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 101

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 March 1897 Registrar Edward Honiss

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

6 March 1897

Robert James Kelly
Mary Hawkes

Robert James Kelly
Mary Hawkes
💍 1897/4104

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

26
26

Thames
Tapu Thames

6 years
26 years

The Dwelling of R. M. Hawkes, Tapu

97/187

6 March 1897

Rev. J. O'Callaghan D.D., Church of England

No	19
Date of Notice	6 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert James Kelly	Mary Hawkes
	💍 1897/4104
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Thames	Tapu Thames
Length of Residence	6 years	26 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of R. M. Hawkes, Tapu
Folio	97/187
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'Callaghan D.D., Church of England

15 March 1897

Daniel Davy
Essie Leatham

Daniel Davy
Essie Leatham
💍 1897/4105

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Home

21
19

Thames
Thames

21 years
19 years

The Dwelling of Daniel Davy, Terrace St, Block 27

97/188

Joseph Leatham, Father

15 March 1897

Rev. J. O'Callaghan D.D., Church of England

No	20
Date of Notice	15 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Davy	Essie Leatham
	💍 1897/4105
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Home
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	21 years	19 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Daniel Davy, Terrace St, Block 27
Folio	97/188
Consent	Joseph Leatham, Father
Date of Certificate	15 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'Callaghan D.D., Church of England

19 March 1897

Frederic William Bennett
Margaret Jane Lanning

Frederic William Bennett
Margaret Jane Lanning
💍 1897/4114

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Servant

23
22

Puriri, Thames
Puriri, Thames

23 years
22 years

The Dwelling of James Lanning, Pararau

97/179

19 March 1897

Rev. Samuel J. Serpell, Wesleyan

No	21
Date of Notice	19 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederic William Bennett	Margaret Jane Lanning
	💍 1897/4114
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Servant
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Puriri, Thames	Puriri, Thames
Length of Residence	23 years	22 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of James Lanning, Pararau
Folio	97/179
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. Samuel J. Serpell, Wesleyan

24 March 1897

George McDermott
Mary Maud Cottee

George McDermott
Mary Maud Cottee
💍 1897/4106

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Dress Maker

24
20

Thames
Thames

24 years
20 years

The Dwelling of Daniel Cottee, Augustus St, Block 27

97/189

Daniel Cottee, Father

27 March 1897

Rev. J. O'Callaghan D.D., Church of England

No	22
Date of Notice	24 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George McDermott	Mary Maud Cottee
	💍 1897/4106
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Dress Maker
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	24 years	20 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Daniel Cottee, Augustus St, Block 27
Folio	97/189
Consent	Daniel Cottee, Father
Date of Certificate	27 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'Callaghan D.D., Church of England

30 March 1897

Albert Edward Poulgrain
Esther Emma Davis

Albert Edward Poulgrain
Esther Emma Davis
💍 1897/431

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Servant

25
24

Thames
Thames

25 years
24 years

Wesleyan Parsonage, Hape Road

97/1392

2 April 1897

Rev. Samuel J. Serpell, Wesleyan

No	23
Date of Notice	30 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Poulgrain	Esther Emma Davis
	💍 1897/431
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Servant
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	25 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Parsonage, Hape Road
Folio	97/1392
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. Samuel J. Serpell, 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).