Intentions to Marry, 1900 January-June

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840417, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, September 12 2025

1900 is bound in two volumes, January-June and July-December.

Page 123

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 March 1900 Registrar Edward Horniss

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

6 January 1900

Charles McLiver
Jessie McKenzie

Charles McLiver
Jessie McKenzie
💍 1900/195

Bachelor
Spinster

Settler
None

38
22

Puriri
Puriri

10 years
22 years

The Dwelling of Mrs. F. McLiver, Hape Road

00/231

6 January 1900

Revd. John Mackenzie, Presbyterian

No	1
Date of Notice	6 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles McLiver	Jessie McKenzie
	💍 1900/195
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Settler	None
Age	38	22
Dwelling Place	Puriri	Puriri
Length of Residence	10 years	22 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Mrs. F. McLiver, Hape Road
Folio	00/231
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Revd. John Mackenzie, Presbyterian

8 January 1900

William Johns
Mary Rowe

William Johns
Mary Rowe
💍 1900/197

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Dressmaker

28
25

Thames
Thames

25 years
25 years

Wesleyan Church, Thames

00/234

8 January 1900

Rev. D. J. Murray, Wesleyan

No	2
Date of Notice	8 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Johns	Mary Rowe
	💍 1900/197
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Dressmaker
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	25 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Thames
Folio	00/234
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. J. Murray, Wesleyan

24 January 1900

Alfred George Nelson Durbin
Edith Ellen Durbin

Alfred George Nelson
Edith Ellen Durbin
💍 1900/215

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman
None

21
16

Hikutaia
Hikutaia

3 years
11 years

The Office of the Registrar, Thames

00/228

George Durbin, Father

24 January 1900

Edward Horniss, Registrar

No	3
Date of Notice	24 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred George Nelson Durbin	Edith Ellen Durbin
BDM Match (87%)	Alfred George Nelson	Edith Ellen Durbin
	💍 1900/215
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman	None
Age	21	16
Dwelling Place	Hikutaia	Hikutaia
Length of Residence	3 years	11 years
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar, Thames
Folio	00/228
Consent	George Durbin, Father
Date of Certificate	24 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Edward Horniss, Registrar

25 January 1900

Richard Hodge Dabb
Edith Bice

Richard Hodge Dabb
Edith Bice
💍 1900/198

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

44
22

Thames
Thames

30 years
22 years

The Dwelling of John Bice, Edward St., Block 27

00/235

25 January 1900

Rev. D. J. Murray, Wesleyan

No	4
Date of Notice	25 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Hodge Dabb	Edith Bice
	💍 1900/198
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	44	22
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	30 years	22 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of John Bice, Edward St., Block 27
Folio	00/235
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. J. Murray, Wesleyan

27 January 1900

Thomas Archibald Dickson
Margaret Edith Mc-Laren

Thomas Archibald Dickson
Margaret Edith McLaren
💍 1900/5915

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Milliner

30
29

Thames
Thames

1 day
5 years

The Dwelling of John Coone, Richmond St., Block 27

00/232

30 January 1900

Rev. John Mackenzie, Presbyterian

No	5
Date of Notice	27 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Archibald Dickson	Margaret Edith Mc-Laren
BDM Match (98%)	Thomas Archibald Dickson	Margaret Edith McLaren
	💍 1900/5915
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Milliner
Age	30	29
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	1 day	5 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of John Coone, Richmond St., Block 27
Folio	00/232
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Mackenzie, Presbyterian

6 February 1900

Thomas Riley
Elizabeth Maher

Thomas Riley
Elizabeth Maher
💍 1900/199

Bachelor
Spinster

Groom
None

27
25

Thames
Thames

3 years
25 years

St. Francis Church, Thames

00/236

6 February 1900

Rev. W. H. Mahoney, Roman Catholic

No	6
Date of Notice	6 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Riley	Elizabeth Maher
	💍 1900/199
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Groom	None
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 years	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Francis Church, Thames
Folio	00/236
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Mahoney, 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 1903. 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).