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 352

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 1900 Registrar J. M. Ollivier

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

455

13 September 1900

William Martin
Helen Gertrude King

William Martin
Helen Gertrude King
💍 1900/2045

Bachelor
Spinster

Bricklayer
Hatmaker

23
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

23 years
9 years

Holy Trinity Church

00/3578

13 September 1900

Rev. C. R. Pollock, Anglican

No	455
Date of Notice	13 September 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Martin	Helen Gertrude King
	💍 1900/2045
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer	Hatmaker
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	23 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church
Folio	00/3578
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 September 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. R. Pollock, Anglican

456

13 September 1900

Joseph Henry Townsend
Annie Grace Moore

Joseph Henry Townend
Annie Quayle Moore
💍 1900/3839

Widower
Spinster

Physician

52
50

Christchurch
Fendalton

25 years
7 years

St. Barnabas Church

00/3634

13 September 1900

Rev. J. A. Hamilton, Anglican

No	456
Date of Notice	13 September 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Henry Townsend	Annie Grace Moore
BDM Match (87%)	Joseph Henry Townend	Annie Quayle Moore
	💍 1900/3839
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Physician
Age	52	50
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Fendalton
Length of Residence	25 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St. Barnabas Church
Folio	00/3634
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 September 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Hamilton, Anglican

457

15 September 1900

Albert Rule
Ellen Louisa Brown

Albert Rule
Ellen Louisa Brown
💍 1900/2042

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

29
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
7 weeks

St. Michael's Church

00/3575

15 September 1900

Rev. C. W. Averies, Anglican

No	457
Date of Notice	15 September 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Rule	Ellen Louisa Brown
	💍 1900/2042
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	7 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church
Folio	00/3575
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 September 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. W. Averies, Anglican

458

17 September 1900

James Boundy
Sarah Rebecca Thackelford

James Boundey
Sarah Rebecca Shackleford
💍 1900/3830

Widower
Spinster

Labourer
Governess

57
59

Christchurch
Christchurch

36 years
12 years

House of Mrs. Watt, Armagh St.

00/3613

17 September 1900

Rev. J. J. Barker, Congregational

No	458
Date of Notice	17 September 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Boundy	Sarah Rebecca Thackelford
BDM Match (90%)	James Boundey	Sarah Rebecca Shackleford
	💍 1900/3830
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Governess
Age	57	59
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	36 years	12 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Watt, Armagh St.
Folio	00/3613
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 September 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Barker, Congregational

459

17 September 1900

William John Taggart
Alice Adelaide Piper

William John Taggart
Alice Adelaide Piper
💍 1900/2002

Bachelor
Spinster

Horse Trainer

32
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

19 years
22 years

Registrar's Office

00/3532

17 September 1900

Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Ollivier

No	459
Date of Notice	17 September 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Taggart	Alice Adelaide Piper
	💍 1900/2002
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Horse Trainer
Age	32	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	19 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	00/3532
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 September 1900
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Ollivier

460

17 September 1900

George William Robertson
Catherine Ellen Murray

George William Robertson
Catherine Ellen Murray
💍 1900/4412

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

26
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

14 years
14 years

St. Paul's Church, Cashel St.

00/5093

17 September 1900

Rev. F. Elmslie, Presbyterian

No	460
Date of Notice	17 September 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George William Robertson	Catherine Ellen Murray
	💍 1900/4412
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	14 years	14 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Cashel St.
Folio	00/5093
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 September 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Elmslie, Presbyterian

461

18 September 1900

Joseph Smith
Margaret Fitzgerald

Joseph Smith
Margaret Mary Fitzgerald
💍 1900/5292

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier

40
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
9 months

Roman Catholic Presbytery, Barbadoes St.

00/5715

18 September 1900

Rev. J. Le Men des, Roman Catholic

No	461
Date of Notice	18 September 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Smith	Margaret Fitzgerald
BDM Match (90%)	Joseph Smith	Margaret Mary Fitzgerald
	💍 1900/5292
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier
Age	40	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	9 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery, Barbadoes St.
Folio	00/5715
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 September 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Le Men des, 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).