Intentions to Marry, 1900 July-December

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840418, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, September 12 2025

1900 is bound in two volumes, January-June and July-December.

Page 233

District of Pahiatua Quarter ending 30 September 1900 Registrar William J. Reeve

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 July 1900

Clarence Ernest Newport
Agnes Emma Brown

Claud Earnest Newport
Agnes Emma Brown
💍 1900/3607

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawyer
House duties

23
24

Pahiatua
Pahiatua

2 years
6 years

Presbyterian Church, Pahiatua

00/3170

9 July 1900

Rev. James M. Law, Presbyterian

No	24
Date of Notice	9 July 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clarence Ernest Newport	Agnes Emma Brown
BDM Match (87%)	Claud Earnest Newport	Agnes Emma Brown
	💍 1900/3607
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawyer	House duties
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Pahiatua
Length of Residence	2 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Pahiatua
Folio	00/3170
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 July 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. James M. Law, Presbyterian

17 July 1900

John Alexander Gibbons
Ethel Williams

John Alexander Gibbons
Ethel Williams
💍 1900/3589

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
House duties

23
19

Pahiatua
Pahiatua

4 years
9 years

Registrar's Office, Pahiatua

00/3168

Mary William, Mother

17 July 1900

William J. Reeve, Registrar

No	25
Date of Notice	17 July 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Alexander Gibbons	Ethel Williams
	💍 1900/3589
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	House duties
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Pahiatua
Length of Residence	4 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Pahiatua
Folio	00/3168
Consent	Mary William, Mother
Date of Certificate	17 July 1900
Officiating Minister	William J. Reeve, Registrar

19 July 1900

Joseph McKenny
Margaret McMullen

Joseph McKenny
Margaret McMullen
💍 1900/3610

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawyer
House duties

34
21

Pahiatua
Mangatawainui

14 years
7 years

Roman Catholic Church, Pahiatua

00/3173

19 July 1900

Rev. J. M. Kenna, Roman Catholic

No	26
Date of Notice	19 July 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph McKenny	Margaret McMullen
	💍 1900/3610
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawyer	House duties
Age	34	21
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Mangatawainui
Length of Residence	14 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Pahiatua
Folio	00/3173
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Kenna, Roman Catholic

20 July 1900

Thomas Prior Darley
Mary Ellen Howard

Thomas Prior Darley
Mary Ellen Howard
💍 1900/3590

Bachelor
Spinster

Settler
House duties

29
24

Pahiatua
Mangatawainui

12 days
8 years

Residence of John James, Mangatawainui

00/3177

20 July 1900

Rev. H. B. Marshall, Church of England

No	27
Date of Notice	20 July 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Prior Darley	Mary Ellen Howard
	💍 1900/3590
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Settler	House duties
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Mangatawainui
Length of Residence	12 days	8 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John James, Mangatawainui
Folio	00/3177
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. B. Marshall, Church of England

6 August 1900

Daniel O'Brien
Sarah Jane McCloskey

Daniel OBrien
Sarah Jane McCloskey
💍 1900/3611

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
House duties

33
21

Pahiatua
Makakahi

10 years
4 years

Roman Catholic Church, Pahiatua

00/3174

6 August 1900

Rev. Jas. M. Kenna, Roman Catholic

No	28
Date of Notice	6 August 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel O'Brien	Sarah Jane McCloskey
BDM Match (96%)	Daniel OBrien	Sarah Jane McCloskey
	💍 1900/3611
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	House duties
Age	33	21
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Makakahi
Length of Residence	10 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Pahiatua
Folio	00/3174
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 August 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. M. Kenna, Roman Catholic

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 1908. 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).