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 356

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1900 Registrar J. W. Henderson

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

126

6 March 1900

Thomas Castle Famille
Elizabeth Duckworth

Thomas Castle Faville
Elizabeth Duckworth
💍 1900/2088

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic

27
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
13 years

Methodist Church, Jeffreys St

00/3597

6 March 1900

Rev. J. W. Newbold, Wesleyan

No	126
Date of Notice	6 March 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Castle Famille	Elizabeth Duckworth
BDM Match (98%)	Thomas Castle Faville	Elizabeth Duckworth
	💍 1900/2088
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Jeffreys St
Folio	00/3597
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Newbold, Wesleyan

127

7 March 1900

Edwin Frank Allan
Hella May Henderson

Edwin Frank Allan
Stella May Henderson
💍 1900/868

Bachelor
Spinster

Journalist

32
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
1 year

House of Mrs. J. Henderson, Andover St.

00/1877

7 March 1900

J. Scott Allan, Andover St.

No	127
Date of Notice	7 March 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin Frank Allan	Hella May Henderson
BDM Match (95%)	Edwin Frank Allan	Stella May Henderson
	💍 1900/868
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Journalist
Age	32	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. J. Henderson, Andover St.
Folio	00/1877
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 March 1900
Officiating Minister	J. Scott Allan, Andover St.

128

7 March 1900

Edward Eastwood
Emma Suter

Edward Eastwood
Emma Suter
💍 1900/2300

Bachelor
Spinster

Fishmonger

31
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

31 years
10 years

Methodist Cambridge Terrace Church

00/927

7 March 1900

Rev. C. J. Ward, Methodist

No	128
Date of Notice	7 March 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Eastwood	Emma Suter
	💍 1900/2300
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fishmonger
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	31 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Cambridge Terrace Church
Folio	00/927
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 March 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. J. Ward, Methodist

129

8 March 1900

Christopher Matthews
Christina Mills

Christopher Matthews
Christina Mills
💍 1900/865

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

48
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

25 years
23 years

House of Mr. Mills, Dust Belt

00/866

8 March 1900

Rev. R. Brown, Presbyterian

No	129
Date of Notice	8 March 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Christopher Matthews	Christina Mills
	💍 1900/865
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	48	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	23 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Mills, Dust Belt
Folio	00/866
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 March 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Brown, Presbyterian

130

8 March 1900

Thomas W. Bead
Irene Bunting

Thomas McLeod
Anne Bunting
💍 1900/893

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic

40
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
12 years

St. Johns Church, Woolston

00/902

8 March 1900

Rev. C. H. Gosset, Anglican

No	130
Date of Notice	8 March 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas W. Bead	Irene Bunting
BDM Match (71%)	Thomas McLeod	Anne Bunting
	💍 1900/893
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic
Age	40	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	12 years
Marriage Place	St. Johns Church, Woolston
Folio	00/902
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 March 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Gosset, Anglican

131

8 March 1900

Charles Ray McNeely
Emma Margaret McNeely

Charles Ray
Emma Margaret McNeely
💍 1900/2313

Bachelor
Spinster

Horseman
Dressmaker

28
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

12 years
15 years

St. Peters Church, Woolston

00/920

8 March 1900

Rev. J. W. Platt, Presbyterian

No	131
Date of Notice	8 March 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Ray McNeely	Emma Margaret McNeely
BDM Match (79%)	Charles Ray	Emma Margaret McNeely
	💍 1900/2313
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Horseman	Dressmaker
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	12 years	15 years
Marriage Place	St. Peters Church, Woolston
Folio	00/920
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 March 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Platt, Presbyterian

132

8 March 1900

George Cooper Leslie
Mabel Margaret Leslie

George Cooper
Mabel Margaret Leslie
💍 1900/904

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

26
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

26 years
21 years

Burwood Anglican Church

00/912

8 March 1900

Rev. F. R. Inwood, Anglican

No	132
Date of Notice	8 March 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Cooper Leslie	Mabel Margaret Leslie
BDM Match (83%)	George Cooper	Mabel Margaret Leslie
	💍 1900/904
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	26 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Burwood Anglican Church
Folio	00/912
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 March 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. R. Inwood, Anglican

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).