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 130

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 June 1901 Registrar S. Binfield

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
20	1 April 1901	Walter Thomas Garrall Ellen Marshall	Walter Thomas Yarrall Ellen Marshall 💍 1901/1982	Bachelor Spinster	Tinsmith Domestic Duties	23 24	Collingwood Street, Nelson Naimea Road, Nelson	2 years 2 1/2 years	All Saints Church, Nelson	01/2301		1 April 1901	Revd. F. W. Chatterton, Church of England Minister
21	1 April 1901	Herbert Roseamond Bensonmann Kate Burrell	Herbert Roseamond Bensemann Kate Burrell 💍 1901/1977	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener Domestic Servant	24 34	Wakapuaka, Nelson Halifax Street, Nelson	2 1/2 years 3 1/2 years	At the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	01/2296		2 April 1901	Robert Kaye, Deputy Registrar of Marriages
22	1 April 1901	Robey Croucher Sarah Maud Baker	Robey Croucher Sireh Maud Baker 💍 1901/1970	Bachelor Widow	Master Mariner Domestic Duties	29 32	Nelson Haven Road, Nelson	4 days 3 months	At the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Nelson	01/2295		2 April 1901	Robert Kaye, Deputy Registrar of Marriages
23	1 April 1901	Albert Edward Friend Annie Mabel Russ	Albert Edward Friend Annie Mabel Russ 💍 1901/2675	Bachelor Spinster	Engine driver Domestic duties	22 22	Ngatitama Street, Nelson Van Dieman Street, Nelson	22 years 5 months	Residence of Mr. Harry Friend, Van Dieman Street, Nelson	01/3013		3 April 1901	Revd. J. S. Smalley, Wesleyan Minister
24	1 April 1901	Frank Jones Mary Hannah Simpson	Frank Jones Mary Hannah Simpson 💍 1901/1973	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher Domestic duties	36 42	Washington Road, Nelson Washington Road, Nelson	7 months 4 1/2 years	Residence of Mrs. Eliza Simpson, Washington Road, Nelson	01/2315		4 April 1901	Revd. J. H. Mackenzie, Presbyterian Minister
25	1 April 1901	William Gooch Stewart Ellen Sheather	William Gooch Stewart Ellen Sheather 💍 1901/1974	Bachelor Spinster	Joiner Domestic Duties	27 29	Bridge Street, Nelson Brook Street, Nelson	3 days 2 1/2 years	At the Residence of Mr. Lewis Sheather, Brook Street, Nelson	01/2316		8 April 1901	Revd. J. H. Mackenzie, Presbyterian Minister
26	1 April 1901	Henry Thomas Skilton Bertha Jane Jennings	Henry Thomas Skilton Bertha Jane Jennings 💍 1901/2676	Bachelor Spinster	Bootmaker Domestic Servant	34 25	Collingwood Street, Nelson Tika Street, Nelson	4 days 3 months	St. John's Wesleyan Church, Hardy Street, Nelson	01/3014		8 April 1901	Revd. J. Crump, Wesleyan Minister
27	1 April 1901	Edward Goodwin Fortescue Zohrab Blanche Miriam Mabin	Edward Goodwin Forkxue Zobrab Blanche Miriam Mabin 💍 1901/1972	Bachelor Spinster	Merchant Household duties	30 25	Hardy Street, Nelson Nile Street, Nelson	4 days 5 days	Chapel of the Holy Evangelist, Church of England, Bishopdale	01/2314		9 April 1901	Revd. J. P. Kempthorne, Church of England Minister
28	1 April 1901	Philip Thomas Bint Eliza Day	Philip Thomas Bint Eliza Day 💍 1901/1961	Bachelor Spinster	Carter Domestic duties	29 20	Selwyn Place, Nelson Grove Street, Nelson	4 years 2 1/2 years	All Saints Church, Vanguard Street, Nelson	01/2304	Catherine Day, Mother	10 April 1901	Revd. F. W. Chatterton, Church of England Minister

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 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).