Intentions to Marry, 1901 South Island

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840420, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, September 22 2025

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

Page 033

District of Blenheim Quarter ending 30 September 1901 Registrar W. V. Hawley

No	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
35	1 July 1901	Albert Robinson Bridget Nolan	Albert Robinson Bridget Nolan 💍 1901/3122	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	26 23	Spring Creek Grovetown	1 week 23 years	House of Mr J. Nolan, Grovetown	01/3628		1 July 1901	Rev. P. Fay
36	1 July 1901	Alfred Albert James Coward Beatrix Eleanor Grant	Alfred James Coward Beatrice Eleanor Grant 💍 1901/3105	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer	29 25	Springlands Spring Creek	29 years 5 years	House of Mr G. Bott, Spring Creek	01/3635		1 July 1901	E. H. Eusor
37	8 July 1901	Walter Thomas Penny Emily Jane Rose	Walter Thomas Penny Emily Jane Rose 💍 1901/47	Bachelor Spinster	Accountant	30 26	Blenheim Blenheim	5 months 26 years	Wesleyan Church, Blenheim	01/3632		8 July 1901	G. W. J. Spence
38	15 July 1901	William Henry Ford Kate Bassett	William Henry Ford Kate Bassett 💍 1901/3106	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	22 27	Spring Creek Spring Creek	22 years 25 years	Church of England, Spring Creek	01/3636		15 July 1901	C. H. Eusor
39	18 July 1901	Arthur William Squire Sutton Henrietta Maude Sutton	Arthur William Squire Henrietta Maude Sutton 💍 1901/3121	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	40 20	Blenheim Blenheim	25 years	Registrar's Office, Blenheim	01/3627	Francis Sutton, father	18 July 1901	W. J. Hawley, Registrar
40	20 July 1901	Jesse Black Hannah Witlin	Jesse Blick Hannah Wiblin 💍 1901/3103	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	28 26	Waikakaho Omaka	20 years 28 years	House of Mr Witlin, Omaka	01/3633		20 July 1901	Rev. G. W. J. Spence
41	20 July 1901	Henry William Townsend Eliza Sheridan	Henry William Townsend Eliza Sheridan 💍 1901/3107	Bachelor Widow	Saddler	45 37	Blenheim Blenheim	25 years 25 years	House of Mr E. Sheridan, Blenheim	01/3637		20 July 1901	J. S. Grace
42	23 July 1901	Frederick William Jellyman Isabel Wells	Frederick William Jellyman Mabel Wells 💍 1901/3104 William Husband Isabella Wells 💍 1902/1132	Bachelor Spinster	Surgeon	22 20	Blenheim Springlands	22 years 1 year	House of Mr W. A. Jellyman, Springlands	01/3634	David Wells, father	23 July 1901	G. W. J. Spence
43	30 July 1901	William Dempsey Bertha Nolan	William Dempsey Bertha Nolan 💍 1901/3374	Bachelor Spinster	Saddler	27 20	Blenheim Grovetown	27 years 20 years	Catholic Church, Blenheim	01/3730	Jas. Nolan, father	30 July 1901	L. C. Servajean
44	1 August 1901	Albert James Armstrong Ellen Patchett	Albert James Armstrong Ellen Patchett 💍 1901/3108	Bachelor Spinster	Carter	23 21	Blenheim Blenheim	16 years 21 years	Church of England, Blenheim	01/3638		1 August 1901	J. S. Grace
45	8 August 1901	James Nicholas Florence Gilbert	James Nicholas Florence Gilbert 💍 1901/3123	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith	21 24	Blenheim Blenheim	21 years 16 years	House of Mr G. Tovey, Blenheim	01/3629		8 August 1901	W. O. Robb

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 1901. 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).