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 051

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 31 March 1900

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

1118

25 January 1900

Thomas Walls
Ellen Keenan

Thomas Walls
Ellen Keenan
💍 1900/839

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Servant

28
25

Kaiti
Kaiti

5 years
6 weeks

Roman Catholic Chapel, Gisborne

00/656

25 January 1900

Rev. F. Holwell, Roman Catholic Minister

No	1118
Date of Notice	25 January 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Walls	Ellen Keenan
	💍 1900/839
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Servant
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Kaiti	Kaiti
Length of Residence	5 years	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Chapel, Gisborne
Folio	00/656
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Holwell, Roman Catholic Minister

1119

6 February 1900

John McFarlane
Harriet Hamilton

John McFarlane
Harriet Hamilton
💍 1900/836

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
None

35
27

Matawhero
Ormond

25 years
6 months

at the residence of William Johnson, Ormond

00/653

6 February 1900

Rev. I. E. Love, Church of England

No	1119
Date of Notice	6 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McFarlane	Harriet Hamilton
	💍 1900/836
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	None
Age	35	27
Dwelling Place	Matawhero	Ormond
Length of Residence	25 years	6 months
Marriage Place	at the residence of William Johnson, Ormond
Folio	00/653
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. E. Love, Church of England

1120

7 February 1900

James O'Neil
Emily Jane Burch

James O'Neil
Emily Jane Burch
💍 1900/820

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

28
25

Gisborne
Gisborne

6 years
24 years

at the residence of Edward John Burch, Palmerston Road, Gisborne

00/661

7 February 1900

Rev. D. P. Galloway, Presbyterian Minister

No	1120
Date of Notice	7 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James O'Neil	Emily Jane Burch
	💍 1900/820
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	6 years	24 years
Marriage Place	at the residence of Edward John Burch, Palmerston Road, Gisborne
Folio	00/661
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. P. Galloway, Presbyterian Minister

1121

7 February 1900

Alfred Sharp
Elizabeth Ellen O'Dwyer

Alfred Sharp
Elizabeth Ellen O'Dwyer
💍 1900/840

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

25
20

Gisborne
Waerenga

9 years
all her life

Roman Catholic Chapel, Gisborne

00/657

Edward O'Dwyer, father of Elizabeth Ellen O'Dwyer

7 February 1900

Rev. F. Holwell, Roman Catholic

No	1121
Date of Notice	7 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Sharp	Elizabeth Ellen O'Dwyer
	💍 1900/840
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Waerenga
Length of Residence	9 years	all her life
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Chapel, Gisborne
Folio	00/657
Consent	Edward O'Dwyer, father of Elizabeth Ellen O'Dwyer
Date of Certificate	7 February 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Holwell, Roman Catholic

1122

12 February 1900

Henry Heartsly Dods
Murielle Francis Richardson

Henry Heatley Dods
Murielle Frances Richardson
💍 1900/837

Bachelor
Spinster

Settler
None

25
22

Waimata Valley
Makaraka

13 years
22 years

at the residence of Mrs. Richardson

00/654

12 February 1900

Rev. I. E. Love, Church of England

No	1122
Date of Notice	12 February 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Heartsly Dods	Murielle Francis Richardson
BDM Match (90%)	Henry Heatley Dods	Murielle Frances Richardson
	💍 1900/837
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Settler	None
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Waimata Valley	Makaraka
Length of Residence	13 years	22 years
Marriage Place	at the residence of Mrs. Richardson
Folio	00/654
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. E. Love, 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).