Intentions to Marry, 1897 July-December

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840412, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, June 25 2025

1897 is bound in two volumes, January-June and July-December.

Page 015

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 September 1897

No	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
457	20 August 1897	John Harris Blanche Esther Ellice	John Harris Blanche Esther Ellice 💍 1897/1539	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	24 17	Hobsonville Hobsonville	20 years 17 years	House of Father of Bride, Waipaireira	97/2668	C. Ellice, Father of Bride	20 August 1897	Rev. A. Mac Lean, Presbyterian
458	21 August 1897	Sampson Whitworth Florence White	Sampson Whitworth Florence White 💍 1897/3732	Bachelor Spinster	Miner	31 36	Auckland Bombay	1 year 20 years	Epiphany Church, Newton	97/2643		21 August 1897	Rev. W. E. Lush, Church of England
459	21 August 1897	Frank Blewden Sarah Windsor	Frank Blewden Sarah Windsor 💍 1897/1830	Bachelor Spinster	Compositor	25 24	Auckland Auckland	25 years 20 years	St. Matthews Church, Auckland	97/3018		21 August 1897	Rev. L. Fity Gerald, Church of England
460	23 August 1897	Alfred Pearse Annie Gloyn	Alfred Pearce Annie Gloyn 💍 1897/2335	Bachelor Spinster	Miner	27 25	Coromandel Auckland	2 years 4 years	House of Mr. B. Grayson, Mount Eden	97/3601		23 August 1897	Rev. R. S. West, Presbyterian
461	23 August 1897	James Patrick Long Celia Gertrude Brown	James Patrick Long Cecilia Gertrude Brown 💍 1897/2377	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	25 28	Mata Mata Auckland	1 year 10 years	House of Father of Bride, Sussex Street	97/3647		23 August 1897	Rev. J. Clark, Baptists
462	23 August 1897	Albert Double Emily Ada George	Albert Double Emily Ada George 💍 1897/99	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	22 20	Auckland Auckland	22 years 2 years	Registrars Office, Auckland	97/2578	Eliza George, Mother	23 August 1897	E. H. Lyons, Registrar
463	23 August 1897	Edward Russell Ellen Slater	Edward Thomas Russell Ellen Slater 💍 1897/3730	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	38 28	Auckland Auckland	38 years 28 years	House of Bridegroom, Church Street	97/2624		23 August 1897	Rev. R. F. Macnicol, Presbyterian
464	23 August 1897	John William Katterns Mary Agnes Brummer	John William Katterns Mary Agnes Crummer 💍 1897/3735	Bachelor Spinster	Jockey	25 24	Auckland Auckland	17 years 23 years	House of Mrs. H. Goldsmith, off Wellington Street, Auckland	97/2625		23 August 1897	Rev. R. F. Macnicol, Presbyterian
465	23 August 1897	Edward Truscott Kneebone Susan Nairn McNab	Edward Truscott Kneebone Susan Nairn McNab 💍 1897/3736	Widower Spinster	Miner	32 30	Thames Auckland	26 years 26 years	House of Mother of Bride, Spring Street	97/2626		23 August 1897	Rev. R. F. Macnicol, 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 1894. More registers will be added as the project continues.

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).