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 657

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 June 1900 Registrar E.B. Laing

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

14 April 1900

John Alfred Parkinson
Minnie Louisa Wood

John Alfred Parkinson
Minnie Louisa Wood
💍 1900/2807

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

24
23

Thames
Thames

9 months
23 years

The Dwelling of Henry Wood, Bella St.

00/1563

14 April 1900

Rev. J. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	17
Date of Notice	14 April 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Alfred Parkinson	Minnie Louisa Wood
	💍 1900/2807
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	9 months	23 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Henry Wood, Bella St.
Folio	00/1563
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. O'Callaghan, Church of England

16 April 1900

Robert Broadfoot
Jane Dodd Coutts

Robert Broadfoot
Jane Dodd Coutts
💍 1900/2834

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
None

31
28

Thames
Thames

3 days
28 years

The Dwelling of James Coutts, Pollen St.

00/1573

16 April 1900

Rev. D. J. Murray, Wesleyan

No	18
Date of Notice	16 April 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Broadfoot	Jane Dodd Coutts
	💍 1900/2834
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	None
Age	31	28
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	28 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of James Coutts, Pollen St.
Folio	00/1573
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 April 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. J. Murray, Wesleyan

17 April 1900

Alexander Douglas Ross
Esther Kerby

Alexander Douglas Ross
Esther Kerby
💍 1900/2835

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

26
22

Thames
Thames

26 years
22 years

The Wesleyan Church, Thames

00/1574

17 April 1900

Rev. D. J. Murray, Wesleyan

No	19
Date of Notice	17 April 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Douglas Ross	Esther Kerby
	💍 1900/2835
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	26 years	22 years
Marriage Place	The Wesleyan Church, Thames
Folio	00/1574
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 April 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. J. Murray, Wesleyan

17 April 1900

Henry Rodewald
Mary Ann McCabe

Henry Rodewald
Mary Ann McCabe
💍 1900/2804

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
None

23
16

Thames
Hikutaia

23 years
16 years

The Dwelling of John McCabe, Hikutaia

00/1560

John McCabe, father

17 April 1900

Rev. W. H. Mahoney, Roman Catholic

No	20
Date of Notice	17 April 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Rodewald	Mary Ann McCabe
	💍 1900/2804
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	None
Age	23	16
Dwelling Place	Thames	Hikutaia
Length of Residence	23 years	16 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of John McCabe, Hikutaia
Folio	00/1560
Consent	John McCabe, father
Date of Certificate	17 April 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Mahoney, Roman Catholic

17 April 1900

Charles Braun
Bridget Shelton

Charles Braun
Bridget Skelton
💍 1900/2801

Bachelor
Spinster

Platelayer
None

29
25

Thames
Thames

4 days
25 years

St. Francis Church, Willoughby St.

00/1558

17 April 1900

Rev. W. H. Mahoney, Roman Catholic

No	21
Date of Notice	17 April 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Braun	Bridget Shelton
BDM Match (97%)	Charles Braun	Bridget Skelton
	💍 1900/2801
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Platelayer	None
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	4 days	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Francis Church, Willoughby St.
Folio	00/1558
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 April 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Mahoney, Roman Catholic

18 April 1900

Lawrence Henry Gordon
Sarah Lavinia McPike

Laurence Henry Gordon
Sarah Lavinia McPike
💍 1900/2803

Bachelor
Spinster

Battery Manager
None

26
27

Thames
Thames

20 years
27 years

The Dwelling of John Mc Pike, Parawai

00/1559

18 April 1900

Rev. W. H. Mahoney, Roman Catholic

No	22
Date of Notice	18 April 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lawrence Henry Gordon	Sarah Lavinia McPike
BDM Match (98%)	Laurence Henry Gordon	Sarah Lavinia McPike
	💍 1900/2803
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Battery Manager	None
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	20 years	27 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of John Mc Pike, Parawai
Folio	00/1559
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 April 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Mahoney, Roman Catholic

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).