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 018

District of Quarter ending

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

15 February 1897

Henry Marcus Cooper
Alice Philcox

Henry Marcus Cooper
Alice Philcox
💍 1897/4038

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

28
21

Auckland
Auckland

15 years
21

Church of England

97/66

15 February 1897

Rev. J. Bates, Church of England

No	80
Date of Notice	15 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Marcus Cooper	Alice Philcox
	💍 1897/4038
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	15 years	21
Marriage Place	Church of England
Folio	97/66
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Bates, Church of England

17 February 1897

Ernest Alfred East
Mabel East

Ernest Alfred East
Mabel East
💍 1897/1455

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

22
19

Auckland
Auckland

5 months
3 days

St. Matthew's Church

97/2519

Edward East, father

17 February 1897

Rev. T. Fitzgerald, Church of England

No	81
Date of Notice	17 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Alfred East	Mabel East
	💍 1897/1455
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	5 months	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church
Folio	97/2519
Consent	Edward East, father
Date of Certificate	17 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Fitzgerald, Church of England

17 February 1897

John James McDougall
Jeannie McRae Brown

John James Peter McDougall
Jeanie McKell Brown
💍 1897/3753

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

24
27

Aratapu
Aratapu

2 years
20

St. James Church

97/119

17 February 1897

Rev. R. F. Macnicol, Presbyterian

No	82
Date of Notice	17 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James McDougall	Jeannie McRae Brown
BDM Match (75%)	John James Peter McDougall	Jeanie McKell Brown
	💍 1897/3753
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	24	27
Dwelling Place	Aratapu	Aratapu
Length of Residence	2 years	20
Marriage Place	St. James Church
Folio	97/119
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. F. Macnicol, Presbyterian

17 February 1897

Samuel Scarborough
Mary Andrew

Samuel Scarborough
Mary Andrew
💍 1897/3776

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

28
26

Auckland
Pakuranga

25 years
22

Presbyterian Church

97/44

17 February 1897

Rev. D. J. Steele, Presbyterian

No	83
Date of Notice	17 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Scarborough	Mary Andrew
	💍 1897/3776
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Pakuranga
Length of Residence	25 years	22
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	97/44
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. J. Steele, Presbyterian

18 February 1897

Edmund Bear Ewart
Anne Gilso

Edmund Oscar Ewart
Annie Giles
💍 1897/3754

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer

30
35

Kingsland
Kingsland

2 years
3

House of the Bride

97/120

18 February 1897

Rev. R. F. Macnicol, Presbyterian

No	84
Date of Notice	18 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edmund Bear Ewart	Anne Gilso
BDM Match (78%)	Edmund Oscar Ewart	Annie Giles
	💍 1897/3754
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	30	35
Dwelling Place	Kingsland	Kingsland
Length of Residence	2 years	3
Marriage Place	House of the Bride
Folio	97/120
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. F. Macnicol, Presbyterian

18 February 1897

James Currie Doull
Sarah Firth

James Currie Derell
Sarah Firth
💍 1897/4053

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairyman

27
25

Auckland
Auckland

37 years
16

Wesleyan Church

97/58

18 February 1897

Rev. R. Dawsbury, Wesleyan Methodist

No	85
Date of Notice	18 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Currie Doull	Sarah Firth
BDM Match (92%)	James Currie Derell	Sarah Firth
	💍 1897/4053
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairyman
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	37 years	16
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church
Folio	97/58
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Dawsbury, Wesleyan Methodist

18 February 1897

Alfred Henry White
Georgina Lilian Middleton Stamlin

Alfred Henry White
Georgina Lilian Middleton Hamlin
💍 1897/4076

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

33
29

Auckland
Auckland

33 years
29

St. Matthew's Church

97/82

18 February 1897

Rev. J. Gould, Church of England

No	86
Date of Notice	18 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Henry White	Georgina Lilian Middleton Stamlin
BDM Match (97%)	Alfred Henry White	Georgina Lilian Middleton Hamlin
	💍 1897/4076
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	33	29
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	33 years	29
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church
Folio	97/82
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Gould, Church of England

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).