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 223

District of Masterton Quarter ending 31 March 1900 Registrar M. M. Turnbull

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

1 January 1900

Henry Holmes
Sydney Emily Mary Johnston

Henry Holmes
Sydney Emily Mary Johnston
💍 1900/1851

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer
Domestic duties

45
25

Masterton
Sandon

23 years
1 year

The residence of Walter Woods Johnston, Sandon

00/3226

6 January 1900

Rev. John O'Meara, Roman Catholic

No	1
Date of Notice	1 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Holmes	Sydney Emily Mary Johnston
	💍 1900/1851
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer	Domestic duties
Age	45	25
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Sandon
Length of Residence	23 years	1 year
Marriage Place	The residence of Walter Woods Johnston, Sandon
Folio	00/3226
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. John O'Meara, Roman Catholic

2 January 1900

Peter Hider
Clara Heywood Harrod

Peter Hiden
Clara Heywood Harrod
💍 1900/782

Bachelor
Widow

Newspaper runner

47
38

Masterton
Masterton

19 years
3 years

The Wesleyan Church, Masterton

00/646

9 January 1900

Rev. S. F. Prior, Wesleyan

No	2
Date of Notice	2 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Hider	Clara Heywood Harrod
BDM Match (95%)	Peter Hiden	Clara Heywood Harrod
	💍 1900/782
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Newspaper runner
Age	47	38
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	19 years	3 years
Marriage Place	The Wesleyan Church, Masterton
Folio	00/646
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. F. Prior, Wesleyan

15 January 1900

Henry Leonard Fuller
Jessie Roberts Greig

Henry Leonard Fuller
Jessie Roberts Greig
💍 1900/465

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic duties

28
25

Masterton
Masterton

9 months
6 months

The Church of England, Masterton

00/433

18 January 1900

Rev. P. C. W. Earee, Church of England

No	3
Date of Notice	15 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Leonard Fuller	Jessie Roberts Greig
	💍 1900/465
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic duties
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	9 months	6 months
Marriage Place	The Church of England, Masterton
Folio	00/433
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. C. W. Earee, Church of England

19 January 1900

Alfred Edward Miles
Gertrude Mary Shaw

Alfred Edward Miles
Gertrude Mary Shaw
💍 1900/784

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Domestic servant

30
23

Masterton
Masterton

4 years
3 years

The residence of John Downs Eves

00/647

19 January 1900

Rev. S. F. Prior, Wesleyan

No	4
Date of Notice	19 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Edward Miles	Gertrude Mary Shaw
	💍 1900/784
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Domestic servant
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	4 years	3 years
Marriage Place	The residence of John Downs Eves
Folio	00/647
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. F. Prior, Wesleyan

20 January 1900

William Jabez Toms
Mary Wilson

William Jabz Toms
Mary Wilson
💍 1900/482

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Domestic duties

24
25

Masterton
Masterton

3 days
3 days

The residence of George Terry, South Road, Masterton

00/426

20 January 1900

Rev. Robert Wood, Presbyterian

No	5
Date of Notice	20 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Jabez Toms	Mary Wilson
BDM Match (97%)	William Jabz Toms	Mary Wilson
	💍 1900/482
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Domestic duties
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	The residence of George Terry, South Road, Masterton
Folio	00/426
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert Wood, Presbyterian

26 January 1900

Philip Charles Reynolds
Margaret McAteer

Philip Charles Reynolds
Margaret McAteer
💍 1900/464

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic duties

29
25

Masterton
Masterton

12 years
3 years

The residence of Betsy Reynolds, Masterton

00/432

26 January 1900

Rev. J. McKenna, Roman Catholic

No	6
Date of Notice	26 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Philip Charles Reynolds	Margaret McAteer
	💍 1900/464
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic duties
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	12 years	3 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Betsy Reynolds, Masterton
Folio	00/432
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McKenna, 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).