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 261

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1901 Registrar J. W. R. Vaudersee

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

12 February 1901

Benjamin Thomas James
Matilda Hamilton

Benjamin Thomas James
Matilda Hamilton
💍 1901/1023

Bachelor
Spinster

Chemist
Dressmaker

24
24

Christchurch
Onslow St, St Albans

4 years
24 years

House of Mr. W. J. Hamilton

01/937

12 February 1901

Rev. C. R. Ward, P. Methodist

No	75
Date of Notice	12 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Benjamin Thomas James	Matilda Hamilton
	💍 1901/1023
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chemist	Dressmaker
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Onslow St, St Albans
Length of Residence	4 years	24 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. W. J. Hamilton
Folio	01/937
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. R. Ward, P. Methodist

12 February 1901

William Lewis Morgan
Selina Manifold

William Lewis Morgan
Selina Manifold
💍 1901/540

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Domestic

31
25

Christchurch
Durham St, Christchurch

3 days
20 years

Church of Christ

01/972

12 February 1901

Rev. S. Manifold, Church of Christ

No	76
Date of Notice	12 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Lewis Morgan	Selina Manifold
	💍 1901/540
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Domestic
Age	31	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Durham St, Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Church of Christ
Folio	01/972
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Manifold, Church of Christ

13 February 1901

William Henry Simmons
Nellie Olive Ollies

William Henry Simmons
Hettie Oliver
💍 1901/475

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinet Maker
Machinist

23
23

Spreydon
Spreydon

12 years
14 years

St. Mary's Church, Addington

01/878

13 February 1901

Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

No	77
Date of Notice	13 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Simmons	Nellie Olive Ollies
BDM Match (74%)	William Henry Simmons	Hettie Oliver
	💍 1901/475
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinet Maker	Machinist
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Spreydon
Length of Residence	12 years	14 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Addington
Folio	01/878
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean, Anglican

14 February 1901

Alfred James Nicholls
Greta Marion O'Callaghan

Alfred James Nicholls
Greta Marion O'Callaghan
💍 1901/468

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

26
24

Christchurch
St. Albans

6 years
24 years

St. Matthew's Church

01/895

14 February 1901

Rev. H. Williams, Anglican

No	78
Date of Notice	14 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred James Nicholls	Greta Marion O'Callaghan
	💍 1901/468
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	6 years	24 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church
Folio	01/895
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Williams, Anglican

16 February 1901

Ormond Wentworth Seaton
Annie Hermione Gundersen

Ormond Wentworth Seaton
Anna Hermine Gundersen
💍 1901/1007

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Tailoress

26
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

25 years
15 years

House of Mrs. J. Robinson, Ashfield Church

01/945

16 February 1901

Rev. J. J. Tolle, Baptist

No	79
Date of Notice	16 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ormond Wentworth Seaton	Annie Hermione Gundersen
BDM Match (94%)	Ormond Wentworth Seaton	Anna Hermine Gundersen
	💍 1901/1007
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Tailoress
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	15 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. J. Robinson, Ashfield Church
Folio	01/945
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Tolle, Baptist

16 February 1901

Walter Robert Kate
Isabella Bloomfield

Walter Robert Bate
Isabella Bloomfield
💍 1901/1006

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Dressmaker

23
21

Christchurch
Belfast

3 days
3 days

House of Mrs. R. Etherington

01/944

16 February 1901

Rev. J. J. Tolle, Baptist

No	80
Date of Notice	16 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Robert Kate	Isabella Bloomfield
BDM Match (97%)	Walter Robert Bate	Isabella Bloomfield
	💍 1901/1006
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Dressmaker
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Belfast
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. R. Etherington
Folio	01/944
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Tolle, Baptist

18 February 1901

Frederick Chapman
Rose Franklin

Frederick Chapman
Rose Franklin
💍 1901/505

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Servant

26
29

Christchurch
Linwood

22 years
18 years

Church of Good Shepherd

01/909

18 February 1901

Rev. H. R. Ensor, Anglican

No	81
Date of Notice	18 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Chapman	Rose Franklin
	💍 1901/505
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Servant
Age	26	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	22 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Church of Good Shepherd
Folio	01/909
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. R. Ensor, Anglican

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).