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 938

District of Timaru Quarter ending 30 June 1900 Registrar Alex. 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	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
34	30 May 1900	John Ewing May Robson	John Ewing May Robson 💍 1900/1472	Bachelor Spinster	Grocer Shop Assistant	24 22	Timaru Timaru	8 months 8 months	Dwellinghouse of Rev. G. Burgess, Timaru	00/2392	30 May 1900	Rev. George Burgess, Congregational Minister
35	1 June 1900	William Ellis Elizabeth Ada Clarke	William Ellis Elizabeth Ada Clarke 💍 1900/1477	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Nurse	31 29	Kingsdown Timaru	19 years 3 years	Wesleyan Church, Timaru	00/2396	1 June 1900	Rev. J. Newman Buttle, Wesleyan Minister
36	9 June 1900	George Stumbles Ann Barnesford White	George Stumbles Ann Barnet Ford White 💍 1900/1468	Widower Spinster	Contractor	59 44	Timaru Timaru	28 years 3 years	Dwellinghouse of John Thompson, Lebrins Terrace, Timaru	00/2388	9 June 1900	Rev. Wm. Gillies, Presbyterian Minister
37	14 June 1900	Henry Puta Annie Mabel Rickus	Henry Rita Annie Mabel Rickus 💍 1900/1486	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	24 23	Timaru Timaru	3 weeks 23 years	St. Mary's Church, Timaru	00/2385	14 June 1900	Ven. Archdeacon W. H. Harper, Church of England Clergyman
38	16 June 1900	William Henry Tavener Christina Groves	William Henry Tavener Christina Groves 💍 1900/1465	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	31 22	Timaru Timaru	12 months 4 months	Registrar's Office, Timaru	00/2377	16 June 1900	Alexandra Montgomery, Registrar
39	18 June 1900	Ernest Edward Barker Emily Louisa Beere	Ernest Edward Barker Emily Louisa Beere 💍 1900/1469	Bachelor Spinster	Farm Labourer	21 21	Kingsdown Pareora	4 years 10 years	Dwellinghouse of Wm. Gillies, Timaru	00/2389	18 June 1900	Rev. Wm. Gillies, Presbyterian Minister
40	19 June 1900	Ernest Albert O'Malley Mary Agnes Cook	Ernest Albert O'Malley Mary Agnes Cook 💍 1900/1484	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Domestic Servant	25 21	Timaru Timaru	3 days 21 years	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru	00/2383	19 June 1900	Rev. J. Lubman, Roman Catholic Priest
41	20 June 1900	Henry Thomas Powell Janet Brasell	Henry Thomas Powell Janet Brasell 💍 1900/1480	Bachelor Spinster	Builder	43 39	Timaru Timaru	4 years 33 years	Primitive Methodist Church, Timaru	00/2379	20 June 1900	Rev. W. C. Woodward, Primitive Methodist Minister
42	25 June 1900	Edward Goodman Eliza Ellen Bartlett	Edward Goodman Eliza Ellen Baskett 💍 1900/1482	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic Servant	26 25	Timaru Timaru	26 years 22 years	Dwellinghouse of M. Bartlett, Cullman St., Timaru	00/2380	25 June 1900	Rev. W. C. Woodward, Primitive Methodist Minister
43	25 June 1900	John William Briggs Gilchrist Annie Reigate	John William Briggs Gilchrist Annie Reigate 💍 1900/1478	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	23 24	Timaru Timaru	23 years 20 years	Dwellinghouse of W. Gilchrist, Butler St., Timaru	00/2397	25 June 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).