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 281

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1890 Registrar J. M. Pearson

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

205

10 April 1901

Reginald Thomas Leishman Fenerty
Adelaide Ellen Armstrong

Reginald Thomas Leishman Fenerty
Adelaide Ellen Armstrong
💍 1901/1996

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

21
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

18 years
18 years

St. Michael's Church, Good Shepherd, Linwood

01/2421

10 April 1901

Rev. H. R. Ensor, Anglican

No	205
Date of Notice	10 April 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald Thomas Leishman Fenerty	Adelaide Ellen Armstrong
	💍 1901/1996
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	18 years	18 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Good Shepherd, Linwood
Folio	01/2421
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 April 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. R. Ensor, Anglican

206

11 April 1901

George Dearsly
Margaret Dawber

George Dearsly
Mena Dawber
💍 1901/2160

Widower
Spinster

Salesman

41
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 days
10 days

House of Alfred Sawber, 30 Months Canal Reserve, Linwood

01/2518

11 April 1901

Rev. J. Sarginson, Congregational

No	206
Date of Notice	11 April 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Dearsly	Margaret Dawber
BDM Match (80%)	George Dearsly	Mena Dawber
	💍 1901/2160
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Salesman
Age	41	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 days	10 days
Marriage Place	House of Alfred Sawber, 30 Months Canal Reserve, Linwood
Folio	01/2518
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Sarginson, Congregational

207

11 April 1901

Arthur Stuart Palmer
Mina Smith

Arthur Stuart Palmer
Mina Smith
💍 1901/2159

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist

24
24

Christchurch
Redcliffs

4 years
2 years

Congregational Church, Ferry Road, Linwood

01/2517

11 April 1901

Rev. J. Sarginson, Congregational

No	207
Date of Notice	11 April 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Stuart Palmer	Mina Smith
	💍 1901/2159
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Redcliffs
Length of Residence	4 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Ferry Road, Linwood
Folio	01/2517
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Sarginson, Congregational

208

12 April 1901

Willie Ernest Page
Mary Jane Hand

Willie Ernest Page
Mary Jane Hand
💍 1901/2184

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic

26
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

22 years
26 years

House of Mr. C. W. Hand, Hillmorton

01/2542

12 April 1901

Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

No	208
Date of Notice	12 April 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Willie Ernest Page	Mary Jane Hand
	💍 1901/2184
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	22 years	26 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. C. W. Hand, Hillmorton
Folio	01/2542
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

209

12 April 1901

Archibald Cruger Reynolds
Blanche Gerard Reynolds

Archibald Cruger Murray-Aynsley
Blanche Gerard
💍 1901/2149

Bachelor
Spinster

Civil Engineer

36
34

Christchurch
Christchurch

22 years
20 years

Church of St. Barnabas, Fendalton

01/2435

12 April 1901

Rev. M. A. Hamilton, Church of England

No	209
Date of Notice	12 April 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Cruger Reynolds	Blanche Gerard Reynolds
BDM Match (63%)	Archibald Cruger Murray-Aynsley	Blanche Gerard
	💍 1901/2149
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Civil Engineer
Age	36	34
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	22 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Church of St. Barnabas, Fendalton
Folio	01/2435
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. A. Hamilton, Church of England

210

12 April 1901

Walter Henry Kiver
Helena May Marman

Walter Henry Kiver
Helena May Shannan
💍 1901/3260

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

25
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

25 years
3 years

St. Mary's Church, Addington

01/3794

12 April 1901

Rev. W. J. Bean, Anglican

No	210
Date of Notice	12 April 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Henry Kiver	Helena May Marman
BDM Match (89%)	Walter Henry Kiver	Helena May Shannan
	💍 1901/3260
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Addington
Folio	01/3794
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Bean, Anglican

211

13 April 1901

Francis Arthur Pyne
Grace Madeleine Seager

Francis Arthur Pyne
Grace Madeline Seager
💍 1901/2008

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

26
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

26 years
30 years

St. Michael's Church, Ch. Ch.

01/2713

13 April 1901

Rev. A. W. Averill, Anglican

No	211
Date of Notice	13 April 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Arthur Pyne	Grace Madeleine Seager
BDM Match (98%)	Francis Arthur Pyne	Grace Madeline Seager
	💍 1901/2008
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	26	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	26 years	30 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Ch. Ch.
Folio	01/2713
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 April 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).