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 340

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

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

12 January 1900

John Thomas Rice
Margaret Bell

John Thomas Rice
Margaret Bell
💍 1900/2316

Bachelor
Spinster

Traveller
Dressmaker

37
33

Christchurch
Merivale

37 years
16 years

St. Saviours Church

00/923

12 January 1900

Rev. R. A. Scott, Anglican

No	24
Date of Notice	12 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas Rice	Margaret Bell
	💍 1900/2316
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Traveller	Dressmaker
Age	37	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Merivale
Length of Residence	37 years	16 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviours Church
Folio	00/923
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. A. Scott, Anglican

12 January 1900

Matthew McGuire Morland
Florence Mary Thompson

Mathew McGuire Morland
Florence Mary Thompson
💍 1900/2293

Bachelor
Spinster

Telephonist

26
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

26 years
4 months

St. John's Church

00/845

12 January 1900

Rev. H. M. Watson, Anglican

No	25
Date of Notice	12 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Matthew McGuire Morland	Florence Mary Thompson
BDM Match (98%)	Mathew McGuire Morland	Florence Mary Thompson
	💍 1900/2293
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telephonist
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	26 years	4 months
Marriage Place	St. John's Church
Folio	00/845
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. M. Watson, Anglican

13 January 1900

Andrew Graham Holmes
Elizabeth Thompson

Andrew Graham Holmes
Elizabeth Thompson
💍 1900/887

Alfred Eustace
Elizabeth Thompson
💍 1900/4312

Joseph Gilmour
Elizabeth Thompson
💍 1900/4691

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

32
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
1 year

Presbyterian Church, Colombo St.

00/872

13 January 1900

Rev. R. Scott Allan, Presbyterian

No	26
Date of Notice	13 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Graham Holmes	Elizabeth Thompson
	💍 1900/887
BDM Match (65%)	Alfred Eustace	Elizabeth Thompson
	💍 1900/4312
BDM Match (60%)	Joseph Gilmour	Elizabeth Thompson
	💍 1900/4691
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	32	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Colombo St.
Folio	00/872
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Scott Allan, Presbyterian

15 January 1900

John Turey
Margaret Pettie

John Durey
Margaret Pithie
💍 1900/799

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic

29
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

29 years
3 days

Registrar's Office

00/802

15 January 1900

Registrar of Marriages, J. J. Patterson

No	27
Date of Notice	15 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Turey	Margaret Pettie
BDM Match (88%)	John Durey	Margaret Pithie
	💍 1900/799
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	29 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	00/802
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. J. Patterson

15 January 1900

John Doughty
Crissy Amelia Barnett

John Lough
Crissy Amelia Barrett
💍 1900/5620

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

32
31

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
31 years

Anglican Church, Tai Tapu

00/585

15 January 1900

H. Williams

No	28
Date of Notice	15 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Doughty	Crissy Amelia Barnett
BDM Match (85%)	John Lough	Crissy Amelia Barrett
	💍 1900/5620
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	32	31
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	31 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Tai Tapu
Folio	00/585
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1900
Officiating Minister	H. Williams

15 January 1900

James Sutton Flesher
Margaret Lucy England

James Arthur Flesher
Margaret Lucy England
💍 1900/884

Bachelor
Widow

Solicitor

34
32

Christchurch
Christchurch

34 years
16 years

Wesleyan Church, St. Albans

00/869

15 January 1900

Rev. R. Taylor, Wesleyan

No	29
Date of Notice	15 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Sutton Flesher	Margaret Lucy England
BDM Match (88%)	James Arthur Flesher	Margaret Lucy England
	💍 1900/884
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Solicitor
Age	34	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	34 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, St. Albans
Folio	00/869
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Taylor, Wesleyan

15 January 1900

Maurice Martin
Nellie Burbery

Maurice Morton
Nellie Burbery
💍 1900/800

Bachelor
Spinster

Fitter
Domestic

34
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
2 years

Registrar's Office

00/983

15 January 1900

Registrar of Marriages, J. J. Patterson

No	30
Date of Notice	15 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Maurice Martin	Nellie Burbery
BDM Match (93%)	Maurice Morton	Nellie Burbery
	💍 1900/800
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fitter	Domestic
Age	34	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	00/983
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. J. Patterson

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).