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 866

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 June 1897 Registrar W. J. Hall

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

149

8 May 1897

David Black Gardiner
Margaret Evelyn May Armstrong

David Black Gardiner
Margaret Evelyn May Armstrong
💍 1897/1372

Bachelor
Spinster

Student

21
19

Dunedin
Dunedin

16 years
13 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

97/2356

Alexander Armstrong, father of minor

8 May 1897

W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

No	149
Date of Notice	8 May 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Black Gardiner	Margaret Evelyn May Armstrong
	💍 1897/1372
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Student
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	16 years	13 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	97/2356
Consent	Alexander Armstrong, father of minor
Date of Certificate	8 May 1897
Officiating Minister	W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

150

10 May 1897

Thomas Burgess
Ethel Burgess

Thomas Burgess
Ethel Burgess
💍 1897/1373

Bachelor
Spinster

Fellmonger

20
19

Burnside
Burnside

5 years
19 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

97/2357

Thomas Burgess, father of the minor and Martha Burgess, Guardian of minor

10 May 1897

W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

No	150
Date of Notice	10 May 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Burgess	Ethel Burgess
	💍 1897/1373
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fellmonger
Age	20	19
Dwelling Place	Burnside	Burnside
Length of Residence	5 years	19 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	97/2357
Consent	Thomas Burgess, father of the minor and Martha Burgess, Guardian of minor
Date of Certificate	10 May 1897
Officiating Minister	W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

151

11 May 1897

Robert Edward Moore
Mary Agnes Houlihan

Robert Edward Moore
Mary Agnes Houlihan
💍 1897/409

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

28
26

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
8 days

In St. Joseph's Cathedral, Dunedin

97/2405

11 May 1897

Revd. P. Murphy, Roman Catholic Priest

No	151
Date of Notice	11 May 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Edward Moore	Mary Agnes Houlihan
	💍 1897/409
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	8 days
Marriage Place	In St. Joseph's Cathedral, Dunedin
Folio	97/2405
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 May 1897
Officiating Minister	Revd. P. Murphy, Roman Catholic Priest

152

11 May 1897

John Alexander McMillan
Teresa Emily Jepson

John Alexander McMillan
Teresa Emily Jepson
💍 1897/3677

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

30
23

Dunedin
Dunedin

20 years
23 years

In the Salvation Army Barracks, Dunedin

97/2439

11 May 1897

Staff Captain W. Bennett, Salvation Army

No	152
Date of Notice	11 May 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Alexander McMillan	Teresa Emily Jepson
	💍 1897/3677
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	20 years	23 years
Marriage Place	In the Salvation Army Barracks, Dunedin
Folio	97/2439
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 May 1897
Officiating Minister	Staff Captain W. Bennett, Salvation Army

153

12 May 1897

George Christian Eberhardt
Janet Mitchell

George Christian Eberhardt
Janet Mitchell
💍 1897/1360

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

22
23

Dunedin
Dunedin

21 years
23 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

97/2358

12 May 1897

W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

No	153
Date of Notice	12 May 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Christian Eberhardt	Janet Mitchell
	💍 1897/1360
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	21 years	23 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	97/2358
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 May 1897
Officiating Minister	W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

154

13 May 1897

Charles Henry Iles
Bertha Lezard

Charles Henry Iles
Bertha Lezard
💍 1897/1361

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Station Master

29
25

Pura Kanui
Dunedin

3 years
6 months

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Port Chalmers

97/2359

13 May 1897

W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

No	154
Date of Notice	13 May 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Iles	Bertha Lezard
	💍 1897/1361
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Station Master
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Pura Kanui	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 years	6 months
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Port Chalmers
Folio	97/2359
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 May 1897
Officiating Minister	W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

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).