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 559

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 December 1897 Registrar J Honiss

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

20 November 1897

George Comer
Messie Birch

George Comer
Jessie Birch
💍 1897/2662

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

21
23

Thames
Thames

16 years
10 years

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Thames

97/4001

20 November 1897

Edward Honiss, Registrar

No	70
Date of Notice	20 November 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Comer	Messie Birch
BDM Match (96%)	George Comer	Jessie Birch
	💍 1897/2662
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	21	23
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	16 years	10 years
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Thames
Folio	97/4001
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 November 1897
Officiating Minister	Edward Honiss, Registrar

20 November 1897

John Henry Hawkes
Amelia Annie Stephens

John Henry Hawkes
Amelia Annie Stephens
💍 1897/2514

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Dressmaker

34
30

Tapu
Tapu

23 years
8 years

The Dwelling of Samuel Stephens, Tapu

97/3800

20 November 1897

Rev. F. O'Callagan D.D., Church of England

No	71
Date of Notice	20 November 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Hawkes	Amelia Annie Stephens
	💍 1897/2514
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Dressmaker
Age	34	30
Dwelling Place	Tapu	Tapu
Length of Residence	23 years	8 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Samuel Stephens, Tapu
Folio	97/3800
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 November 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. O'Callagan D.D., Church of England

22 November 1897

Alfred Henry Morgan
Beatrice Annie Bray

Alfred Henry Morgan
Beatrice Annie Bray
💍 1897/2500

Bachelor
Spinster

Boatman
Domestic Servant

25
23

Thames
Thames

25 years
23 years

The Dwelling of Richard Thomas, Hill St, Block 27

97/3807

22 November 1897

Rev. Saml. J. Serpell, Wesleyan

No	72
Date of Notice	22 November 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Henry Morgan	Beatrice Annie Bray
	💍 1897/2500
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boatman	Domestic Servant
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	25 years	23 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Richard Thomas, Hill St, Block 27
Folio	97/3807
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 November 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. Saml. J. Serpell, Wesleyan

1 December 1897

Thomas James Bennetts
Louisa Rowe

Thomas James Bennetts
Louisa Rowe
💍 1897/2501

Bachelor
Widow

Miner
None

35
44

Thames
Thames

1 year
25 years

The Dwelling of Rebecca Jenkyn

97/3808

1 December 1897

Rev. Saml. J. Serpell, Wesleyan

No	73
Date of Notice	1 December 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas James Bennetts	Louisa Rowe
	💍 1897/2501
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Miner	None
Age	35	44
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	1 year	25 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Rebecca Jenkyn
Folio	97/3808
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 December 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. Saml. J. Serpell, Wesleyan

6 December 1897

Emilius Stream
Mary Catherine Mulligan

Emilius Stream
Mary Catherine Mulligan
💍 1897/3366

Emilius Stream
Mary Catherine Mulligan
💍 1897/3128

Bachelor
Widow

Mining Contractor
Hotel Keeper

42
44

Thames
Thames

2 years
25 years

All Saints Church, Ponsonby, Auckland

97/4929

Emilius Stream at present at Auckland

6 December 1897

Rev. Wm. Calder, Church of England

No	74
Date of Notice	6 December 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Emilius Stream	Mary Catherine Mulligan
	💍 1897/3366
	💍 1897/3128
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Mining Contractor	Hotel Keeper
Age	42	44
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	2 years	25 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Ponsonby, Auckland
Folio	97/4929
Consent	Emilius Stream at present at Auckland
Date of Certificate	6 December 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. Calder, Church of England

20 December 1897

Henry Paltridge
May Emily Catran

Henry Paltridge
Mary Emily Catrau
💍 1897/2502

Bachelor
Spinster

Mine Manager
Milliner

25
25

Thames
Thames

25 years
12 years

Wesleyan Church, Pollen St, Thames

97/3809

20 December 1897

Rev. Saml. J. Serpell, Wesleyan

No	75
Date of Notice	20 December 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Paltridge	May Emily Catran
BDM Match (94%)	Henry Paltridge	Mary Emily Catrau
	💍 1897/2502
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mine Manager	Milliner
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	25 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Pollen St, Thames
Folio	97/3809
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 December 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. Saml. J. Serpell, Wesleyan

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).