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 123

District of Hawera 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	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
254	3 July 1897	James Young Ellen Gertrude Raven	James Young Ellen Gertrude Raven 💍 1897/1662	Bachelor Spinster	Settler Dressmaker	51 31	Hawera Hawera	3 years 5 years	Residence of Mr. William Cooksey, Disraeli Street, Hawera	97/2810	3 July 1897	Thomas McDonald
255	17 July 1897	Benjamin Ramsbottom Margaret Banks Taylor	Benjamin Ramsbottom Margaret Danks Taylor 💍 1897/1668	Bachelor Spinster	Millhand Dressmaker	23 22	Hawera Hawera	2 years 2 years	Residence of the Brides mother, Regan Street, Hawera	97/2815	17 July 1897	C. H. Laws
256	20 July 1897	William Brown Mary Ellen Agnes O'Hallahan	William Brown Mary Ellen Agnes O'Hallahan 💍 1897/1664	Bachelor Spinster	Servant Servant	29 24	Hawera Hawera	4 days 4 days	Registrars Office, Hawera	97/2812	20 July 1897	J. L. Martin
257	27 July 1897	Andrew Peter Robertson Beatrice May Webby	Andrew Peter Robertson Beatrice May Webby 💍 1897/1669	Bachelor Spinster	Farm hand Domestic	23 21	Lake Road Hawera Lake Road Hawera	2 weeks 2 weeks	Residence of George Castles, Lake Road, Hawera	97/2816	27 July 1897	C. H. Laws
258	19 August 1897	Daniel Murphy Jennie Stevenson	Daniel Murphy Jennie Stevenson 💍 1897/1666	Divorced Spinster	Farmer	28 21	Manaia Pihama	3 days 2 1/2 years	Registrars Office, Hawera	97/2813	19 August 1897	J. A. Steavens, Hawera
259	27 August 1897	Percival Henry Pease Elizabeth Smith	Percival Henry Pease Elizabeth Smith 💍 1897/1660 John Henry Tyre Nickle Elizabeth Smith 💍 1897/974 Thomas Vincent Elizabeth Smith 💍 1897/729	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	40 27	Betham Hawera	12 years 14 days	St. Mary's Church, Hawera	97/2808	27 August 1897	Rev. A. Anson, Hawera
260	30 August 1897	George Edward Piper Christina Wallam McGregor	George Edward Piper Christine Wallace MacGregor 💍 1897/2180	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	28 22	Merewere Hawera	3 days 7 years	Presbyterian Church, Hawera	97/3399	30 August 1897	Rev. J. Ross, Durakina
261	14 September 1897	Thomas Tripney Miller Eliza Jane Duthie	Thomas Tripeney Miller Eliza Jane Duthie 💍 1897/1934	Widower Spinster	Banker	39 32	Hawera Wellington	2 years 15 years	Residence of John Duthie, Wellington	97/3114	14 September 1897	Rev. J. Paterson, Wellington
262	18 September 1897	James Houston Frances Eliza Rupsaght	James Houston Frances Eliza Lysaght 💍 1897/1661	Bachelor Spinster	Engineer	35 44	Hawera Hawera	5 years 14 years	Church of England, Hawera	97/2809	18 September 1897	Rev. A. Anson, Hawera
263	22 September 1897	Theodore Fitzsimons Helen Todd	Theodore Fitzsimons Helen Todd 💍 1897/1663	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	23 34	Hawera Hawera	22 years 3 years	Presbyterian Church, Hawera	97/2811	22 September 1897	Rev. Thos. McDonald, Hawera

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).