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 1046

District of Port Chalmers Quarter ending 30 June 1900 Registrar Thomas Hinchly

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

11 April 1900

James Alexander Mennie
Jessie Ferrier Menzies

James Alexander Rennie
Jessie Ferrier Menzies
💍 1900/5872

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Nil

39
30

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

24 years
24 years

House of W. Menzies, Lawyers May

00/2658

11 April 1900

Rev. E. Clement, Presbyterian

No	9
Date of Notice	11 April 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Alexander Mennie	Jessie Ferrier Menzies
BDM Match (98%)	James Alexander Rennie	Jessie Ferrier Menzies
	💍 1900/5872
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Nil
Age	39	30
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	24 years	24 years
Marriage Place	House of W. Menzies, Lawyers May
Folio	00/2658
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Clement, Presbyterian

11 April 1900

George Hunter
Annie Isabella Gillanders

George Hunter
Annie Isabella Gillanders
💍 1900/3391

Bachelor
Spinster

Auctioneer
Dressmaker

29
26

Purakanui
Port Chalmers

Four days
26 years

House of J. Gillanders, Purakanui

00/2657

11 April 1900

Rev. E. Clement, Presbyterian

No	10
Date of Notice	11 April 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Hunter	Annie Isabella Gillanders
	💍 1900/3391
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Auctioneer	Dressmaker
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Purakanui	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	Four days	26 years
Marriage Place	House of J. Gillanders, Purakanui
Folio	00/2657
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Clement, Presbyterian

17 April 1900

James Hunderson Crawford
Mary Selid Carey

James Henderson Crawford
Mary Reid Carey
💍 1900/3396

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Nil

31
23

Port Chalmers
Mansfield Town, Port Chalmers

3 years
4 years

House of A. Carey, Mansfield Town

00/2664

17 April 1900

Rev. E. Taylor, Congregational

No	11
Date of Notice	17 April 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Hunderson Crawford	Mary Selid Carey
BDM Match (92%)	James Henderson Crawford	Mary Reid Carey
	💍 1900/3396
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Nil
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Mansfield Town, Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	3 years	4 years
Marriage Place	House of A. Carey, Mansfield Town
Folio	00/2664
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 April 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Taylor, Congregational

5 May 1900

Henry Branan
Helen Hynes

Henry Brown
Helen Flynn
💍 1900/3397

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman
Nil

25
24

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

1 year
2 years

House of J. Craig, Port Chalmers

00/2665

5 May 1900

Rev. E. Taylor, Congregational

No	12
Date of Notice	5 May 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Branan	Helen Hynes
BDM Match (69%)	Henry Brown	Helen Flynn
	💍 1900/3397
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman	Nil
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	1 year	2 years
Marriage Place	House of J. Craig, Port Chalmers
Folio	00/2665
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 May 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Taylor, Congregational

14 May 1900

Amos Graham
Agnes Gallon

Amos Graham
Agnes Gallon
💍 1900/3392

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Nil

40
34

Port Chalmers
Purakanui

10 years
34 years

House of Mary Collins, Purakanui

00/2659

14 May 1900

Rev. E. Clement, Presbyterian

No	13
Date of Notice	14 May 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Amos Graham	Agnes Gallon
	💍 1900/3392
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nil
Age	40	34
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Purakanui
Length of Residence	10 years	34 years
Marriage Place	House of Mary Collins, Purakanui
Folio	00/2659
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 May 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Clement, Presbyterian

28 May 1900

John Matthew Harrhy
Florence Shadwell Hill

John Matthew Harrhy
Florentia Shadwell Hill
💍 1900/3394

Bachelor
Spinster

Fisherman
Nil

23
19

Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers

2 years
19 years

House of G. Hill, Deborah Bay

00/2661

G. Hill, father

28 May 1900

Rev. E. Clement, Presbyterian

No	14
Date of Notice	28 May 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Matthew Harrhy	Florence Shadwell Hill
BDM Match (94%)	John Matthew Harrhy	Florentia Shadwell Hill
	💍 1900/3394
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fisherman	Nil
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Port Chalmers	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	2 years	19 years
Marriage Place	House of G. Hill, Deborah Bay
Folio	00/2661
Consent	G. Hill, father
Date of Certificate	28 May 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Clement, 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).