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 105

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 September 1897 Registrar Edward Homes

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 August 1897

John Brown
Louisa Bayter

John Brown
Louisa Baxter
💍 1897/1656

John Brown
Alice Lansley
💍 1897/4422

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Servant

21
21

Thames
Thames

3 days
5 months

The Dwelling of Charles Green

97/2804

See corresp Dec 1897

30 August 1897

Rev. L. G. Serpell, Wesleyan

No	58
Date of Notice	25 August 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Brown	Louisa Bayter
BDM Match (96%)	John Brown	Louisa Baxter
	💍 1897/1656
BDM Match (62%)	John Brown	Alice Lansley
	💍 1897/4422
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Servant
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	5 months
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Charles Green
Folio	97/2804
Consent	See corresp Dec 1897
Date of Certificate	30 August 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. G. Serpell, Wesleyan

26 August 1897

Fred Gardiner
Maggie Kerr

Fred Gardiner
Maggie Kerr
💍 1897/1644

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

26
23

Thames
Thames

18 months
23 years

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages

97/2792

26 August 1897

Edward Homes, Registrar

No	59
Date of Notice	26 August 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Fred Gardiner	Maggie Kerr
	💍 1897/1644
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	18 months	23 years
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	97/2792
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 August 1897
Officiating Minister	Edward Homes, Registrar

3 September 1897

George Joseph Riley
Mary Ann Cunliffe

George Joseph Riley
Mary Ann Cunliffe
💍 1897/1657

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
None

17
17

Thames
Thames

17 years
15 months

The Dwelling of Jas. Mc Minn, Landes St.

97/2805

William Cunliffe, Father; Jacob Riley, Father

3 September 1897

Rev. L. J. Serpell, Wesleyan

No	60
Date of Notice	3 September 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Joseph Riley	Mary Ann Cunliffe
	💍 1897/1657
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	None
Age	17	17
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	17 years	15 months
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Jas. Mc Minn, Landes St.
Folio	97/2805
Consent	William Cunliffe, Father; Jacob Riley, Father
Date of Certificate	3 September 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. J. Serpell, Wesleyan

6 September 1897

Alexander Kerr McDonald
Emily Mary Skelton

Alexander Kerr McDonald
Emily Mary Skellon
💍 1897/1645

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner
Laundress

31
21

Thames
Thames

29 years
3 days

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages

97/2793

6 September 1897

Edward Homes, Registrar

No	61
Date of Notice	6 September 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Kerr McDonald	Emily Mary Skelton
BDM Match (97%)	Alexander Kerr McDonald	Emily Mary Skellon
	💍 1897/1645
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner	Laundress
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	29 years	3 days
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	97/2793
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 September 1897
Officiating Minister	Edward Homes, Registrar

8 September 1897

Bertram Von Rotter
Margaret McLachlan

Bertram von Rotter
Margaret McLachlan
💍 1897/1676

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic Servant

23
17

Thames
Thames

14 years
17 years

The Dwelling of John Spraggon, Pollen St.

97/2800

Alexander McLachlan, Father

8 September 1897

Rev. L. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	62
Date of Notice	8 September 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bertram Von Rotter	Margaret McLachlan
BDM Match (97%)	Bertram von Rotter	Margaret McLachlan
	💍 1897/1676
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic Servant
Age	23	17
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	14 years	17 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of John Spraggon, Pollen St.
Folio	97/2800
Consent	Alexander McLachlan, Father
Date of Certificate	8 September 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. O'Callaghan, Church of England

27 September 1897

John Peter Vocasivich
Annie McKinnon

John Peter Pocasivich
Anne McKinnon
💍 1897/1665

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

23
21

Thames
Thames

3 days
1 week

St. Francis Church, Willoughby St.

97/2795

27 September 1897

Rev. Patrick O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

No	63
Date of Notice	27 September 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Peter Vocasivich	Annie McKinnon
BDM Match (94%)	John Peter Pocasivich	Anne McKinnon
	💍 1897/1665
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	1 week
Marriage Place	St. Francis Church, Willoughby St.
Folio	97/2795
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 September 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. Patrick O'Reilly, Roman Catholic

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 1908. 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).