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 659

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 June 1900 Registrar E. P. S. Registrar

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

25 May 1900

Arthur Ernest Plummer
Jessie Jones

Arthur Ernest Plummer
Jessie Jones
💍 1900/2827

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

29
23

Tapu, Thames
Tapu, Thames

29 years
23 years

The School House, Tapu

00/1566

25 May 1900

Rev. H. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	29
Date of Notice	25 May 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Ernest Plummer	Jessie Jones
	💍 1900/2827
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Tapu, Thames	Tapu, Thames
Length of Residence	29 years	23 years
Marriage Place	The School House, Tapu
Folio	00/1566
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 May 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. O'Callaghan, Church of England

26 May 1900

James Taylor
Elizabeth Ann Preece

James Taylor
Elizabeth Ann Preece
💍 1900/2836

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Servant

23
21

Thames
Thames

23 years
21 years

The Dwelling of Richd. Preece, Waitotahi Creek

00/1575

26 May 1900

Rev. D. J. Murray, Wesleyan

No	30
Date of Notice	26 May 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Taylor	Elizabeth Ann Preece
	💍 1900/2836
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Servant
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	23 years	21 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Richd. Preece, Waitotahi Creek
Folio	00/1575
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 May 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. J. Murray, Wesleyan

2 June 1900

Alexander Campbell
Eunice Alice Gracie

Alexander Campbell
Eunice Alice Gracie
💍 1900/2817

Bachelor
Spinster

Assayer
Domestic Servant

26
20

Thames
Thames

26 years
2 1/2 years

The Dwelling of John Cooke, Richmond St, Block 27

00/1577

Bertha Jane Gracie, mother

2 June 1900

Rev. D. J. Murray, Wesleyan

No	31
Date of Notice	2 June 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Campbell	Eunice Alice Gracie
	💍 1900/2817
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Assayer	Domestic Servant
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	26 years	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of John Cooke, Richmond St, Block 27
Folio	00/1577
Consent	Bertha Jane Gracie, mother
Date of Certificate	2 June 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. J. Murray, Wesleyan

6 June 1900

John Northey
Lavinia Williams

John Northey
Lavinia Williams
💍 1900/25

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Milliner

27
23

Thames
Thames

2 years
23 years

The Dwelling of John Paul Williams, Edward St, Block 27

00/1576

6 June 1900

Rev. D. J. Murray, Wesleyan

No	32
Date of Notice	6 June 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Northey	Lavinia Williams
	💍 1900/25
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Milliner
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	2 years	23 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of John Paul Williams, Edward St, Block 27
Folio	00/1576
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 June 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. J. Murray, Wesleyan

8 June 1900

Arthur James McDuff
Emily Bird

Arthur James McDuff
Emily Bird
💍 1900/2833

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

21
18

Thames
Thames

21 years
18 years

The Dwelling of William Bird, Waitotahi

00/1569

William Bird, father

8 June 1900

Joseph Foster, Church of Christ

No	33
Date of Notice	8 June 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur James McDuff	Emily Bird
	💍 1900/2833
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	21	18
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	21 years	18 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of William Bird, Waitotahi
Folio	00/1569
Consent	William Bird, father
Date of Certificate	8 June 1900
Officiating Minister	Joseph Foster, Church of Christ

23 June 1900

Edwin Campbell
Anna Maria Fisher

Colin Campbell
Annie Maria Fisher
💍 1900/5892

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Domestic Servant

33
35

Tararu, Thames
Tararu, Thames

28 years
24 years

The Dwelling of Anna Maria Fisher, Tararu

00/1572

23 June 1900

Rev. John McKenzie, Presbyterian

No	34
Date of Notice	23 June 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Campbell	Anna Maria Fisher
BDM Match (84%)	Colin Campbell	Annie Maria Fisher
	💍 1900/5892
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	33	35
Dwelling Place	Tararu, Thames	Tararu, Thames
Length of Residence	28 years	24 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Anna Maria Fisher, Tararu
Folio	00/1572
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 June 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. John McKenzie, 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).