Intentions to Marry, 1901 North Island

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840419, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, September 22 2025

1901 is bound in two volumes, North Island districts and South Island districts.

Page 678

District of Stratford Quarter ending 31 March 1901 Registrar S. Hames

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

7 January 1901

George Moroson
Mary Thoraborrow Richardson

George Rowson
Mary Thornborrow Richardson
💍 1901/5614

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

21
20

New Plymouth
Stratford

21 years
20 years

Residence of Joseph Richardson, Opanake road

01/344

Joseph Richardson, father

7 January 1901

Rev. G. P. Hunt, Primitive Methodist

No	1
Date of Notice	7 January 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Moroson	Mary Thoraborrow Richardson
BDM Match (87%)	George Rowson	Mary Thornborrow Richardson
	💍 1901/5614
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	New Plymouth	Stratford
Length of Residence	21 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Joseph Richardson, Opanake road
Folio	01/344
Consent	Joseph Richardson, father
Date of Certificate	7 January 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. P. Hunt, Primitive Methodist

11 January 1901

William Boynton Ireland
Annie Cook

William Boynton Ireland
Annie Cook
💍 1901/5615

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

52
33

Stratford
Stratford

20 years
8 years

Residence of Wm Starnes, East road

01/345

11 January 1901

Rev. B. Hutson, Presbyterian

No	2
Date of Notice	11 January 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Boynton Ireland	Annie Cook
	💍 1901/5615
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	52	33
Dwelling Place	Stratford	Stratford
Length of Residence	20 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Wm Starnes, East road
Folio	01/345
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 January 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Hutson, Presbyterian

4 February 1901

Charles Edward Williams
Edith Charlotte Gibson

Charles Edward Williams
Edith Charlotte Gibson
💍 1901/5977

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

29
24

Wanganui
Stratford

10 years
2 years

The Church of England, Stratford

01/353

4 February 1901

Rev. A. D. Boyes, Church of England

No	3
Date of Notice	4 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edward Williams	Edith Charlotte Gibson
	💍 1901/5977
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Stratford
Length of Residence	10 years	2 years
Marriage Place	The Church of England, Stratford
Folio	01/353
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. D. Boyes, Church of England

11 February 1901

William Edward Keefe
Ellen Mary Josephine Wareham

William Edward Keefe
Ellen Mary Josephine Wartham
💍 1901/5598

Bachelor
Spinster

Civil Servant

35
27

Wellington
Stratford

30 years
4 months

The Roman Catholic Church at Stratford

01/351

11 February 1901

Rev. Father W. Johnson, Roman Catholic

No	4
Date of Notice	11 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Edward Keefe	Ellen Mary Josephine Wareham
BDM Match (98%)	William Edward Keefe	Ellen Mary Josephine Wartham
	💍 1901/5598
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Civil Servant
Age	35	27
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Stratford
Length of Residence	30 years	4 months
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church at Stratford
Folio	01/351
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father W. Johnson, Roman Catholic

13 February 1901

Jens Peter Devantier
Janette White

Jens Peter Devantier
Janette White
💍 1901/5595

Widower
Widow

Farmer

42
35

Midhurst
Midhurst

5 years
6 months

Residence of J. P. Devantier, Radnor road, Midhurst

01/348

13 February 1901

Rev. G. Clement, Primitive Methodist

No	5
Date of Notice	13 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jens Peter Devantier	Janette White
	💍 1901/5595
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	42	35
Dwelling Place	Midhurst	Midhurst
Length of Residence	5 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Residence of J. P. Devantier, Radnor road, Midhurst
Folio	01/348
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Clement, Primitive Methodist

16 February 1901

Alfred James William Hancock
Margaret Robertson

Alfred James William Hancock
Margaret Robertson
💍 1901/5596

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill hand

19
19

Midhurst
Midhurst

14 years
19 years

Residence of Thos. Robertson at Midhurst

01/349

R. J. W. Hancock, Brother-Guardian; Matilda Peppered, mother

18 February 1901

Rev. G. Clement, Primitive Methodist

No	6
Date of Notice	16 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred James William Hancock	Margaret Robertson
	💍 1901/5596
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill hand
Age	19	19
Dwelling Place	Midhurst	Midhurst
Length of Residence	14 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Thos. Robertson at Midhurst
Folio	01/349
Consent	R. J. W. Hancock, Brother-Guardian; Matilda Peppered, mother
Date of Certificate	18 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Clement, Primitive Methodist

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).