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 896

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 1900 Registrar J. M. Macfarlane

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

554

13 November 1900

George Brain
Norah E. Conner

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic

38
37

Waian
Christchurch

5 years
3 weeks

Roman Catholic Church, Hawarden

00/5171

13 November 1900

Rev. F. W. Price, Romanist

No	554
Date of Notice	13 November 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Brain	Norah E. Conner
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic
Age	38	37
Dwelling Place	Waian	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Hawarden
Folio	00/5171
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 November 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. W. Price, Romanist

555

13 November 1900

Sydney Arthur Orchards
Gertrude Howard

Sydney Arthur Orchard
Gertrude Howard
💍 1900/5939

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman

24
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
17 years

House of Mr. W. Howard, Hanmer Rd., Richmond

00/5013

13 November 1900

Rev. J. Orchards, Wesleyan

No	555
Date of Notice	13 November 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Arthur Orchards	Gertrude Howard
BDM Match (98%)	Sydney Arthur Orchard	Gertrude Howard
	💍 1900/5939
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	17 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. W. Howard, Hanmer Rd., Richmond
Folio	00/5013
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 November 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Orchards, Wesleyan

556

13 November 1900

John Thomas Dixon
Margaret Palmer

John Thomas Dixon
Margaret Palmer
💍 1900/4648

Widower
Spinster

Butcher

37
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

37 years
20 years

House of Mr. J. Palmer, Papanui

00/5049

13 November 1900

Rev. J. M. Simpson, Presbyterian

No	556
Date of Notice	13 November 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas Dixon	Margaret Palmer
	💍 1900/4648
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	37	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	37 years	20 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. J. Palmer, Papanui
Folio	00/5049
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 November 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Simpson, Presbyterian

557

14 November 1900

George Searle
Harriet Vincent

George Searle
Harriet Vincent
💍 1900/5295

Widower
Spinster

Hotelkeeper

54
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 weeks
28 years

Pro Cathedral, Barbados St., Christchurch

00/5178

14 November 1900

Rev. H. W. Younch, Romanist

No	557
Date of Notice	14 November 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Searle	Harriet Vincent
	💍 1900/5295
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Hotelkeeper
Age	54	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 weeks	28 years
Marriage Place	Pro Cathedral, Barbados St., Christchurch
Folio	00/5178
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 November 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. W. Younch, Romanist

558

14 November 1900

Thomas John Brunsdon
Amelia Parry

Thomas John Brunsdon
Amelia Parry
💍 1900/4504

Widower
Spinster

Baker
Domestic

37
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 months
1 year

House of David Moore, Woolston

00/5016

14 November 1900

Rev. J. Burton, Wesleyan

No	558
Date of Notice	14 November 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas John Brunsdon	Amelia Parry
	💍 1900/4504
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic
Age	37	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 months	1 year
Marriage Place	House of David Moore, Woolston
Folio	00/5016
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 November 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Burton, Wesleyan

559

14 November 1900

Walter Prime Curnie
Agnes Hodgson

Walter Prime
Annie Hodgson
💍 1900/4502

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

22
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

21 years
3 months

House of Mr. J. Hopping, Manuel Rd., Woolston

00/5014

14 November 1900

Rev. R. Taylor, Wesleyan

No	559
Date of Notice	14 November 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Prime Curnie	Agnes Hodgson
BDM Match (70%)	Walter Prime	Annie Hodgson
	💍 1900/4502
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	21 years	3 months
Marriage Place	House of Mr. J. Hopping, Manuel Rd., Woolston
Folio	00/5014
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 November 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Taylor, Wesleyan

560

17 November 1900

Arthur Owen Hopkins
Annie Hopkins

Arthur Allen
Annie Hopkins
💍 1900/4503

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

23
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

23 years
21 years

House of Mr. H. Hopkins, Woolston

00/5015

17 November 1900

Rev. R. Taylor, Wesleyan

No	560
Date of Notice	17 November 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Owen Hopkins	Annie Hopkins
BDM Match (71%)	Arthur Allen	Annie Hopkins
	💍 1900/4503
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	23 years	21 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. H. Hopkins, Woolston
Folio	00/5015
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 November 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Taylor, Wesleyan

561

19 November 1900

Alfred Billett
Mary Jane Keefe

Alfred Billett Mansfield
Mary Jane Keefe
💍 1900/5102

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Tailoress

36
32

Christchurch
Christchurch

8 years
20 years

St. Mary's Church, Addington

00/5080

19 November 1900

Rev. W. J. Bean, Anglican

No	561
Date of Notice	19 November 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Billett	Mary Jane Keefe
BDM Match (79%)	Alfred Billett Mansfield	Mary Jane Keefe
	💍 1900/5102
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Tailoress
Age	36	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Addington
Folio	00/5080
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 November 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Bean, Anglican

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).