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 493

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 31 March 1900 Registrar Henry Hawthorn Grant Ralfe

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

2058

13 March 1900

Arthur Frederick Wimsett
Katherine Ogilvie

Arthur Frederick Wimsett
Katharine Ogilvie
💍 1900/5795

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Saleswoman

29
23

Oamaru
Oamaru

4 months

At St. Lukes Wellington Church at Oamaru

00/1198

13 March 1900

Ven. Archdeacon Gould, Church of England

No	2058
Date of Notice	13 March 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Frederick Wimsett	Katherine Ogilvie
BDM Match (97%)	Arthur Frederick Wimsett	Katharine Ogilvie
	💍 1900/5795
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Saleswoman
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence		4 months
Marriage Place	At St. Lukes Wellington Church at Oamaru
Folio	00/1198
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1900
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon Gould, Church of England

2059

19 March 1900

Joseph Irvine
Isabella Henderson Kennedy Johnston

Joseph Irvine
Isabella Henderson Kennedy Johnston
💍 1900/1014

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Cook

33
22

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
3 days

At Knox Church Manse at Dunedin

00/1055

19 March 1900

Rev. Wm. Hewitson, Presbyterian Church of Otago & Southland

No	2059
Date of Notice	19 March 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Irvine	Isabella Henderson Kennedy Johnston
	💍 1900/1014
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Cook
Age	33	22
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	At Knox Church Manse at Dunedin
Folio	00/1055
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. Hewitson, Presbyterian Church of Otago & Southland

2060

19 March 1900

James Dickson Crawford
Annie Campbell

James Dickson Cranford
Annie Campbell
💍 1900/2604

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Servant

28
25

Oamaru
Oamaru

9 years
20 years

At the house of Mr. Donald Campbell, situate at Weston

00/1192

19 March 1900

Rev. James Standring, Presbyterian Church of Otago & Southland

No	2060
Date of Notice	19 March 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Dickson Crawford	Annie Campbell
BDM Match (98%)	James Dickson Cranford	Annie Campbell
	💍 1900/2604
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Servant
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	9 years	20 years
Marriage Place	At the house of Mr. Donald Campbell, situate at Weston
Folio	00/1192
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Standring, Presbyterian Church of Otago & Southland

2061

20 March 1900

William Ernest Ferris
Esther Mary Adams

William Ernest Ferris
Esther Mary Adams
💍 1900/2608

Bachelor
Spinster

Fruit grower

22
21

Oamaru
Oamaru

22 years
21 years

At Primitive Methodist Church at South Oamaru

00/1196

20 March 1900

Rev. Samuel Barnett, Primitive Methodist

No	2061
Date of Notice	20 March 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Ernest Ferris	Esther Mary Adams
	💍 1900/2608
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fruit grower
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	22 years	21 years
Marriage Place	At Primitive Methodist Church at South Oamaru
Folio	00/1196
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. Samuel Barnett, Primitive Methodist

2062

26 March 1900

John Heron
Jane Maxwell Steel

John Heron
Jane Maxwell Steel
💍 1900/2607

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman

28
24

Oamaru
Oamaru

4 years
24 years

At the residence of James Steel, situate at Humber Street, Oamaru

00/1195

26 March 1900

Rev. Robert Scott Allan, Presbyterian Church of New Zealand

No	2062
Date of Notice	26 March 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Heron	Jane Maxwell Steel
	💍 1900/2607
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	4 years	24 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of James Steel, situate at Humber Street, Oamaru
Folio	00/1195
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert Scott Allan, Presbyterian Church of New Zealand

2063

27 March 1900

William Hutchison Dennison
Mary Christina McNaughton

William Hutchison Dennisson
Mary Christina McNaughton
💍 1900/2602

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

33
31

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 days
3 days

At the house of Mr. Alfred Baker, situate at Itchen Street, Oamaru

00/1190

27 March 1900

Rev. R. J. Porter, Presbyterian Church of Otago & Southland

No	2063
Date of Notice	27 March 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hutchison Dennison	Mary Christina McNaughton
BDM Match (98%)	William Hutchison Dennisson	Mary Christina McNaughton
	💍 1900/2602
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	33	31
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	At the house of Mr. Alfred Baker, situate at Itchen Street, Oamaru
Folio	00/1190
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 March 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Porter, Presbyterian Church of Otago & Southland

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).