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 271

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

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

134

13 March 1901

Thomas Joseph Chapple
May Emily Batchelor

Thomas Joseph Chapple
May Emily Batchelor
💍 1901/130

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

25
28

St. Albans
Christchurch

5 years

Congregational Church

01/969

13 March 1901

Rev. J. Sarginson, Congregational

No	134
Date of Notice	13 March 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Joseph Chapple	May Emily Batchelor
	💍 1901/130
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	25	28
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church
Folio	01/969
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Sarginson, Congregational

135

14 March 1901

Herbert Carter
Roa Lydia Butler

Herbert Carter
Eva Lydia Butler
💍 1901/554

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

23
21

Christchurch
St. Albans

6 years

House of W. H. Butler, Edgeware Road, St. Albans

01/961

14 March 1901

Rev. W. Lee, Wesleyan

No	135
Date of Notice	14 March 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Carter	Roa Lydia Butler
BDM Match (94%)	Herbert Carter	Eva Lydia Butler
	💍 1901/554
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	6 years
Marriage Place	House of W. H. Butler, Edgeware Road, St. Albans
Folio	01/961
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Lee, Wesleyan

136

15 March 1901

Henry James Widdis
Mellanie De Rohan Staunton

Henry James Wicks
Mellanie De Rohan Staunton
💍 1901/1002

Bachelor
Spinster

Barrister

23
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years

House of Mr. H. Staunton, St. Asaph Street, Christchurch

01/940

Henry Staunton, Father

15 March 1901

C. E. Hard, Presbyterian

No	136
Date of Notice	15 March 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry James Widdis	Mellanie De Rohan Staunton
BDM Match (92%)	Henry James Wicks	Mellanie De Rohan Staunton
	💍 1901/1002
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barrister
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. H. Staunton, St. Asaph Street, Christchurch
Folio	01/940
Consent	Henry Staunton, Father
Date of Certificate	15 March 1901
Officiating Minister	C. E. Hard, Presbyterian

137

15 March 1901

George Edward Chisnall
Rosina Maria Robinson

George Edward Chisnall
Rosina Maria Robinson
💍 1901/2176

Bachelor
Domestic

Bootmaker

27
26

St. Albans
St. Albans

16 years
2 years

House of Mr. G. E. Chisnall, Clare Road, St. Albans

01/2570

15 March 1901

Rev. G. R. Ward, Methodist

No	137
Date of Notice	15 March 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Edward Chisnall	Rosina Maria Robinson
	💍 1901/2176
Condition	Bachelor	Domestic
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	16 years	2 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. G. E. Chisnall, Clare Road, St. Albans
Folio	01/2570
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. R. Ward, Methodist

138

15 March 1901

Frederick William Chambers
Minnie Winter

Frederick William Chambers
Minnie Winter
💍 1901/2179

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Domestic

23
22

Sydenham
Sydenham

15 years
15 years

House of Mr. R. Winter, Byron Street, Sydenham

01/2537

15 March 1901

Rev. H. Bull, Wesleyan

No	138
Date of Notice	15 March 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Chambers	Minnie Winter
	💍 1901/2179
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Domestic
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	15 years	15 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. R. Winter, Byron Street, Sydenham
Folio	01/2537
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Bull, Wesleyan

139

15 March 1901

John Burgess Barbour
Margaret Fraser Barbour

John Burgess
Margaret Fraser Barbour
💍 1901/393

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Dressmaker

26
31

Linwood
Richmond

5 years
25 years

House of Mr. Barbour, Tay Street, Richmond

01/862

15 March 1901

Rev. F. Minshull, Presbyterian

No	139
Date of Notice	15 March 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Burgess Barbour	Margaret Fraser Barbour
BDM Match (80%)	John Burgess	Margaret Fraser Barbour
	💍 1901/393
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Dressmaker
Age	26	31
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Richmond
Length of Residence	5 years	25 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Barbour, Tay Street, Richmond
Folio	01/862
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Minshull, Presbyterian

140

16 March 1901

William Camps
Mary Ann Stewart

William Campion
Mary Ann Stewart
💍 1901/811

William Rennie
Mary Alice Stewart
💍 1901/2601

Widower
Divorced (absolute)

Farmer

40
33

Christchurch
Christchurch

40 years
6 years

St. Michael's Church

01/957

16 March 1901

Rev. A. W. Averill, Anglican

No	140
Date of Notice	16 March 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Camps	Mary Ann Stewart
BDM Match (90%)	William Campion	Mary Ann Stewart
	💍 1901/811
BDM Match (67%)	William Rennie	Mary Alice Stewart
	💍 1901/2601
Condition	Widower	Divorced (absolute)
Profession	Farmer
Age	40	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	40 years	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church
Folio	01/957
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Averill, 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).