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 263

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1901 Registrar J. M. Vankerson

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

21 February 1901

George Austin Baker
Mary Anne Wheat

George Austin
Mary Ann Wheal
💍 1901/6009

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Domestic

33
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
3 years

St. Andrews Church

01/851

21 February 1901

Rev. J. MacKenzie, Presbyterian

No	89
Date of Notice	21 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Austin Baker	Mary Anne Wheat
BDM Match (78%)	George Austin	Mary Ann Wheal
	💍 1901/6009
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Domestic
Age	33	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church
Folio	01/851
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. MacKenzie, Presbyterian

21 February 1901

Ernest Henry Wright
Isabella Cunningham

Ernest Henry Wright
Isabella Cunningham
💍 1901/550

John Henry Lane
Isabella Cunningham
💍 1902/1058

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Tailoress

22
21

Christchurch
72 Henry Road, Sydenham

16 years
16 years

House of Mr. H. Wright

01/957

21 February 1901

Rev. E. H. Laws, Wesleyan

No	90
Date of Notice	21 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Henry Wright	Isabella Cunningham
	💍 1901/550
BDM Match (68%)	John Henry Lane	Isabella Cunningham
	💍 1902/1058
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Tailoress
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	72 Henry Road, Sydenham
Length of Residence	16 years	16 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. H. Wright
Folio	01/957
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. H. Laws, Wesleyan

21 February 1901

Frank Haylock
Katherine Stewart

Frank Taylor
Katherine Stewart
💍 1901/487

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Saleswoman

30
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 years

House of Mrs. Stewart, Lichfield St.

21 February 1901

Rev. G. Gow, Presbyterian

No	91
Date of Notice	21 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Haylock	Katherine Stewart
BDM Match (88%)	Frank Taylor	Katherine Stewart
	💍 1901/487
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Saleswoman
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Stewart, Lichfield St.
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Gow, Presbyterian

21 February 1901

Ernest Arthur Smith
Alice Mary North

Ernest Arthur Smith
Alice Mary North
💍 1901/3246

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic

25
25

Sydenham
Sydenham

5 years
9 years

St. Marks Church, Opawa

01/3781

21 February 1901

Rev. Arch. Cholmondeley, Anglican

No	92
Date of Notice	21 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Arthur Smith	Alice Mary North
	💍 1901/3246
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	5 years	9 years
Marriage Place	St. Marks Church, Opawa
Folio	01/3781
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. Arch. Cholmondeley, Anglican

21 February 1901

Frank Haylock
Katherine Stewart

Frank Taylor
Katherine Stewart
💍 1901/487

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Saleswoman

30
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 years

St. Lukes Church

01/915

21 February 1901

Rev. Arch. Lingard, Anglican

No	93
Date of Notice	21 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Haylock	Katherine Stewart
BDM Match (88%)	Frank Taylor	Katherine Stewart
	💍 1901/487
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Saleswoman
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Lukes Church
Folio	01/915
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. Arch. Lingard, Anglican

22 February 1901

James Henry Heard
Rose Agnes Brunsden

James Henry Heard
Eva Agnes Brunsden
💍 1901/474

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant
Music Teacher

39
22

Christchurch
Christchurch, Avonside

36 years

Holy Trinity Church, Avonside

01/901

22 February 1901

Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Anglican

No	94
Date of Notice	22 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry Heard	Rose Agnes Brunsden
BDM Match (89%)	James Henry Heard	Eva Agnes Brunsden
	💍 1901/474
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant	Music Teacher
Age	39	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch, Avonside
Length of Residence	36 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Avonside
Folio	01/901
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Pascoe, Anglican

25 February 1901

James William Carney
Eliza Carney

James Quinn
Eliza Carney
💍 1901/1019

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic

29
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 week
1 week

Pro. Cathedral, Barbadoes St.

01/933

Michael Carney, father

25 February 1901

Rev. P. G. Formell, Roman Catholic

No	95
Date of Notice	25 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James William Carney	Eliza Carney
BDM Match (70%)	James Quinn	Eliza Carney
	💍 1901/1019
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 week	1 week
Marriage Place	Pro. Cathedral, Barbadoes St.
Folio	01/933
Consent	Michael Carney, father
Date of Certificate	25 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. G. Formell, Roman Catholic

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).