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 521

District of Drury Quarter ending 30 June 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
10	2 April 1897	John Healey Horton May Catherine Flynn	John Caley Horton May Catherine Flynn 💍 1897/4825	Bachelor Spinster	Bushman	23 20	Pokeno Pokeno	2 years 12 months	Registrar's Office Drury	97/1294	Francis Flynn, Father	2 April 1897	Sam. Walker, Registrar
11	3 April 1897	John McChally Isabel Susan Fraser	John McNally Isabel Susan Frater 💍 1897/4827	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	31 28	Pukekohe Pukekohe	25 years 27 years	Presbyterian Church Pukekohe	97/1296		3 April 1897	Rev. William F. Findlay
12	6 April 1897	George Alfred Haydon Martha Anne Bell	George Alfred Haydon Martha Ann Bell 💍 1897/3617	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer	28 22	Brookby Brookby	3 days 15 years	Church of England Brookby	97/1419		6 April 1897	Rev. R. G. Boler
13	7 April 1897	Alexander Stevenson Agnes Ellen Pollock	Alexander Stevenson Agnes Ellen Pollock 💍 1897/4828	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	37 27	Pukekohe Pukekohe	8 years 20 years	House of Thomas Macdonald, Pollock	97/1297		7 April 1897	Rev. W. F. Findlay
14	10 April 1897	John Edward Landon Elizabeth Partridge	John Edward Landon Harriet Elizabeth Partridge 💍 1897/4809	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	26 20	Bombay Paparata	15 years 16 years	House of William Partridge, Paparata	97/1301	William Partridge, Father	10 April 1897	Rev. F. B. Oldham
15	14 April 1897	Alexander Watson Mary Lena Longht	Alexander Watson Mary Lena Wright 💍 1897/4814	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	29 25	Drury Maketu	12 months 18 years	House of Rev. J. McMillan	97/1306		14 April 1897	Rev. J. McMillan
16	20 April 1897	Robert James Douglas Elizabeth Shaw	Robert James Douglas Jackson Fowler Elizabeth Shaw 💍 1897/4815 James Lewis Elizabeth Shaw 💍 1897/1035	Bachelor Spinster	Miner	23 18	Maketu Pukekohe	3 days 8 years	Roman Catholic Chapel, Maketu	97/1307	William Shaw, Father	20 April 1897	Rev. J. McMillan
17	27 April 1897	Herbert Stanley Browne Margaret Wright	Herbert Stanley Crowe Margaret Wright 💍 1897/4810 George Dobson Margaret Wright 💍 1897/1391	Bachelor Spinster	Baker	25 22	Pokeno Valley Pokeno Valley	16 years 16 years	House of Robert Longht, Pokeno	97/1302		27 April 1897	Rev. F. B. Oldham
18	15 May 1897	Peter Graham Bella McRae	Peter Graham Bella McKee 💍 1897/4816	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	26 24	Clevedon Clevedon	12 years 22 years	House of Robert McRae	97/1308		15 May 1897	Rev. Thomas Horne
19	3 June 1897	Ebenezer Smith Jessie Isabella Allison	Ebenezer Smith Jessie Isabella Allison 💍 1897/4811	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	29 28	Bombay Bombay	24 years 20 years	House of David Allison	97/1303		3 June 1897	Rev. F. B. Oldham
20	7 June 1897	Robert Carswell Morrison June Jane Harrison	Robert Carswell Morrison Jane Harrison Young 💍 1897/4829	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	41 27	Papakura Papakura	3 days 22 years	House of John B. Young	97/1298		7 June 1897	Rev. W. F. Findlay

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 1898. More registers will be added when the Archives NZ Wellington reading room re-opens in September 2025.

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).