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 436

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1900 Registrar M. J. Hall

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 February 1900

James Cusack
Annie Doherty

James Cusack
Annie Doherty
💍 1900/2481

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

42 years
38 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In St. Joseph's Cathedral

00/1011

19 February 1900

Rev. D. Murphy, Roman Catholic Priest

No	63
Date of Notice	19 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Cusack	Annie Doherty
	💍 1900/2481
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	42 years	38 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In St. Joseph's Cathedral
Folio	00/1011
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Murphy, Roman Catholic Priest

20 February 1900

John Newton
Dossie Wilhelmina Baker

John Mewton
Dowsie Wilhelmina Baker
💍 1900/967

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

36 years
24 years

Opoho
Opoho

18 months

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages

00/1013

20 February 1900

M. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

No	64
Date of Notice	20 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Newton	Dossie Wilhelmina Baker
BDM Match (93%)	John Mewton	Dowsie Wilhelmina Baker
	💍 1900/967
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	36 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Opoho	Opoho
Length of Residence	18 months
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	00/1013
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1900
Officiating Minister	M. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

20 February 1900

Bertram Edwin Richards
Sophia Page

Bertram Edwin Richards
Sophia Page
💍 1900/5235

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

24 years
22 years

Mornington
Mornington

3 days
4 years

In the house of James Page

00/5303

20 February 1900

Rev. D. Waddell, Presbyterian Minister

No	65
Date of Notice	20 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bertram Edwin Richards	Sophia Page
	💍 1900/5235
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	24 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Mornington	Mornington
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	In the house of James Page
Folio	00/5303
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Waddell, Presbyterian Minister

20 February 1900

Thomas Brownlie
Matilda Dunlop

Thomas Brownlie
Matilda Dunlop
💍 1900/1019

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

26 years
25 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In the house of Rev. James Gibb

00/1059

20 February 1900

Rev. James Gibb, Presbyterian Minister

No	66
Date of Notice	20 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Brownlie	Matilda Dunlop
	💍 1900/1019
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	26 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the house of Rev. James Gibb
Folio	00/1059
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Gibb, Presbyterian Minister

21 February 1900

Walter Henry Merrett
Mary Jane Strachan

Walter Henry Merrett
Mary Jane Strachan
💍 1900/972

Bachelor
Spinster

Car Builder

24 years
23 years

Roslyn
Roslyn

3 days
3 days

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages

00/1014

21 February 1900

M. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

No	67
Date of Notice	21 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Henry Merrett	Mary Jane Strachan
	💍 1900/972
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Car Builder
Age	24 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Roslyn	Roslyn
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	00/1014
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1900
Officiating Minister	M. J. Hall, Registrar of Marriages

21 February 1900

Thomas Keith
Janet Josephine Bradbury

Thomas Keith
Janet Josephine Bradbury
💍 1900/2466

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

22 years
21 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

14 days
1 week

In St. Paul's Cathedral

00/1019

21 February 1900

Rev. C. G. Robinson, Church of England Minister

No	68
Date of Notice	21 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Keith	Janet Josephine Bradbury
	💍 1900/2466
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	22 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	14 days	1 week
Marriage Place	In St. Paul's Cathedral
Folio	00/1019
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. G. Robinson, Church of England Minister

21 February 1900

James Dickson
Blanche Iles

James Dickson
Blanche Iles
💍 1900/2477

Bachelor
Spinster

Shipping Clerk

25 years
27 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

10 years
20 years

In St. Peter's Church, Caversham

00/1067

21 February 1900

Rev. B. M. King, Church of England Minister

No	69
Date of Notice	21 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Dickson	Blanche Iles
	💍 1900/2477
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shipping Clerk
Age	25 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	10 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In St. Peter's Church, Caversham
Folio	00/1067
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. M. King, Church of England 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 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).