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 387

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 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

9 March 1897

Thomas Philip Simmons
Isabella McLachlan Johnston

Thomas Philip Simmons
Isabella McLachlan Johnston
💍 1897/4470

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

28
21

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 weeks
4 months

In the house of Henry Burrow, Great King Street, Dunedin

97/940

9 March 1897

Revd A. North, Baptist Minister

No	60
Date of Notice	9 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Philip Simmons	Isabella McLachlan Johnston
	💍 1897/4470
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 weeks	4 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Henry Burrow, Great King Street, Dunedin
Folio	97/940
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Revd A. North, Baptist Minister

9 March 1897

Colin Miller Keenan
Annie Keenan

Colin Miller
Annie Keenan
💍 1897/4734

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

33
26

Burnside
Burnside

10 years
14 years

In the house of Henry Lawrence Keenan, Burnside

97/961

9 March 1897

Revd Dr. Watt, Presbyterian Minister

No	61
Date of Notice	9 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Colin Miller Keenan	Annie Keenan
BDM Match (82%)	Colin Miller	Annie Keenan
	💍 1897/4734
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	33	26
Dwelling Place	Burnside	Burnside
Length of Residence	10 years	14 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Henry Lawrence Keenan, Burnside
Folio	97/961
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Revd Dr. Watt, Presbyterian Minister

9 March 1897

William Henry Hislop
Elizabeth Mouat

William Henry Hislop
Elizabeth Mouat
💍 1897/941

Bachelor
Spinster

Draughtsman

25
20

North East Valley
Dunedin

25 years
10 days

In the house of Revd William Laycock, Dunedin

97/1011

Maria Mouat, mother of minor

9 March 1897

Revd W. Laycock, Methodist Minister

No	62
Date of Notice	9 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Hislop	Elizabeth Mouat
	💍 1897/941
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draughtsman
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	North East Valley	Dunedin
Length of Residence	25 years	10 days
Marriage Place	In the house of Revd William Laycock, Dunedin
Folio	97/1011
Consent	Maria Mouat, mother of minor
Date of Certificate	9 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Revd W. Laycock, Methodist Minister

11 March 1897

Daniel Joseph McGuire
Helen Douglas Scoullar

Daniel Joseph McGuire
Helen Douglas Scoullar
💍 1897/4522

Bachelor
Spinster

Flax Cutter

22
20

Maori Hill
Maori Hill

6 days
4 years

In the house of Revd Harold E. Bellhouse, Dunedin

97/1008

James Douglas Scoullar, father of minor

11 March 1897

Revd H. E. Bellhouse, Wesleyan Minister

No	63
Date of Notice	11 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Joseph McGuire	Helen Douglas Scoullar
	💍 1897/4522
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Flax Cutter
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Maori Hill	Maori Hill
Length of Residence	6 days	4 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Revd Harold E. Bellhouse, Dunedin
Folio	97/1008
Consent	James Douglas Scoullar, father of minor
Date of Certificate	11 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Revd H. E. Bellhouse, Wesleyan Minister

12 March 1897

Richard Ryan Sutherland
Kathleen Sutherland

Richard Ryan
Kathleen Sutherland
💍 1897/4489

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25
22

Maori Kaik
Maori Kaik

25 years
22 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

97/941

12 March 1897

W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

No	64
Date of Notice	12 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Ryan Sutherland	Kathleen Sutherland
BDM Match (76%)	Richard Ryan	Kathleen Sutherland
	💍 1897/4489
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Maori Kaik	Maori Kaik
Length of Residence	25 years	22 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	97/941
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 March 1897
Officiating Minister	W. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

13 March 1897

Leslie James Moss
Elizabeth Jane North

Leslie James Moss
Elizabeth Jane North
💍 1897/4735

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

32
32

Dunedin
North East Valley

3 days
7 months

In the Congregational Church, Moray Place, Dunedin

97/983

13 March 1897

Revd W. Saunders, Congregational Minister

No	65
Date of Notice	13 March 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie James Moss	Elizabeth Jane North
	💍 1897/4735
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	32	32
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	North East Valley
Length of Residence	3 days	7 months
Marriage Place	In the Congregational Church, Moray Place, Dunedin
Folio	97/983
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1897
Officiating Minister	Revd W. Saunders, Congregational Minister

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).