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 1028

District of Sanson Quarter ending 30 June 1901 Registrar G. W. Mitchell

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

20 April 1901

Robert Cecil Cheesman
Helen McGregor

Robert Cecil Cheesman
Helen McGregor
💍 1901/1679

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

34
36

Feilding-Awahuri Road
Awahuri

1 year
2 years

Wesleyan Parsonage, Sanson

01/1982

20 April 1901

Rev. A. C. Lawry

No	2
Date of Notice	20 April 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Cecil Cheesman	Helen McGregor
	💍 1901/1679
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	34	36
Dwelling Place	Feilding-Awahuri Road	Awahuri
Length of Residence	1 year	2 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Parsonage, Sanson
Folio	01/1982
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 April 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. C. Lawry

17 May 1901

Thomas Simpson
Edith Amy Beazer

Thomas Simpson
Edith Amy Beazer
💍 1901/1705

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor

29
23

Feilding-Awahuri Road
Lees Line

23 years
8 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Feilding

01/1985

17 May 1901

Rev. P. W. Jones

No	3
Date of Notice	17 May 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Simpson	Edith Amy Beazer
	💍 1901/1705
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Feilding-Awahuri Road	Lees Line
Length of Residence	23 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Feilding
Folio	01/1985
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 May 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. W. Jones

20 May 1901

William Milne Halley
Jeanie Robertson

William Milne Halley
Aileen Jeanie Robertson
💍 1901/1685

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmiller

25
27

Palmerston North
Awahuri

4 days
4 days

Church of England, Palmerston North

01/1985

20 May 1901

Rev. C. C. Harper

No	4
Date of Notice	20 May 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Milne Halley	Jeanie Robertson
BDM Match (85%)	William Milne Halley	Aileen Jeanie Robertson
	💍 1901/1685
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmiller
Age	25	27
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Awahuri
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Church of England, Palmerston North
Folio	01/1985
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 May 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. C. Harper

4 June 1901

William Strode Penny
Feodotona Hetteyzi de Cortando

William Strode Penny
Feodorma Hottezzi de Cortando
💍 1901/1706

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

27
22

Sanson
Sanson

27 years
5 months

Church of England, Sanson

01/1986

4 June 1901

Rev. A. S. Innes-Jones

No	5
Date of Notice	4 June 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Strode Penny	Feodotona Hetteyzi de Cortando
BDM Match (92%)	William Strode Penny	Feodorma Hottezzi de Cortando
	💍 1901/1706
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Sanson	Sanson
Length of Residence	27 years	5 months
Marriage Place	Church of England, Sanson
Folio	01/1986
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. S. Innes-Jones

10 June 1901

John Ewing Walker
Minnie Amelia Simpson

John Ewing Walker
Minnie Amelia Simpson
💍 1901/1687

Bachelor
Spinster

Livery Stable Keeper

29
20

Sanson
Sanson

3 days
20 years

Wesleyan Church, Sanson

01/1983

Harriett Simpson (mother)

10 June 1901

Rev. A. C. Lawry

No	6
Date of Notice	10 June 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Ewing Walker	Minnie Amelia Simpson
	💍 1901/1687
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Livery Stable Keeper
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Sanson	Sanson
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Sanson
Folio	01/1983
Consent	Harriett Simpson (mother)
Date of Certificate	10 June 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. C. Lawry

10 June 1901

Alfred David Scott
Margaret Cumming Hammond

Alfred David Scott
Margaret Cumming Hammond
💍 1901/1698

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
29

Sanson
Sanson

3 days
27 years

Residence of H. Hammond, Sanson

01/1984

10 June 1901

Rev. A. C. Lawry

No	7
Date of Notice	10 June 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred David Scott	Margaret Cumming Hammond
	💍 1901/1698
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Sanson	Sanson
Length of Residence	3 days	27 years
Marriage Place	Residence of H. Hammond, Sanson
Folio	01/1984
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 June 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. C. Lawry

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).