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 343

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1900 Registrar J. M. Walkerson

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

22 January 1900

John Edward Frich
Elizabeth Day

John Edward Finch
Elizabeth Day
💍 1900/803

Bachelor

Mariner

24
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
5 years

Registrar's Office

00/787

22 January 1900

Registrar J. M. Walkerson

No	46
Date of Notice	22 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edward Frich	Elizabeth Day
BDM Match (94%)	John Edward Finch	Elizabeth Day
	💍 1900/803
Condition	Bachelor
Profession	Mariner
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	00/787
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Registrar J. M. Walkerson

22 January 1900

Christopher Bucktin
Lily Lydia Jackson

Christopher Bucktin
Lily Lydia Jackson
💍 1900/912

Bachelor

Butcher

29
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 years
3 weeks

Methodist Church

00/789

22 January 1900

Rev. J. R. Thomas, Wesleyan

No	47
Date of Notice	22 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Christopher Bucktin	Lily Lydia Jackson
	💍 1900/912
Condition	Bachelor
Profession	Butcher
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Methodist Church
Folio	00/789
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Thomas, Wesleyan

23 January 1900

Freeman Knocks Jones
Louisa Haberfield

Trueman Banks Jones
Louisa Haberfield
💍 1900/913

Bachelor

Blacksmith
Tailoress

41
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
20 years

Methodist Church

00/7898

23 January 1900

Rev. J. R. Thomas, Wesleyan

No	48
Date of Notice	23 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Freeman Knocks Jones	Louisa Haberfield
BDM Match (85%)	Trueman Banks Jones	Louisa Haberfield
	💍 1900/913
Condition	Bachelor
Profession	Blacksmith	Tailoress
Age	41	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church
Folio	00/7898
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Thomas, Wesleyan

23 January 1900

William Brown
Margaret Nixon

William Brown
Margaret Nixon
💍 1900/908

Bachelor
Widow

Veterinary Surgeon

48
50

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 years
26 years

House of Mrs. Nixon, Christchurch

00/893

23 January 1900

Rev. R. J. Murray, Wesleyan

No	49
Date of Notice	23 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Brown	Margaret Nixon
	💍 1900/908
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Veterinary Surgeon
Age	48	50
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 years	26 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Nixon, Christchurch
Folio	00/893
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Murray, Wesleyan

23 January 1900

Thomas Henry Broadbelt
Elizabeth Bryant

Thomas Henry Broadbelt
Elizabeth Bryant
💍 1900/2273

Bachelor

Machinist
Tailoress

26
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

26 years
30 years

Holy Trinity Church

00/7841

23 January 1900

Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Avonside

No	50
Date of Notice	23 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Broadbelt	Elizabeth Bryant
	💍 1900/2273
Condition	Bachelor
Profession	Machinist	Tailoress
Age	26	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	26 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church
Folio	00/7841
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Avonside

24 January 1900

Thomas Edward Hudson
Elizabeth Nolan

Thomas Edward Heedson
Elizabeth Nolan
💍 1900/807

Bachelor

Laborer

29
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 months
21 years

Registrar's Office

00/790

24 January 1900

Registrar of Marriages J. M. Walkerson

No	51
Date of Notice	24 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Edward Hudson	Elizabeth Nolan
BDM Match (95%)	Thomas Edward Heedson	Elizabeth Nolan
	💍 1900/807
Condition	Bachelor
Profession	Laborer
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 months	21 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	00/790
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages J. M. Walkerson

24 January 1900

William John Laurence
Annie Schnauder

Widower

Painter
Domestic

35
26

Kaiapoi
Kaiapoi

6 years
20 years

Registrar's Office

00/789

24 January 1900

Registrar of Marriages J. M. Walkerson

No	52
Date of Notice	24 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Laurence	Annie Schnauder
Condition	Widower
Profession	Painter	Domestic
Age	35	26
Dwelling Place	Kaiapoi	Kaiapoi
Length of Residence	6 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	00/789
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages J. M. Walkerson

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).