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 161

District of [illegible] Quarter ending 31 March 1901 Registrar J. D. Finch

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

28 January 1901

John Warne
Christina Cumming

John Warne
Christina Cumming
💍 1901/432

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

20
18

Denniston
Denniston

9 Months
7 Months

At the Residence of Mr. A. Buchanan, Denniston

01/775

Jane Cumming, Mother

25 January 1901

Rev. G. J. Smith, Anglican Minister

No	1
Date of Notice	28 January 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Warne	Christina Cumming
	💍 1901/432
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	20	18
Dwelling Place	Denniston	Denniston
Length of Residence	9 Months	7 Months
Marriage Place	At the Residence of Mr. A. Buchanan, Denniston
Folio	01/775
Consent	Jane Cumming, Mother
Date of Certificate	25 January 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. J. Smith, Anglican Minister

16 February 1901

Edward Spencer Robson
Eva Robinson

Edward Spencer Woodford
Eva Robinson
💍 1901/520

Widower
Widow

Miner

40
45

Granity
Granity

7 Months
2 Years

At the Residence of Mr. Robson, Granity

01/776

[illegible]

16 February 1901

Rev. W. Wills, Primitive Methodist Minister

No	2
Date of Notice	16 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Spencer Robson	Eva Robinson
BDM Match (87%)	Edward Spencer Woodford	Eva Robinson
	💍 1901/520
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Miner
Age	40	45
Dwelling Place	Granity	Granity
Length of Residence	7 Months	2 Years
Marriage Place	At the Residence of Mr. Robson, Granity
Folio	01/776
Consent	[illegible]
Date of Certificate	16 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Wills, Primitive Methodist Minister

6 February 1901

Thomas Henry Kerr
Mary Turpie Lister

Thomas Henry King
Mary Turpie Lister
💍 1901/509

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

18
17

Millerton
Granity

8 Months
8 Months

Primitive Methodist Church, Waimangaroa

01/777

Mary Ellen Jackson, Mother; Thomas Lister, Father

6 February 1901

Rev. Robert Raine, Primitive Methodist Minister

No	3
Date of Notice	6 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Kerr	Mary Turpie Lister
BDM Match (91%)	Thomas Henry King	Mary Turpie Lister
	💍 1901/509
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	18	17
Dwelling Place	Millerton	Granity
Length of Residence	8 Months	8 Months
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Waimangaroa
Folio	01/777
Consent	Mary Ellen Jackson, Mother; Thomas Lister, Father
Date of Certificate	6 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert Raine, Primitive Methodist Minister

6 February 1901

Thomas John Williams
Mary Peacock

Thomas John Williams
Mary Peacock
💍 1901/524

Bachelor
Widow

Miner

25
27

Hokihinui
Denniston

2 Years
5 Years

At the Office of the Registrar, Waimangaroa

01/779

[illegible]

6 February 1901

J. D. Finch, Registrar

No	4
Date of Notice	6 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas John Williams	Mary Peacock
	💍 1901/524
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Miner
Age	25	27
Dwelling Place	Hokihinui	Denniston
Length of Residence	2 Years	5 Years
Marriage Place	At the Office of the Registrar, Waimangaroa
Folio	01/779
Consent	[illegible]
Date of Certificate	6 February 1901
Officiating Minister	J. D. Finch, Registrar

26 February 1901

James Baird
Louisa Harris

James Baird
Louise Harris
💍 1901/6004

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

31
21

Denniston
Denniston

1 Year
15 Years

At the Residence of Mr. J. Harris, Denniston

01/776

[illegible]

26 February 1901

Rev. G. J. Smith, Anglican Minister

No	5
Date of Notice	26 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Baird	Louisa Harris
BDM Match (96%)	James Baird	Louise Harris
	💍 1901/6004
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Denniston	Denniston
Length of Residence	1 Year	15 Years
Marriage Place	At the Residence of Mr. J. Harris, Denniston
Folio	01/776
Consent	[illegible]
Date of Certificate	26 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. J. Smith, Anglican Minister

2 March 1901

Edward Spencer Robson
Eva Robinson

Edward Spencer Woodford
Eva Robinson
💍 1901/520

Widower
Widow

Miner

40
45

Granity
Granity

4 Years
2 Years

St. James Anglican Church, Waimangaroa

01/778

[illegible]

2 March 1901

Rev. J. R. Dart, Anglican Minister

No	6
Date of Notice	2 March 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Spencer Robson	Eva Robinson
BDM Match (87%)	Edward Spencer Woodford	Eva Robinson
	💍 1901/520
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Miner
Age	40	45
Dwelling Place	Granity	Granity
Length of Residence	4 Years	2 Years
Marriage Place	St. James Anglican Church, Waimangaroa
Folio	01/778
Consent	[illegible]
Date of Certificate	2 March 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Dart, Anglican Minister

7 March 1901

Thomas George Duncan
Catherine Johnstone

Samuel George Pearson
Catherine Johnstone
💍 1901/1875

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

22
20

Millerton
Burnett Face

5 Years
5 Years

At the Residence of Mr. T. Johnstone, Burnett Face

01/2288

Thomas Johnstone, Father

18 March 1901

Rev. T. Coatsworth, Primitive Methodist

No	7
Date of Notice	7 March 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas George Duncan	Catherine Johnstone
BDM Match (71%)	Samuel George Pearson	Catherine Johnstone
	💍 1901/1875
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Millerton	Burnett Face
Length of Residence	5 Years	5 Years
Marriage Place	At the Residence of Mr. T. Johnstone, Burnett Face
Folio	01/2288
Consent	Thomas Johnstone, Father
Date of Certificate	18 March 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Coatsworth, Primitive Methodist

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 1908. 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).