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 136

District of Nelson Quarter ending 31 December 1901 Registrar S. Blomfield

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
65	8 October 1901	Fred Skilton Edith Emily Delaney	Fred Skilton Edith Emily Delany 💍 1901/4581	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic Servant	29 27	Wakapuaka Wakapuaka	3 days 3 days	The residence of Rev. J. S. Smalley, Hardy Street, Nelson	01/5107		8 October 1901	Rev. J. S. Smalley, Wesleyan Minister
66	14 October 1901	William Harold Tingey Joan Leyden Hume	William Harold Tingey John Leyden Hume 💍 1901/4545	Bachelor Spinster	Glazier Household duties	21 22	Kent Terrace, Wellington Collingwood St., Nelson	12 years 4 days	All Saints Church, Vanguard St., Nelson	01/5715		14 October 1901	F. W. Chatterton, Church of England Minister
67	15 October 1901	John Ellis Parker Euphemia Thorne	John Ellis Packer Euphemia Thorn 💍 1901/4538	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic duties	27 20	Wakapuaka Stanley Brook	6 months 2 years	The Government School, Stanley Brook	01/5731	John Thorne, Father	18 October 1901	Rev. R. S. Lucas, Church of England Minister
68	23 October 1901	Walter Gaukrodger Florence May Warren	Walter Gankrodger Florence May Warren 💍 1901/4582	Widower Spinster	Woollen Inspector Domestic duties	42 26	Bronte St., Nelson Bronte St., Nelson	3 days 3 days	St. John's Wesleyan Church, Hardy St., Nelson	01/5108		23 October 1901	Rev. John Crump, Wesleyan Minister
69	23 October 1901	Arthur Herbert Hounsell Cecilia Lucia Gallagher	Arthur Herbert Hounsell Cecilia Lucia Gallagher 💍 1901/4585	Bachelor Spinster	Wine & Spirit Merchant Domestic duties	28 29	Hardy St., Nelson Cambria St., Nelson	2 years 9 years	Roman Catholic Church, Manuka St., Nelson	01/5111		23 October 1901	Rev. George Mahoney, Roman Catholic Priest
70	6 November 1901	Samuel Eric McIntyre Isabel Sheather	Samuel McIntyre Mabel Sheather 💍 1901/4578	Bachelor Spinster	Blacksmith Domestic duties	31 25	Wellington Terrace, Nelson Brook St., Nelson	2 years 2 years	The residence of Lewis Sheather, Brook St., Nelson	01/5105		6 November 1901	Rev. J. H. Mackenzie, Presbyterian Minister
71	20 November 1901	Alexander Herbert Mackley Susannah Caroline Allison	Alexander Herbert MacKay Susannah Caroline Allison 💍 1901/4537	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Household duties	37 38	Nile St., Nelson Hardy St., Nelson	3 days 3 days	Christ's Church, Trafalgar Square, Nelson	01/5113		20 November 1901	Rt. Rev. C. O. Mules, Bishop of Nelson
72	26 November 1901	George Edward Charles Saxton Florence Beatrice Pike	George Edward Charles Saxton Florence Beatrice Pike 💍 1901/4548	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Household duties	30 33	Stoke Stoke	2 years 1 year	St. Barnabas Church, Stoke	01/5718		26 November 1901	Rt. Rev. C. O. Mules, Bishop of Nelson
73	6 December 1901	Colin Briton McNabb Nellie Beatrice Whiting	Colin Briton McNabb Nellie Beatrice Whiting 💍 1901/4584	Bachelor Spinster	Mariner Household duties	23 18	The Port, Nelson Vanguard St., Nelson	3 years 18 years	The residence of Mary Ann Whiting, Vanguard St., Nelson	01/5710	Mary A. Whiting, Mother	6 December 1901	Rev. J. S. Smalley, Wesleyan Minister
74	9 December 1901	Thomas Bird Ada Neumann	Thomas Bird Ada Neumann 💍 1901/4583	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Household duties	26 21	Hope Hope	3 years 12 months	The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Hardy St., Nelson	01/5709		9 December 1901	S. Blomfield, Registrar of Marriages
75	17 December 1901	John Wheeler Bradford Julia Mary Karsten	John Wheeler Bradford Julia Mary Karsten 💍 1901/4580	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener Household duties	31 31	Hampden St., Nelson Nile St., Nelson	15 months 1 year	Trinity Presbyterian Church, Nile St., Nelson	01/5106		17 December 1901	Rev. J. H. Mackenzie, Presbyterian Minister
76	18 December 1901	Richard Scadden Marion Cameron	Richard Scadden Marion Cameron 💍 1901/4656	Bachelor Spinster	Miner School Teacher	31 30	Kawhia St., Nelson Waimea St., Nelson	3 days 7 days	The residence of Elizabeth Cameron, Waimea St., Nelson	01/5761		18 December 1901	Rev. R. S. Gray, Baptist Minister
77	19 December 1901	Philip Joseph McNamara Alison Mowat Nicholson	Philip Joseph McNamara Alison Mowat Nicholson 💍 1901/4526	Bachelor Spinster	Railway Guard Household duties	29 25	Collingwood St., Nelson St. Vincent St., Nelson	9 months 2 years	Roman Catholic Presbytery, Manuka St., Nelson	01/5112		19 December 1901	Rev. Dr. J. Mahoney, Roman Catholic Priest
78	20 December 1901	Edward Guard Hannah Kathleen Turner	No matching marriage registration found. A large black cross is beside this entry.	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep Farmer Domestic Service	22 22	Gloucester St., Nelson Gloucester St., Nelson	4 days 6 months	The residence of Robt. King Turner, Waitara Bay, Pelorus Sound			20 December 1901	Rev. P. Fay, Roman Catholic Priest
79	21 December 1901	James Brydon Johnstone Ethel May Moore	James Brydon Johnstone Ethel May Moore 💍 1901/4544	Bachelor Spinster	Sheep Station Manager Household duties	27 25	Nile St., Nelson Nile St., Nelson	3 days 2 months	Christ's Church, Trafalgar Square, Nelson	01/5114		21 December 1901	Rt. Rev. C. O. Mules, Bishop of Nelson

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).