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 441

District of Tokomairiro 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
776	7 July 1897	James Smith Annie Garrique	James Smith Annie Gardyne 💍 1897/2310 James Smith Alice Lillian Mechant 💍 1897/4972	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Homeduties	32 36	Milton Milton	3 days 17 days	Residence of Brides father Akatore	97/3566		7 July 1897	Rev J Chisholm
777	17 July 1897	John Davie Agnes Jane Lister	John Davie Agnes Jane Lister 💍 1897/2315	Bachelor Spinster	Miller	40 27	Milton Milton	1 year 5 years	Residence of Mrs Janet Lister	97/3567		17 July 1897	Rev Geo Hounsell
778	17 July 1897	Samuel Billoff Fawor Jane Hyslop	Samuel Billopp Lawrence Jane Hyslop 💍 1897/2344	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Home duties	28 20	Milton Milton	1 year 20 years	Milton	97/3589	Robert Hyslop, father	17 July 1897	Rev J Chisholm
779	24 July 1897	Henry Clark Tullock Ann Wain	Henry Clark Tulloch Ann Wain 💍 1897/2316	Bachelor Spinster	Miner Home duties	30 18	Glenore Glenore	30 years 18 years	Glenore	97/3568	Mary Ann Wain, Mother	24 July 1897	Rev G.W. Christian
780	28 July 1897	Roland Henry Wood Jane McLeod	Rowland Henry Wood Jane McLeod 💍 1897/2345	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic duties	20 22	Milton Milton	6 days 22 years	Milton	97/3590	William McLeod, father	28 July 1897	Rev J Chisholm
781	24 August 1897	William Harries Mary Reed Murphy	William Hamilton Mary Seed Murphy 💍 1897/3521	Bachelor Spinster	Tile maker	22 21	Milton Milton	Life Life	Salvation Army Barracks	97/3569		24 August 1897	Staff Capt Wm Bennett (S.A.)
782	4 September 1897	Gordon Hugh Joseph Catherine Margareta Joseph	Gordon Hughan Catherina Marguereta Joseph 💍 1897/2317	Widower Spinster	Blacksmith Home duties	33 22	Taieri Beach Taieri Beach	33 years 22 years	Taieri Beach	97/3570		4 September 1897	Rev Jas Somerville
783	21 September 1897	William Andrew Murray Mary Jane Pitchen	William Andrew Murray Mary Jane Hitchon 💍 1897/2318	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Dressmaker	23 28	Milton Milton	3 days 28 years	Adams Flat	97/3571		21 September 1897	Rev Geo Hounsell

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).