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 739

District of Buller Quarter ending 30 June 1887

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
726	5 April 1887	James Boyd Bramwell Alice Emily Scott	James Boyd Gemmill Alice Emily Scott 💍 1897/1022	Bachelor Spinster	Builder Domestic	25 24	Westport Westport	25 Years	Residence of Mr Charles Scott, Westport	97/1849		5 April 1887	John Hall
727	10 April 1887	William Thilton Eliza Jane Dunn	William Shilton Eliza Jane Dunn 💍 1897/1023	Bachelor Spinster	Watchmaker Domestic	22 21	Greymouth Westport	4 Years	Residence of Mrs Howes, Samuels, Romily St, Westport	97/1850		10 April 1887	John Hall
728	22 May 1887	Richard Henry Duff Mary Elizabeth Coleman	Richard Henry Luff Mary Elizabeth Coleman 💍 1897/1005	Bachelor Spinster	Miner Domestic	21 19	Westport Seddonville	21 Years 9 Years	Residence of Mr F. Gilbertson, Westport	97/1855	George Gilbertson, Father	22 May 1887	S. Potts
729	27 May 1887	Harry Trebec Smith Ellen Duncan	Harry Trebec Smith Maud Duncan 💍 1897/1024	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic	37 23	Karamea Hokitika	12 Years 23 Years	Residence of Mr Blaine, Westport	97/1851		27 May 1887	Rev. Mr Smith & Mr John Hall
730	1 June 1887	John Reuben Williamson Queenie Jane Hill	John Reuben Williamson Queenie Jane Hill 💍 1897/1025	Bachelor Spinster	Miner Domestic	31 21	Seddonville Ngakawau	4 Years 12 Years	Anglican, Westport	97/1852		1 June 1887	John Hall
731	5 June 1887	Robert Kyle Smith Agnes Mae Kelly	Robert Kyle Smith Agnes McNally 💍 1897/1026	Bachelor Spinster	Miner Domestic	30 19	Westport Westport	12 Years	Residence of Mrs Samuels, Romily St, Westport	97/1853	Rosella Samuels, Mother	5 June 1887	John Hall
732	15 June 1887	James Alexander Boswell Alice Agnes Wright	James Alexander Boswell Alice Aynesly Wright 💍 1897/1004	Bachelor Spinster	Cashier Domestic	34 24	Spring Creek Westport	1 Year 19 Years	Residence of Charles Wright, Westport	97/1854		15 June 1887	John Hall
733	21 June 1887	Charles John Gear Mary Jane Elizabeth Burrows	Charles John Gear Mary Jane Elizabeth Burrows 💍 1897/1006	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Housemaid	23 26	Westport Westport	23 Years 18 Months	Brougham St, Westport	97/1856		21 June 1887	S. Potts

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).