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 232

District of PAHIATUA Quarter ending 31 March 1900 Registrar William Jesse Reeve

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

4 January 1900

Arthur Harold Lucena
Teresa Veronica Dolan

Arthur Harold Lasena
Teresa Veronica Dolan
💍 1900/477

Bachelor
Spinster

Gentleman
Home duties

28
23

Pahiatua
Kumeroa, Pahiatua

2 months
9 months

Roman Catholic Church, Pahiatua

00/444

4 January 1900

Rev. J. M. Vunna, Roman Catholic

No	1
Date of Notice	4 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Harold Lucena	Teresa Veronica Dolan
BDM Match (95%)	Arthur Harold Lasena	Teresa Veronica Dolan
	💍 1900/477
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gentleman	Home duties
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Kumeroa, Pahiatua
Length of Residence	2 months	9 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Pahiatua
Folio	00/444
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Vunna, Roman Catholic

1 February 1900

George Henry Griffith
Lucy Colwell

George Henry Griffith
Lucy Colwell
💍 1900/599

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
School Teacher

29
24

Kumeroa, Pahiatua
Wellington

7 years
24 years

Residence of Henry Colwell, 17 Nelson Street, Wellington

00/570

1 February 1900

Rev. Frank Hales, Church of Christ

No	2
Date of Notice	1 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Griffith	Lucy Colwell
	💍 1900/599
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	School Teacher
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Kumeroa, Pahiatua	Wellington
Length of Residence	7 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Henry Colwell, 17 Nelson Street, Wellington
Folio	00/570
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. Frank Hales, Church of Christ

5 February 1900

Leonard Berg
Lena Woodcuffs

Leonard Berg
Lena Woodcuff
💍 1900/478

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
General Servant

23
25

Pahiatua
Pahiatua

17 years
6 weeks

Roman Catholic Church, Pahiatua

00/445

5 February 1900

Rev. J. M. Vunna, Roman Catholic

No	3
Date of Notice	5 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Berg	Lena Woodcuffs
BDM Match (96%)	Leonard Berg	Lena Woodcuff
	💍 1900/478
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	General Servant
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Pahiatua
Length of Residence	17 years	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Pahiatua
Folio	00/445
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Vunna, Roman Catholic

12 February 1900

Denis Buckley
Veronica Komorowski

Denis Buckley
Veronica Komowski
💍 1900/511

Bachelor
Spinster

Settler
Home duties

28
23

Pahiatua
Newman, Pahiatua

7 years
12 years

Residence of J. Komorowski, Newman

00/446

12 February 1900

Rev. J. M. Vunna, Roman Catholic

No	4
Date of Notice	12 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Denis Buckley	Veronica Komorowski
BDM Match (95%)	Denis Buckley	Veronica Komowski
	💍 1900/511
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Settler	Home duties
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Newman, Pahiatua
Length of Residence	7 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Residence of J. Komorowski, Newman
Folio	00/446
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Vunna, Roman Catholic

21 February 1900

Philip James Quayle
Amy Annie Ashton

Philip James Quayle
Amy Annie Ashton
💍 1900/528

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Home duties

26
18

Pahiatua
Pahiatua

5 days
14 years

Registrar's Office, Pahiatua

00/449

Susannah Lawry, Mother

21 February 1900

William J. Reeve, Registrar of Marriages

No	5
Date of Notice	21 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Philip James Quayle	Amy Annie Ashton
	💍 1900/528
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Home duties
Age	26	18
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Pahiatua
Length of Residence	5 days	14 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Pahiatua
Folio	00/449
Consent	Susannah Lawry, Mother
Date of Certificate	21 February 1900
Officiating Minister	William J. Reeve, Registrar of Marriages

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).