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 402

District of Timaru Quarter ending 31 March 1900 Registrar Alex. Montgomey

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

George Goodman
Minnie Mary Russell

George Goodman
Minnie Mary Russell
💍 1900/40

Bachelor
Spinster

24 years
19 years

Timaru
Timaru

24 years
3 years

Dwellinghouse of J. Davis, Sandistown Timaru

00/979

Mary Davis mother

19 February 1900

Rev. J. Newman Buttle, Wesleyan Minister

No	11
Date of Notice	19 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Goodman	Minnie Mary Russell
	💍 1900/40
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession
Age	24 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	24 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of J. Davis, Sandistown Timaru
Folio	00/979
Consent	Mary Davis mother
Date of Certificate	19 February 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Newman Buttle, Wesleyan Minister

20 February 1900

David James Roper
Marie Seyb

David James Roper
Marie Seyb
💍 1900/992

Widower
Spinster

Compositor
Housekeeper

46 years
23 years

Timaru
Timaru

14 years
23 years

Dwellinghouse of D. J. Roper, Timaru

00/973

20 February 1900

Rev. W. B. Woodward, Primitive Methodist Minister

No	12
Date of Notice	20 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David James Roper	Marie Seyb
	💍 1900/992
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Compositor	Housekeeper
Age	46 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	14 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of D. J. Roper, Timaru
Folio	00/973
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. B. Woodward, Primitive Methodist Minister

26 February 1900

Arthur Frederick Andrews
Edith Ellen Harris

Arthur Frederick Andrews
Edith Ellen Harris
💍 1900/993

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Housemaid

20 years
21 years

Timaru
Timaru

14 years
21 years

Dwellinghouse of James Harris, Timaru

00/974

J. G. Andrews father

26 February 1900

Rev. W. B. Woodward, Primitive Methodist Minister

No	13
Date of Notice	26 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Frederick Andrews	Edith Ellen Harris
	💍 1900/993
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Housemaid
Age	20 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	14 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of James Harris, Timaru
Folio	00/974
Consent	J. G. Andrews father
Date of Certificate	26 February 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. B. Woodward, Primitive Methodist Minister

26 February 1900

George Burford
Georgina Mackenzie

George Burford
Georgina Mackenzie
💍 1900/44

Bachelor
Spinster

Miller

30 years
24 years

Timaru
Timaru

21 years
3 years

Dwellinghouse of James Burford, Timaru

00/988

26 February 1900

Rev. George Burgess, Congregational Minister

No	14
Date of Notice	26 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Burford	Georgina Mackenzie
	💍 1900/44
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miller
Age	30 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	21 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of James Burford, Timaru
Folio	00/988
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Burgess, Congregational Minister

26 February 1900

Daniel O'Keefe
Eva Trilford

Daniel OKeefe
Eva Trilford
💍 1900/45

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

28 years
21 years

Kerrytown
Timaru

20 years
21 years

Catholic Presbytory, Timaru

00/984

26 February 1900

Rev. J. Lubman, Roman Catholic Priest

No	15
Date of Notice	26 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel O'Keefe	Eva Trilford
BDM Match (96%)	Daniel OKeefe	Eva Trilford
	💍 1900/45
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	28 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Kerrytown	Timaru
Length of Residence	20 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Presbytory, Timaru
Folio	00/984
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Lubman, Roman Catholic Priest

2 March 1900

Albert Foster
Mary King Weir

Albert Foster
Mary King Weir
💍 1900/41

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Dressmaker

31 years
21 years

Timaru
Timaru

6 days
2 years

Dwellinghouse of Rev. J. Newman Buttle, Timaru

00/980

2 March 1900

Rev. J. Newman Buttle, Wesleyan Minister

No	16
Date of Notice	2 March 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Foster	Mary King Weir
	💍 1900/41
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Dressmaker
Age	31 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	6 days	2 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Rev. J. Newman Buttle, Timaru
Folio	00/980
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Newman Buttle, Wesleyan Minister

22 March 1900

Arthur Wilson
Emily Susannah Chiles

Arthur Wilson
Emily Susannah Chiles
💍 1900/994

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

29 years
20 years

Timaru
Timaru

5 years
8 years

Dwellinghouse of Edward Chiles, Maori Hill, Timaru

00/975

Edward Chiles father

22 March 1900

Rev. W. B. Woodward, Primitive Methodist Minister

No	17
Date of Notice	22 March 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Wilson	Emily Susannah Chiles
	💍 1900/994
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	29 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	5 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Edward Chiles, Maori Hill, Timaru
Folio	00/975
Consent	Edward Chiles father
Date of Certificate	22 March 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. B. Woodward, Primitive Methodist Minister

26 March 1900

Frederick Magnus Shewan
Minnie Rodgers

Frederick Magnus Shewan
Minnie Rodgers
💍 1900/2656

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Dressmaker

26 years
23 years

Timaru
Timaru

25 years
23 years

St. Mary's English Church, Timaru

00/1277

26 March 1900

Ven. Archdeacon H. W. Harper, Church of England Clergyman

No	18
Date of Notice	26 March 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Magnus Shewan	Minnie Rodgers
	💍 1900/2656
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Dressmaker
Age	26 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	25 years	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's English Church, Timaru
Folio	00/1277
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1900
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon H. W. Harper, Church of England Clergyman

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).