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 012

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

25 January 1897

Walter Feek
Cassie French

Walter Feek
Cassie French
💍 1897/4366

Bachelor
Spinster

Barman

24
23

Auckland
Newton

22 years

St Benedicts Church

97/410

25 January 1897

Rev. M. Brodie, Roman Catholic

No	43
Date of Notice	25 January 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Feek	Cassie French
	💍 1897/4366
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barman
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Newton
Length of Residence	22 years
Marriage Place	St Benedicts Church
Folio	97/410
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Brodie, Roman Catholic

26 January 1897

Thomas George Mynott
Veronica Stephenson

Thomas George Mynott
Veronica Stephenson
💍 1897/4079

Bachelor
Spinster

Watchmaker

27
22

Auckland
Auckland

9 years
10 years

House of M. Stephenson, Beresford Street

97/85

26 January 1897

Rev. T. Mulvihill, Roman Catholic

No	44
Date of Notice	26 January 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas George Mynott	Veronica Stephenson
	💍 1897/4079
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Watchmaker
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	9 years	10 years
Marriage Place	House of M. Stephenson, Beresford Street
Folio	97/85
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Mulvihill, Roman Catholic

28 January 1897

Alfred Ernest Phelan
Eva Jacobs

Alfred Ernest Phelan
Eva Jacobs
💍 1897/4012

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

21
23

Wairoa North
Wairoa North

14 years
15 months

Registrar's Office, Auckland

97/14

28 January 1897

J. Thompson Jr, Dep. Reg.

No	45
Date of Notice	28 January 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Ernest Phelan	Eva Jacobs
	💍 1897/4012
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	21	23
Dwelling Place	Wairoa North	Wairoa North
Length of Residence	14 years	15 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	97/14
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1897
Officiating Minister	J. Thompson Jr, Dep. Reg.

30 January 1897

John Frederick Hawkey
Charlotte Woolley

John Frederick Hawkey
Helena Charlotte Woolley
💍 1897/4036

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

31
22

Devonport
Devonport

2 years
8 years

House of Mr. J. Woolley, Devonport

97/64

30 January 1897

Rev. J. Bates, Church of England

No	46
Date of Notice	30 January 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Frederick Hawkey	Charlotte Woolley
BDM Match (85%)	John Frederick Hawkey	Helena Charlotte Woolley
	💍 1897/4036
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Devonport	Devonport
Length of Residence	2 years	8 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. J. Woolley, Devonport
Folio	97/64
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Bates, Church of England

1 February 1897

William Espie Cunningham
Catherine Cunningham

William Espie
Catherine Cunningham
💍 1897/4072

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

34
23

Coromandel
Coromandel

12 months
12 months

St. Peter's Church, Ponsonby

97/100

1 February 1897

Rev. R. Sommerville, Presbyterian

No	47
Date of Notice	1 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Espie Cunningham	Catherine Cunningham
BDM Match (77%)	William Espie	Catherine Cunningham
	💍 1897/4072
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	34	23
Dwelling Place	Coromandel	Coromandel
Length of Residence	12 months	12 months
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Ponsonby
Folio	97/100
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Sommerville, Presbyterian

1 February 1897

William Thomas
Ada Mary Penhaligon

William Thomas
Ada Mary Penhaligon
💍 1897/4013

Bachelor
Spinster

Cab Driver

24
24

Auckland
Auckland

7 months
24 years

Registrar's Office, Auckland

97/15

1 February 1897

T. Thompson Jr, Dep. Reg.

No	48
Date of Notice	1 February 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Thomas	Ada Mary Penhaligon
	💍 1897/4013
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cab Driver
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	7 months	24 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Auckland
Folio	97/15
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1897
Officiating Minister	T. Thompson Jr, Dep. Reg.

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).