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 345

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

1 January 1900

David Samuel Mumford
Margaret Murphy

David Samuel Mumford
Margaret Murphy
💍 1900/2285

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

20
18

Christchurch
Christchurch

20 years
18 years

Roman Catholic Church, Manchester St.

00/860

Samuel Mumford, father of groom; Neven Murphy, father of bride

24 January 1900

Rev. M. J. Mannane, Roman Catholic

No	53
Date of Notice	1 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Samuel Mumford	Margaret Murphy
	💍 1900/2285
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	20	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Manchester St.
Folio	00/860
Consent	Samuel Mumford, father of groom; Neven Murphy, father of bride
Date of Certificate	24 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. J. Mannane, Roman Catholic

25 January 1900

George Arthur Betts
Grace Goodman

George Arthur Betts
Grace Goodman
💍 1900/846

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

33
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

12 years
21 years

St. Mary's Church

00/830

25 January 1900

Rev. W. J. Beau, Anglican

No	54
Date of Notice	25 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Arthur Betts	Grace Goodman
	💍 1900/846
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	33	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	12 years	21 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church
Folio	00/830
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Beau, Anglican

26 January 1900

Harry Baker
Edith Hamdlin

Harry Baker
Edith Hamilton
💍 1900/903

Bachelor
Spinster

Stationer

35
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

35 years
12 years

Congregational Church, Worcester St.

00/911

26 January 1900

Rev. J. D. Bader, Congregationalist

No	55
Date of Notice	26 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Baker	Edith Hamdlin
BDM Match (89%)	Harry Baker	Edith Hamilton
	💍 1900/903
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stationer
Age	35	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	35 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Worcester St.
Folio	00/911
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. D. Bader, Congregationalist

27 January 1900

Albert Willis Coburn
Sarah Waugh Coburn

Albert Willis
Sarah Waugh Coburn
💍 1900/808

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Machinist

21
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

21 years
1 year

Registrar's Office

00/791

27 January 1900

Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Henderson

No	56
Date of Notice	27 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Willis Coburn	Sarah Waugh Coburn
BDM Match (83%)	Albert Willis	Sarah Waugh Coburn
	💍 1900/808
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Machinist
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	21 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	00/791
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Henderson

27 January 1900

James Jayers Adam
Mary Margaret Adam

James Sayers
Mary Margaret Adam
💍 1900/809

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

30
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
20 years

Registrar's Office

00/792

George Adam, Father

27 January 1900

Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Henderson

No	57
Date of Notice	27 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Jayers Adam	Mary Margaret Adam
BDM Match (82%)	James Sayers	Mary Margaret Adam
	💍 1900/809
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	30	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	00/792
Consent	George Adam, Father
Date of Certificate	27 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Henderson

27 January 1900

Charles William Hawley
Carry Gertrude Woollett

Charles William Hawley
Annie Gertrude Woollett
💍 1900/847

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineman

26
23

Christchurch
Addington

26 years
23 years

St. Mary's Church

00/831

27 January 1900

Rev. W. J. Beau, Anglican

No	58
Date of Notice	27 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles William Hawley	Carry Gertrude Woollett
BDM Match (89%)	Charles William Hawley	Annie Gertrude Woollett
	💍 1900/847
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineman
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Addington
Length of Residence	26 years	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church
Folio	00/831
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Beau, Anglican

29 January 1900

William Frederick Charles Jamels
May Jacob Patten

William Frederick Charles Samuels
May Sarah Patten
💍 1900/2301

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Governess

27
27

Christchurch
House of Mrs. H. Patten, Worcester St.

24 years
27 years

House of Mrs. H. Patten, Worcester St.

00/928

29 January 1900

Rev. W. Worley, Wesleyan

No	59
Date of Notice	29 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Frederick Charles Jamels	May Jacob Patten
BDM Match (84%)	William Frederick Charles Samuels	May Sarah Patten
	💍 1900/2301
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Governess
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	House of Mrs. H. Patten, Worcester St.
Length of Residence	24 years	27 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. H. Patten, Worcester St.
Folio	00/928
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Worley, Wesleyan

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).