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 794

District of Waipawa Quarter ending 31 March 1901 Registrar Samuel Johnson

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

615

10 January 1901

Harry Beachen
Louise Matting

Harry Beachen
Louisa Mattwig
💍 1901/5853

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

24
21

Onga Onga
Onga Onga

4 days
3 days

St. Peter's Church, Waipawa

01/400

10 January 1901

Rev. W. Swinburn

No	615
Date of Notice	10 January 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Beachen	Louise Matting
BDM Match (89%)	Harry Beachen	Louisa Mattwig
	💍 1901/5853
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Onga Onga	Onga Onga
Length of Residence	4 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Waipawa
Folio	01/400
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Swinburn

616

15 January 1901

John Cattenach Davidson
Flora McLeod

John Catternach Davidson
Flora McLeod
💍 1901/5857

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

25
26

Tannerike
Worrite, Onga Onga

4 years
26 years

Residence T. McLeod, Tannerike

01/404

15 January 1901

Rev. H. W. Johnston

No	616
Date of Notice	15 January 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Cattenach Davidson	Flora McLeod
BDM Match (98%)	John Catternach Davidson	Flora McLeod
	💍 1901/5857
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Tannerike	Worrite, Onga Onga
Length of Residence	4 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Residence T. McLeod, Tannerike
Folio	01/404
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. W. Johnston

617

29 January 1901

George Robert Hale
Flora McKenzie

George Robt Hall
Bessie McKenzie
💍 1901/5856

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic Duties

35
28

Waipawa
Tamumu West

3 days
3 days

Residence Mrs McKenzie, Tamumu

01/403

29 January 1901

Rev. T. McDonald

No	617
Date of Notice	29 January 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Robert Hale	Flora McKenzie
BDM Match (72%)	George Robt Hall	Bessie McKenzie
	💍 1901/5856
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic Duties
Age	35	28
Dwelling Place	Waipawa	Tamumu West
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence Mrs McKenzie, Tamumu
Folio	01/403
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. McDonald

618

11 February 1901

Charles Henry Nash
Janet Lightoller

Charles Henry Nash
Janet Lightoller
💍 1901/5854

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic Duties

22
18

Waipawa
Waipawa

17 years
8 years

St. Peter's Church, Waipawa

01/401

F. G. Lightoller, Father

11 February 1901

Rev. W. Swinburn

No	618
Date of Notice	11 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Nash	Janet Lightoller
	💍 1901/5854
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic Duties
Age	22	18
Dwelling Place	Waipawa	Waipawa
Length of Residence	17 years	8 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Waipawa
Folio	01/401
Consent	F. G. Lightoller, Father
Date of Certificate	11 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Swinburn

619

15 March 1901

Henry Whyther Johnston
Lydia Ness

Henry Whyte Johnston
Lydia Nen
💍 1901/5855

Bachelor
Spinster

Minister

47
37

Waipawa
Kaikora

12 years
9 months

Residence Jas. Tod, Kaikora

01/402

15 March 1901

Rev. John Asher

No	619
Date of Notice	15 March 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Whyther Johnston	Lydia Ness
BDM Match (85%)	Henry Whyte Johnston	Lydia Nen
	💍 1901/5855
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Minister
Age	47	37
Dwelling Place	Waipawa	Kaikora
Length of Residence	12 years	9 months
Marriage Place	Residence Jas. Tod, Kaikora
Folio	01/402
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Asher

620

20 March 1901

Henry Forreen
Emily Elizabeth Foulis

Henry Dorreen
Emily Elizabeth Foulds
💍 1901/5978

Divorced
Widow

Farmer
Farmer

44
43

Wakarara
Wakarara

6 years
15 years

Office of Registrar, Waipawa

01/406

20 March 1901

Samuel Johnson, Registrar

No	620
Date of Notice	20 March 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Forreen	Emily Elizabeth Foulis
BDM Match (94%)	Henry Dorreen	Emily Elizabeth Foulds
	💍 1901/5978
Condition	Divorced	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Farmer
Age	44	43
Dwelling Place	Wakarara	Wakarara
Length of Residence	6 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar, Waipawa
Folio	01/406
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1901
Officiating Minister	Samuel Johnson, Registrar

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).