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 350

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

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

9 February 1900

Edward Wilding
May Elizabeth

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

22
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

22 years
14 years

Registrar's Office

00/800

9 February 1900

J. M. W. Anderson, Registrar of Marriages

No	82
Date of Notice	9 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Wilding	May Elizabeth
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	22 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	00/800
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1900
Officiating Minister	J. M. W. Anderson, Registrar of Marriages

10 February 1900

Allen Young Miller
Herbert William Hill

Ellen Young Miller
Herbert William Hill
💍 1900/889

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

25
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

12 years
21 years

House of Mr. Jas. Miller, Steward St.

00/784

10 February 1900

Rev. R. Scott, Presbyterian

No	83
Date of Notice	10 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Allen Young Miller	Herbert William Hill
BDM Match (97%)	Ellen Young Miller	Herbert William Hill
	💍 1900/889
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	12 years	21 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Jas. Miller, Steward St.
Folio	00/784
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Scott, Presbyterian

12 February 1900

Will Hamer Butterworth
Kate Samuels

Will Hamer Butterworth
Flora Kate Samuels
💍 1900/2296

Widower
Widow

Railway Clerk

44
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
18 years

St. John's Church, Latimer St.

00/848

12 February 1900

Rev. H. C. M. Watson, Church of England

No	84
Date of Notice	12 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Will Hamer Butterworth	Kate Samuels
BDM Match (83%)	Will Hamer Butterworth	Flora Kate Samuels
	💍 1900/2296
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Railway Clerk
Age	44	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	18 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Latimer St.
Folio	00/848
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. C. M. Watson, Church of England

12 February 1900

Charles Brice
Melvena Ellen Beattie

Charles Brice
Malvena Ellen Ward
💍 1900/2297

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

29
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

29 years
3 years

St. John's Church, Latimer St.

00/849

No person having authority, Anglican to Consent

27 February 1900

Rev. H. C. M. Watson, Anglican

No	85
Date of Notice	12 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Brice	Melvena Ellen Beattie
BDM Match (83%)	Charles Brice	Malvena Ellen Ward
	💍 1900/2297
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	29	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	29 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Latimer St.
Folio	00/849
Consent	No person having authority, Anglican to Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. C. M. Watson, Anglican

13 February 1900

John Dwille Wickenden
Agnes Mary Beath

John Emille Wickenden
Agnes Mary Beath
💍 1900/902

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

42
25

Christchurch
Riccarton

3 years
25 years

House of Mr. G. L. Beath

00/910

13 February 1900

Rev. J. Baller, Congregational

No	86
Date of Notice	13 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Dwille Wickenden	Agnes Mary Beath
BDM Match (95%)	John Emille Wickenden	Agnes Mary Beath
	💍 1900/902
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	42	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Riccarton
Length of Residence	3 years	25 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. G. L. Beath
Folio	00/910
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Baller, Congregational

14 February 1900

John Thomas Willis
Emma Englefield

John Thomas Willis
Emma Englefield
💍 1900/2309

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

30
25

Christchurch
Belfast

3 days
5 years

House of Mr. Buglefield

00/917

14 February 1900

Rev. J. M. Simpson, Presbyterian

No	87
Date of Notice	14 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas Willis	Emma Englefield
	💍 1900/2309
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Belfast
Length of Residence	3 days	5 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Buglefield
Folio	00/917
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Simpson, Presbyterian

14 February 1900

Colonel Alfred Alexander Thomas Raper
Maud Colenso

Colonel Alfred Alexander Thomas Raper
Maud Colenso
💍 1900/2457

Bachelor
Spinster

Picture Framer
Domestic

44
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
22 years

Registrar's Office

00/801

14 February 1900

J. M. W. Anderson, Registrar of Marriages

No	88
Date of Notice	14 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Colonel Alfred Alexander Thomas Raper	Maud Colenso
	💍 1900/2457
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Picture Framer	Domestic
Age	44	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	00/801
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1900
Officiating Minister	J. M. W. Anderson, Registrar of Marriages

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).