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 224

District of Masterton Quarter ending 31 March 1900 Registrar M. A. H. Ashby

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 February 1900

James Wilkie Orbell
Sarah Verlinda Davies

James Wilkie Orbell
Sarah Verlinda Davies
💍 1900/466

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Domestic duties

39
29

Masterton
Taueru

3 days
2 months

St. Matthew's Church, Masterton

00/434

1 February 1900

Rev. P. C. W. Earee, Church of England

No	7
Date of Notice	1 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Wilkie Orbell	Sarah Verlinda Davies
	💍 1900/466
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Domestic duties
Age	39	29
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Taueru
Length of Residence	3 days	2 months
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, Masterton
Folio	00/434
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. C. W. Earee, Church of England

3 February 1900

Albert Edwin Barker
Kathleen Elizabeth Harold

Albert Edwin Barker
Kathleen Elizabeth Harold
💍 1900/480

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

21
16

Bideford
Bideford

1 year
9 months

The Registrar's Office, Masterton

00/424

David Hale Harold, father

3 February 1900

The Registrar, Masterton

No	8
Date of Notice	3 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edwin Barker	Kathleen Elizabeth Harold
	💍 1900/480
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	21	16
Dwelling Place	Bideford	Bideford
Length of Residence	1 year	9 months
Marriage Place	The Registrar's Office, Masterton
Folio	00/424
Consent	David Hale Harold, father
Date of Certificate	3 February 1900
Officiating Minister	The Registrar, Masterton

10 February 1900

Herbert Martin Wilton
Rosina Harding

Herbert Martin Wilton
Rosina Harding
💍 1900/463

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Servant

20
20

Masterton
Masterton

20 years
7 years

Residence of Frederick Thomas Harding, Queen Street, Masterton

00/431

William Wilton, father; Frederick Thomas Harding, father

10 February 1900

Rev. S. T. Prior, Wesleyan

No	9
Date of Notice	10 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Martin Wilton	Rosina Harding
	💍 1900/463
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Servant
Age	20	20
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	20 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Frederick Thomas Harding, Queen Street, Masterton
Folio	00/431
Consent	William Wilton, father; Frederick Thomas Harding, father
Date of Certificate	10 February 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. T. Prior, Wesleyan

13 February 1900

David Craig
Mary Henrietta Smith

David Craig
Mary Henrietta Smith
💍 1900/462

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman
Domestic duties

24
36

Masterton
Masterton

10 months
4 days

Residence of James Hendren, Villa Street, Masterton

00/430

13 February 1900

Rev. S. T. Prior, Wesleyan

No	10
Date of Notice	13 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Craig	Mary Henrietta Smith
	💍 1900/462
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman	Domestic duties
Age	24	36
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	10 months	4 days
Marriage Place	Residence of James Hendren, Villa Street, Masterton
Folio	00/430
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. T. Prior, Wesleyan

17 February 1900

James Challis Widows
Sarah Boyd

James Challis
Sarah Boyd
💍 1900/467

Widower
Spinster

Brickmaker
Housekeeper

41
35

Masterton
Masterton

4 years
18 months

St. Matthew's Church, Masterton

00/435

17 February 1900

Rev. P. C. W. Earee, Church of England

No	11
Date of Notice	17 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Challis Widows	Sarah Boyd
BDM Match (83%)	James Challis	Sarah Boyd
	💍 1900/467
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Brickmaker	Housekeeper
Age	41	35
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	4 years	18 months
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, Masterton
Folio	00/435
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. C. W. Earee, Church of England

8 March 1900

Edward Rule
Elizabeth Annie Allen

Edward Rule
Elizabeth Annie Allan
💍 1900/483

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Domestic duties

24
20

Masterton
Masterton

18 months
20 years

Residence of George Allen, Masterton

00/427

George Allen, father

8 March 1900

Rev. P. L. Earee, Church of England

No	12
Date of Notice	8 March 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Rule	Elizabeth Annie Allen
BDM Match (98%)	Edward Rule	Elizabeth Annie Allan
	💍 1900/483
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Domestic duties
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Masterton
Length of Residence	18 months	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of George Allen, Masterton
Folio	00/427
Consent	George Allen, father
Date of Certificate	8 March 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. L. Earee, Church of England

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).