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 911

District of Kaiapoi Quarter ending 30 June 1900 Registrar Thomas Hester

No	Date of Notice	Names and Surnames of Parties	BDM Match	Condition	Calling or Profession	Age	Dwelling Place	Length of Residence	Marriage Place	Folio	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
70	11 April 1900	Joseph William Drabble Amelia Keeley	Joseph William Drabble Amelia Keeley 💍 1900/3858	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer Domestic duties	25 21	Kaiapoi Kaiapoi	25 years 21 years	Joseph Drabble's house North Rd	00/3678	11 April 1900	W. J. Gow, Presbyterian
71	11 April 1900	Percival Henry Edwards Jane Best	Percival Henry Edmonds Jane Best 💍 1900/3859	Bachelor Spinster	Factory Employee	36 26	Kaiapoi Kaiapoi	36 years 3 months	Presbyterian Church Kaiapoi	00/3679	11 April 1900	W. J. Gow, Presbyterian
72	20 April 1900	Peter Bate Florence Eleanor Broadley	Peter Bate Florence Eleanor Broadley 💍 1900/3867	Bachelor Spinster	Fellmonger Weaver	26 21	Kaiapoi Kaiapoi	6 months 21 years	Walter Broadley's house Kaiapoi	00/3680	20 April 1900	Charles Porter, Wesleyan
73	23 April 1900	George Davidson Jessie Gill Young	George Davidson Jessie Gill Young 💍 1900/3861	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener Dressmaker	28 28	Christchurch Kaiapoi	28 years 14 years	Mrs. James Young's house, Kaiapoi	00/3681	23 April 1900	W. J. Gow, Presbyterian
74	23 April 1900	Arthur John Harper Mary Keeley	Arthur John Harper Mary Keeley 💍 1900/3860	Bachelor Spinster	Farm Laborer Domestic duties	28 22	Kaiapoi Kaiapoi	28 years 22 years	W. F. Keeley's house Kaiapoi	00/3680	23 April 1900	W. J. Gow, Presbyterian
75	23 April 1900	William Wilsden McRae Mary Ethel Dampier	William Wilsden McRae Mary Ethel Dampier Crossley 💍 1900/5653	Bachelor Spinster	Sheepfarmer	25 25	Glens of Tehoa Auri Brokenhurst Woodend	25 years 25 years	Church of England, Woodend	00/5478	23 April 1900	H. H. Mathias, Church of England
76	25 April 1900	William Sceon Elizabeth Edwards	William Scoon Elizabeth Edwards 💍 1900/1448	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	25 30	Rangiora Kaiapoi	25 years 30 years	Geo. Edwards' house Kaiapoi	00/2318	25 April 1900	Joseph Rapley, Wesleyan
77	1 May 1900	William Johnston Matilda Crawford	William Johnston Matilda Crawford 💍 1900/3863	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer Domestic Servant	30 29	Southbrook Kaiapoi	6 years 1 week	Crawford's house Church Bush	00/3682	1 May 1900	W. J. Gow, Presbyterian
78	10 May 1900	Joseph Scott Alice Moore	Joseph Scott Alice Moore 💍 1900/3868	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	28 22	Eyreton Eyreton	10 years 22 years	Wesleyan Church, Eyreton	00/3687	10 May 1900	Charles Porter, Wesleyan
79	30 May 1900	James Mathew Hale Elizabeth Margaret Chapman	James Mathew Dale Elizabeth Margaret Chapman 💍 1900/3864	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd Domestic Servant	30 23	Kaiapoi Kaiapoi	20 years 20 years	W. Chapman's house Eyreton	00/3683	30 May 1900	W. J. Gow, Presbyterian
80	12 June 1900	William Henry Prettyjohns Alice Puddle	William Henry Pretty Atkins Alice Puddle 💍 1900/1447	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Weaver	24 24	Upper Riccarton Kaiapoi	24 years 24 years	Church of England, Kaiapoi	00/2317	12 June 1900	John Holland, Church of England

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 1899. 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).