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 578

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 June 1887 Registrar E. 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

28 April 1897

Joseph Edward Leach
Margaret Akers

Joseph Edward Leach
Margaret Akers
💍 1897/983

Bachelor
Spinster

Letter
School Teacher

26
28

Thames
Thames

4 days
28 years

The Dwelling of Mrs Akers, Pahan St

97/1378

28 April 1897

Rev. J. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	30
Date of Notice	28 April 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Edward Leach	Margaret Akers
	💍 1897/983
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Letter	School Teacher
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	4 days	28 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Mrs Akers, Pahan St
Folio	97/1378
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 April 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'Callaghan, Church of England

1 May 1897

George Leatham
Ada Jane Taylor

George Leatham
Ada Jane Taylor
💍 1897/984

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Servant

25
26

Thames
Thames

25 years
24 years

The Dwelling of Mr Cole, Owen St

97/1379

1 May 1897

Rev. J. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	31
Date of Notice	1 May 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Leatham	Ada Jane Taylor
	💍 1897/984
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Servant
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	25 years	24 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Mr Cole, Owen St
Folio	97/1379
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 May 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'Callaghan, Church of England

8 May 1897

Henry George Woods
Amy Scott

Henry George Woods
Amy Scott
💍 1897/1001

Henry George Keith
Agnes Emma Scott
💍 1897/1870

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner
Domestic Servant

31
21

Thames
Thames

9 months
21 years

The Office of the Registrar, Thames

97/1373

8 May 1897

Edward Honiss, Registrar

No	32
Date of Notice	8 May 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry George Woods	Amy Scott
	💍 1897/1001
BDM Match (61%)	Henry George Keith	Agnes Emma Scott
	💍 1897/1870
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner	Domestic Servant
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	9 months	21 years
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar, Thames
Folio	97/1373
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 May 1897
Officiating Minister	Edward Honiss, Registrar

11 May 1897

William Oats
Alice Sophia Hale

William Oats
Alice Sophia Hale
💍 1897/426

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Dress Maker

21
21

Thames
Thames

3 days
21 years

Wesleyan Church, Pollen St

97/1391

11 May 1897

Rev. Saml. J. Serpell, Wesleyan

No	33
Date of Notice	11 May 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Oats	Alice Sophia Hale
	💍 1897/426
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Dress Maker
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	21 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Pollen St
Folio	97/1391
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 May 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. Saml. J. Serpell, Wesleyan

12 May 1897

Henry Hall Thompson
Annie Firrice Bowden

Henry Hall Thompson
Annie Sirrice Bowden
💍 1897/990

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Home

25
20

Thames
Thames

25 years
10 years

The Dwelling of Thos. Bowden, Owen St

97/1385

Thomas Bowden, Father

12 May 1897

Edmund H. Taylor, Church of Christ

No	34
Date of Notice	12 May 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Hall Thompson	Annie Firrice Bowden
BDM Match (98%)	Henry Hall Thompson	Annie Sirrice Bowden
	💍 1897/990
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Home
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	25 years	10 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Thos. Bowden, Owen St
Folio	97/1385
Consent	Thomas Bowden, Father
Date of Certificate	12 May 1897
Officiating Minister	Edmund H. Taylor, Church of Christ

19 May 1897

Dennis Joseph Francis Trainer
Mary Jane McGuirk

Denis Joseph Francis Trainer
Mary Jane McGurk
💍 1897/988

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Milliner

22
21

Thames
Thames

4 years
2 weeks

St. Francis Church, Willoughby St

97/1384

19 May 1897

Rev. P. O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

No	35
Date of Notice	19 May 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Dennis Joseph Francis Trainer	Mary Jane McGuirk
BDM Match (95%)	Denis Joseph Francis Trainer	Mary Jane McGurk
	💍 1897/988
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Milliner
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	4 years	2 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Francis Church, Willoughby St
Folio	97/1384
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 May 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

20 May 1897

Henry Franklin Shepherd
Isabella Hall Patterson

Henry Franklin Shepherd
Isabella Hall Patterson
💍 1897/991

Bachelor
Spinster

Mine Manager
Home

28
31

Thames
Thames

3 days
26 years

The Dwelling of George J. Clark, Tararu Road

97/1386

20 May 1897

Rev. John Mackenzie, Presbyterian

No	36
Date of Notice	20 May 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Franklin Shepherd	Isabella Hall Patterson
	💍 1897/991
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mine Manager	Home
Age	28	31
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	26 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of George J. Clark, Tararu Road
Folio	97/1386
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 May 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Mackenzie, Presbyterian

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).