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 937

District of Timaru Quarter ending 30 June 1900 Registrar Alexander Montgomery

No	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
19	5 April 1900	George Dunn Shaw Elizabeth Sarah Richards	George Dunn Shaw Elizabeth Sarah Richards 💍 1900/1466	Widower Spinster	Farmer Housekeeper	34 25	Timaru Timaru	3 years 3 days	Dwellinghouse of Rev. W. Gillies, Timaru	00/2386		5 April 1900	Rev. W. Gillies, Presbyterian Minister
20	5 April 1900	William John Morgan Margaret Hocking	William John Morgan Margaret Hosking 💍 1900/1470	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	26 24	Timaru Timaru	12 months 12 years	Dwellinghouse of John Pearson, Avenue Road, Timaru	00/2390		5 April 1900	Rev. George Burgess, Congregational Minister
21	6 April 1900	Albert Edward Prusser Agnes McFarlane Craigie	Albert Ernest Prosser Agnes McFarlane Craigie 💍 1900/1467	Widower Spinster	Bootmaker	42 26	Timaru Timaru	13 years 26 years	Dwellinghouse of Mr. Craigie, Borth Street, Timaru	00/2387		6 April 1900	Rev. W. Gillies, Presbyterian Minister
22	10 April 1900	James Thompson Andrews Katherine Glover	James Thompson Andrews Katherine Glover 💍 1900/1481	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher Tailoress	29 25	Timaru Timaru	3 days 3 months	Dwellinghouse of Alfred Mazengarb, Church Street, Timaru	00/2381		10 April 1900	Mr. Alfred Mazengarb, Minister Church of Christ
23	12 April 1900	Herbert Goodall Ellis Edna Astbury Dale	Herbert Goodall Ellis Edna Astbury Dale 💍 1900/1473	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	28 24	Kingsdown Timaru	15 years 2 years	Dwellinghouse of Philip Dale, Arthur Street, Timaru	00/2393		12 April 1900	Rev. J. Newman Buttle, Wesleyan Minister
24	12 April 1900	Thomas Lidbetter Cooper Florence Townsend	James Lidbetter Cooper Florence Townsend 💍 1900/1476	Bachelor Spinster	Stonemason School Teacher	26 20	Gleniti Gleniti	1 year 20 years	Dwellinghouse of Walter Townsend, Gleniti	00/2378	W. Townsend, father	12 April 1900	Rev. W. C. Woodward, Primitive Methodist Minister
25	14 April 1900	James Gardiner Sedon Mary Jane Broft	James Gardener Sidon Mary Jane Croft 💍 1900/3162 James Howard Hall Cross Mary Jane Brett 💍 1900/91	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	22 19	Timaru Timaru	4 days 4 days	Registrar's Office, Timaru	00/0373	P. Broft, father	14 April 1900	Alexander Montgomery, Registrar
26	18 April 1900	John Sullivan Ellen Hertnon	John Sullivan Ellen Hertnon 💍 1900/1483	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	29 19	Timaru Timaru	10 years 9 years	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru	00/2382	W. Hertnon, father	18 April 1900	Rev. J. Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest
27	20 April 1900	George William Clifford Annie Green	George William Clifford Annie Green 💍 1900/3163	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer Domestic Servant	49 30	Otaio Otaio	4 years 18 months	Registrar's Office, Timaru	00/2374		20 April 1900	Alexander Montgomery, Registrar
28	30 April 1900	Harry Robert Merry Bella Corrick	Harry Robert Merry Bella Morrice 💍 1900/3164	Bachelor Spinster	Farm Hand	23 22	St. Andrews St. Andrews	12 months 1 month	Registrar's Office, Timaru	00/2375		30 April 1900	Alexander Montgomery, Registrar
29	1 May 1900	Samuel Weeham Main Emily Harris	Samuel William Moir Emily Harris 💍 1900/3165	Bachelor Spinster	Printer Housemaid	22 19	Timaru Timaru	2 years 19 years	Registrar's Office, Timaru	00/2376	J. Harris, father	1 May 1900	Alexander Montgomery, Registrar
30	11 May 1900	William Nelson Weddell Edith Dunnill	William Nelson Wederell Edith Dunnill 💍 1900/1485	Bachelor Spinster	Saddler	21 16	St. Andrews St. Andrews	14 years 5 years	St. Mary's English Church, Timaru	00/2384	J. Dunnill, father	11 May 1900	Ven. Archdeacon H. W. Harper, Church of England Clergyman
31	12 May 1900	James Gunn Mackay Rosina North	James Gunn Mackay Rosina North 💍 1900/1471	Bachelor Spinster	Shepherd	25 26	Timaru Timaru	5 years 25 years	Congregational Church, Timaru	00/2391		12 May 1900	Rev. George Burgess, Congregational Minister
32	28 May 1900	Arthur Dale Frances Jane Reid	Arthur Dale Frances Jane Reid 💍 1900/1475 Arthur Barnett Frances Ethel Reid 💍 1900/5019	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	29 30	Timaru Kingsdown	3 days 20 years	Dwellinghouse of James Campbell, Kingsdown	00/2395		28 May 1900	Rev. J. Newman Buttle, Wesleyan Minister
33	28 May 1900	Edward Traganza Mary Jane White	Edward Tregenza Mary Jane White 💍 1900/1474	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	25 19	Waimataitai Waimataitai	16 months 19 years	Dwellinghouse of M. Susan, Eschy Waimataitai	00/2394	W. White, father	28 May 1900	Rev. J. Newman Buttle, Wesleyan Minister

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).