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 077

District of Westport Quarter ending 31 December 1901 Registrar W. Douglas

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
30	14 October 1901	Henry Boyer Katherine Ahern	Henry Boyer Katherine Ahern 💍 1901/4517	Bachelor Spinster	Sawmill hand Domestic	25 21	Cape Foulwind Cape Foulwind	5 years Since birth	Roman Catholic Church, Cape Foulwind	01/5084		14 October 1901	Ven: Thos Walshe
31	26 October 1901	Thos. Metcalfe Bennett Mary Meloney	Thomas Metcalf Bennett Mary Maloney 💍 1901/4518	Widower Spinster	Labourer Domestic	34 24	Westport Westport	11 years Since birth	Palace Restaurant, Palmerston Street, Westport	01/5085		26 October 1901	Ven: Thos Walshe
32	4 November 1901	James Robert Cooper Mary McElarry	James Robert Cooper Mary Ann McGlarry 💍 1901/4568	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Domestic	22 21	Westport Westport	6 months 2 years	Roman Catholic Church, Westport	01/5086		4 November 1901	Revd C. Clement
33	11 November 1901	Henry George Morgan Annetta Rhinwrop	Henry George Morgan Annetta Whinwray 💍 1901/4588	Bachelor Spinster	Wharf Labourer Domestic	41 24	Westport Westport	24 years 12 years	Primitive Methodist Church, Westport	01/5091		11 November 1901	Revd J. R. Sant
34	15 November 1901	Henry George Bedell Margaret Annie Scott	Henry George Bedell Margaret Annie Scott 💍 1901/4590	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor Domestic	24 21	Westport Westport	7 months 21 years	Residence of Mr. Cothard, Peel Street, Westport	01/5093		15 November 1901	Revd J. R. Sant
35	21 November 1901	Robert Morris Eveleen Isabel Moore	Robert Norris Evelyn Isabel Moore 💍 1901/4591	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Domestic	51 16	Westport Westport	13 years 16 years	Residence of Chas. Robt. Moore, Westport	01/5094	Chas. Robt. Moore, father	21 November 1901	Revd J. R. Sant
36	26 November 1901	John Hannigan Kathleen O'Brien	John Hannigan Catherine O'Brien 💍 1901/4586	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic	33 26	Westport Westport	15 years 3 years	Roman Catholic Church, Westport	01/5088		26 November 1901	Ven: Thos Walshe
37	1 December 1901	Martin Tyron Rose Weir	Martin Syron Rose Weir 💍 1901/4579	Bachelor Spinster	Bushman Domestic	21 22	Cape Foulwind Cape Foulwind	8 months 12 years	Roman Catholic Church, Cape Foulwind	01/5087		1 December 1901	Ven: Thos Walshe
38	1 December 1901	William Jas. Hickey Norah Lenahan	William James Hickey Nora Lenihan 💍 1901/4587	Bachelor Spinster	Miner Domestic	32 24	Cape Foulwind Cape Foulwind	1 month 24 years	Roman Catholic Church, Westport	01/5089		1 December 1901	Ven: Thos Walshe
39	1 December 1901	Harry Creber Mary Eliza King	Harry Creber Mary Elizabeth King 💍 1901/4592	Bachelor Divorced	Labourer Domestic	34 34	Westport Westport	7 years 7 years	At the residence of Mr. Creber, Westport	01/5095		1 December 1901	Revd J. R. Sant
40	16 December 1901	Alfred John Callaghan Louisa Tottenham	Alfred John Callaghan Louisa Ellen Tottenham 💍 1901/138	Bachelor Spinster	Wharf Labourer Domestic	25 31	Westport Westport	4 years 31 years	Roman Catholic Church, Westport	01/5090		16 December 1901	Ven: Thos Walshe

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).