Nobberley

Horace Gorell
Ada Elizabeth Mobberley
💍 1897/4034

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber

25
25

Auckland
Auckland

2 years
3 weeks

House of Mr. Foreman

97/62

8 March 1897

Rev. E. Best, Wesleyan

No	117
Date of Notice	8 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Horace Gorell	Ada Elizabeth Nobberley
BDM Match (98%)	Horace Gorell	Ada Elizabeth Mobberley
	💍 1897/4034
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Foreman
Folio	97/62
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Best, Wesleyan

118

8 March 1897

William Henry Adams
Eliza Jane Holdsworth

William Henry Adams
Eliza Jane Holdsworth
💍 1897/4075

Bachelor
Spinster

Customs officer

26
29

Christchurch
Auckland

4 months
29 years

House of Mr. W. H. Holdsworth

97/81

8 March 1897

Rev. W. A. Sinclair, Wesleyan

No	118
Date of Notice	8 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Adams	Eliza Jane Holdsworth
	💍 1897/4075
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Customs officer
Age	26	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 months	29 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. W. H. Holdsworth
Folio	97/81
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Sinclair, 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 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).