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 104

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 September 1897 Registrar S. 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

2 August 1897

William Featherstone Smith
Margaret Bardesser

William Featherstone Smith
Margaret Brodesser
💍 1897/1650

Bachelor
Spinster

Sailor
Dressmaker

30
17

Thames
Thames

19 years
6 weeks

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages

97/2788

Isabella Bardesser, Mother

2 August 1897

Edward Honiss, Registrar

No	52
Date of Notice	2 August 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Featherstone Smith	Margaret Bardesser
BDM Match (94%)	William Featherstone Smith	Margaret Brodesser
	💍 1897/1650
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sailor	Dressmaker
Age	30	17
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	19 years	6 weeks
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	97/2788
Consent	Isabella Bardesser, Mother
Date of Certificate	2 August 1897
Officiating Minister	Edward Honiss, Registrar

9 August 1897

Henry Ernest Minns
Annie Amelia Sorrsling

Henry Ernest Minns
Annie Amelia Snowling
💍 1897/1658

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Housekeeper

24
26

Thames
Thames

3 days
26 years

The Dwelling of Thos Manning, Baillie St

97/2806

9 August 1897

Rev. J. J. Nall, Brotherhood Church

No	53
Date of Notice	9 August 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Ernest Minns	Annie Amelia Sorrsling
BDM Match (91%)	Henry Ernest Minns	Annie Amelia Snowling
	💍 1897/1658
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Housekeeper
Age	24	26
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	26 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Thos Manning, Baillie St
Folio	97/2806
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 August 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Nall, Brotherhood Church

14 August 1897

Archibald Ambrose
Emily Louisa Jacobi

Archibald Ambrose
Emily Louisa Jacobi
💍 1897/1651

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer
None

27
23

Thames
Thames

1 year
11 months

The Office of the Registrar of Marriage

97/2789

14 August 1897

Edward Honiss, Registrar

No	54
Date of Notice	14 August 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Ambrose	Emily Louisa Jacobi
	💍 1897/1651
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer	None
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	1 year	11 months
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriage
Folio	97/2789
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 August 1897
Officiating Minister	Edward Honiss, Registrar

20 August 1897

James McHerras
Susan Mary Gilberd

James McKerras
Susan Mary Gilberd
💍 1897/1655

Bachelor
Spinster

None
None

64
39

Thames
Thames

3 days
12 years

The Dwelling of Jas A Miller, Purawai

97/2803

20 August 1897

Rev. Saml J. Serpell, Wesleyan

No	55
Date of Notice	20 August 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James McHerras	Susan Mary Gilberd
BDM Match (96%)	James McKerras	Susan Mary Gilberd
	💍 1897/1655
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	None	None
Age	64	39
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	12 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Jas A Miller, Purawai
Folio	97/2803
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 August 1897
Officiating Minister	Rev. Saml J. Serpell, Wesleyan

23 August 1897

James Charles Keoghan
Clara Ripley

James Charles Keoghan
Clara Ripley
💍 1897/1652

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Servant

32
26

Thames
Thames

1 year
8 months

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages

97/2790

23 August 1897

Edward Honiss, Registrar

No	56
Date of Notice	23 August 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Charles Keoghan	Clara Ripley
	💍 1897/1652
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Servant
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	1 year	8 months
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	97/2790
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 August 1897
Officiating Minister	Edward Honiss, Registrar

23 August 1897

Alfred Henry Dukeron
Edith Agnes Caroline Trott

Alfred Henry Dukeson
Edith Agnes Caroline Nott
💍 1897/1653

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

21
23

Thames
Thames

3 days
3 days

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages

97/2791

23 August 1897

Edward Honiss, Registrar

No	57
Date of Notice	23 August 1897
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Henry Dukeron	Edith Agnes Caroline Trott
BDM Match (94%)	Alfred Henry Dukeson	Edith Agnes Caroline Nott
	💍 1897/1653
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	21	23
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	97/2791
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 August 1897
Officiating Minister	Edward Honiss, Registrar

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).