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 423

District of Cromwell Quarter ending 31 March 1900 Registrar James Fleming

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

313

20 January 1900

William Pierce
Elizabeth Ann May

William Pierce
Elizabeth Ann May
💍 1900/2320

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor

24
20

Cromwell
Cromwell

24 years
15 years

Wesleyan Methodist Church

00/995

Richard May, father

22 January 1900

The Rev. Laurence John Ryan, Wesleyan Methodist

No	313
Date of Notice	20 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Pierce	Elizabeth Ann May
	💍 1900/2320
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Cromwell	Cromwell
Length of Residence	24 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Methodist Church
Folio	00/995
Consent	Richard May, father
Date of Certificate	22 January 1900
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Laurence John Ryan, Wesleyan Methodist

314

13 February 1900

Gilbert Julius Ward
Elizabeth Mary Dunn

Gilbert Julius Ward
Elizabeth Mary Dunne
💍 1900/5669

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

42
25

Cromwell
Cromwell

3 days
7 weeks

Roman Catholic Church at Cromwell

00/5848

13 February 1900

The Rev. George Michael Hunt, Roman Catholic

No	314
Date of Notice	13 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gilbert Julius Ward	Elizabeth Mary Dunn
BDM Match (98%)	Gilbert Julius Ward	Elizabeth Mary Dunne
	💍 1900/5669
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	42	25
Dwelling Place	Cromwell	Cromwell
Length of Residence	3 days	7 weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church at Cromwell
Folio	00/5848
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1900
Officiating Minister	The Rev. George Michael Hunt, Roman Catholic

315

3 March 1900

John Stephens
Annie Elliott

John Stephens
Annie Elliott
💍 1900/5871

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

29
28

Cromwell
Cromwell

29 years
3 days

Methodist Church

00/996

5 March 1900

The Rev. Laurence John Ryan, Wesleyan Methodist

No	315
Date of Notice	3 March 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Stephens	Annie Elliott
	💍 1900/5871
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Cromwell	Cromwell
Length of Residence	29 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Methodist Church
Folio	00/996
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1900
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Laurence John Ryan, Wesleyan Methodist

316

12 March 1900

David Alexander Mitchell
Ada Williamson

David Alexander Mitchell
Ada Williamson
💍 1900/2321

Alexander Mitchell
Margaret Williamson
💍 1900/3370

Bachelor
Spinster

Dredgemaster

27
19

Nevis
Nevis

3 1/2 years
19 years

Residence of Andrew Williamson

00/997

Andrew Williamson, father

13 March 1900

The Rev. Thomas Tait, Presbyterian

No	316
Date of Notice	12 March 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Alexander Mitchell	Ada Williamson
	💍 1900/2321
BDM Match (69%)	Alexander Mitchell	Margaret Williamson
	💍 1900/3370
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dredgemaster
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	Nevis	Nevis
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Andrew Williamson
Folio	00/997
Consent	Andrew Williamson, father
Date of Certificate	13 March 1900
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Thomas Tait, Presbyterian

317

13 March 1900

Denis Peter Callaghan
Mary Jane McNulty

Denis Peter Callaghan
Mary Jane McNulty
💍 1900/5670

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic

26
19

Cromwell
Cromwell

3 days
18 years

Roman Catholic Church at Cromwell

00/5849

Margaret McNulty, mother

14 March 1900

The Rev. George Michael Hunt, Roman Catholic

No	317
Date of Notice	13 March 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Denis Peter Callaghan	Mary Jane McNulty
	💍 1900/5670
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Cromwell	Cromwell
Length of Residence	3 days	18 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church at Cromwell
Folio	00/5849
Consent	Margaret McNulty, mother
Date of Certificate	14 March 1900
Officiating Minister	The Rev. George Michael Hunt, Roman Catholic

318

14 March 1900

Henry Clyde Parcell
Mary Abigail Crow

Henry Clyde Parcell
Mary Abigail Crow
💍 1900/2322

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier

34
23

Bannockburn
Bannockburn

34 years
13 years

Residence of Jacob Crow

00/998

14 March 1900

The Rev. Thomas Tait, Presbyterian

No	318
Date of Notice	14 March 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Clyde Parcell	Mary Abigail Crow
	💍 1900/2322
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier
Age	34	23
Dwelling Place	Bannockburn	Bannockburn
Length of Residence	34 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Jacob Crow
Folio	00/998
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1900
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Thomas Tait, Presbyterian

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).