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 239

District of Palmerston North Quarter ending 30 September 1880 Registrar Robt. G. Heeling

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

27 July 1900

Thomas Seed
Ellen Stringer

Thomas Seed
Ellen Stringer
💍 1900/3595

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook

44
42

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
3 days

At the Office of the Registrar Palmerston North

00/3182

27 July 1900

Robt. G. Heeling, Registrar, Palmerston North

No	47
Date of Notice	27 July 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Seed	Ellen Stringer
	💍 1900/3595
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook
Age	44	42
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	At the Office of the Registrar Palmerston North
Folio	00/3182
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 July 1900
Officiating Minister	Robt. G. Heeling, Registrar, Palmerston North

30 July 1900

Francis Harding
Elizabeth Mary Newbury

Francis Harding
Elizabeth Mary Newbury
💍 1900/3604

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

36
20

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

6 weeks
1 year

At the House of C. J. Newbury, Palmerston North

00/3190

Charles John Newbury, Father

30 July 1900

Rev. T. W. Newbold, Presbyterian Minister, Palmerston North

No	48
Date of Notice	30 July 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Harding	Elizabeth Mary Newbury
	💍 1900/3604
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	36	20
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	6 weeks	1 year
Marriage Place	At the House of C. J. Newbury, Palmerston North
Folio	00/3190
Consent	Charles John Newbury, Father
Date of Certificate	30 July 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. W. Newbold, Presbyterian Minister, Palmerston North

30 July 1900

Thomas Whiteside
Florence Nathan

Thomas Whiteside McIlroy
Florence Lizzie Nathan
💍 1900/3602

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

39
25

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
25 years

At the House of J. C. Nathan, Fitzherbert East

00/3188

30 July 1900

Rev. J. L. Laury, Wesleyan Minister, Palmerston North

No	49
Date of Notice	30 July 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Whiteside	Florence Nathan
BDM Match (67%)	Thomas Whiteside McIlroy	Florence Lizzie Nathan
	💍 1900/3602
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	39	25
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	At the House of J. C. Nathan, Fitzherbert East
Folio	00/3188
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 July 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. L. Laury, Wesleyan Minister, Palmerston North

1 August 1900

William Henry Rice
Louisa Augusta Ashtai

William Henry Rice
Louisa Augusta Ashton
💍 1900/3596

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

22
22

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

4 months
4 months

At the Office of the Registrar, Palmerston North

00/3183

1 August 1900

Robt. G. Heeling, Registrar, Palmerston North

No	50
Date of Notice	1 August 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Rice	Louisa Augusta Ashtai
BDM Match (95%)	William Henry Rice	Louisa Augusta Ashton
	💍 1900/3596
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	4 months	4 months
Marriage Place	At the Office of the Registrar, Palmerston North
Folio	00/3183
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 August 1900
Officiating Minister	Robt. G. Heeling, Registrar, Palmerston North

6 August 1900

Walter Jonas Cotton
Lily May

Walter Thomas Cotton
Lily May
💍 1900/3701

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

21
22

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

6 months
5 months

At the House of John May, Palmerston North

00/3212

6 August 1900

Rev. E. Richards, Baptist Minister, Palmerston North

No	51
Date of Notice	6 August 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Jonas Cotton	Lily May
BDM Match (93%)	Walter Thomas Cotton	Lily May
	💍 1900/3701
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	6 months	5 months
Marriage Place	At the House of John May, Palmerston North
Folio	00/3212
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 August 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Richards, Baptist Minister, Palmerston North

20 August 1900

William McIvor
Nellie Caird

William McIvor
Nellie Caird
💍 1900/3606

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor

34
25

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

4 years
4 years

At the House of George Caird, Palmerston North

00/3192

20 August 1900

Rev. J. W. Newbold, Wesleyan Minister, Palmerston North

No	52
Date of Notice	20 August 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McIvor	Nellie Caird
	💍 1900/3606
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor
Age	34	25
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	At the House of George Caird, Palmerston North
Folio	00/3192
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 August 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Newbold, Wesleyan Minister, Palmerston North

22 August 1900

Charles Edmund Freeman
Jane Elizabeth Richardson

Charles Edmund Freeman
Jane Elizabeth Richardson
💍 1900/3605

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

32
30

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

1 year
6 months

At the House of V. Cook, The Square, Palmerston North

00/3191

22 August 1900

Rev. J. W. Newbold, Wesleyan Minister, Palmerston North

No	53
Date of Notice	22 August 1900
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edmund Freeman	Jane Elizabeth Richardson
	💍 1900/3605
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	32	30
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	1 year	6 months
Marriage Place	At the House of V. Cook, The Square, Palmerston North
Folio	00/3191
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 August 1900
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Newbold, Wesleyan Minister, Palmerston North

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).