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 318

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 1901 Registrar J. M. Verrall

No	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
451	August 1901	Walter Gore Fanny Eliza Rebecca Waldron	Walter Gore Osborne Fanny Elisa Rebecca Waldron 💍 1901/3285	Bachelor Spinster	Bootmaker Domestic	31 20	Christchurch Christchurch	31 years 20 years	Registrar's Office	01/3769	Robert J. Waldron, Father	23 August 1901	J. J. Verrall, Registrar
452	August 1901	William Witts Hewinson Emma Voie	William Witts-Hewinson Emma Voice 💍 1901/3335	Bachelor Spinster	Gardener Domestic	28 35	Christchurch Addington	3 years 6 years	Church	01/3830		23 August 1901	Rev. W. S. Brown, Anglican
453	August 1901	George August Paul Rieger Laura Brunt	George August Paul Kieger Laura Brunt 💍 1901/3365	Bachelor Spinster	Bootmaker Machinist	29 28	Christchurch Linwood	10 years 20 years	Wesleyan Church, Paul Road	01/3879		26 August 1901	Rev. F. Morley, Wesleyan
454	August 1901	James Darling Georgina Prestell	James Tailing Georgina Weastell 💍 1901/3330	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Dressmaker	28 25	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 3 days	St. Michael's Church	01/3825		27 August 1901	Rev. A. W. Averill, Anglican
455	August 1901	Frederick Thomas Killick Mary Leah Lilley	Frederick Thomas Killick Mary Leah Lilley 💍 1901/3287	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Housemaid	25 22	Sydenham Sydenham	23 years 3 years	Registrar's Office	01/3771		27 August 1901	J. M. Verrall, Registrar
456	August 1901	Maurice Alfred Patrick Mary Amelia Barber	Maurice Alfred Pattrick Mary Amelia Barker 💍 1901/3323	Bachelor Spinster	Butcher	24 28	New Brighton Burwood	10 years 22 years	Anglican Church	01/3833		27 August 1901	Rev. F. R. Swords, Anglican
457	August 1901	Cecil Henry Clarke Mary Ann Rachel Farrell	Cecil Henry Clarke Mary Ann Rachel Farrell 💍 1901/3332	Bachelor Spinster	Traveller	26 22	Christchurch Christchurch	26 years 22 years	St. Michael's Church	01/3827		28 August 1901	Rev. A. W. Averill, Anglican
458	August 1901	James Burch Smith Beatrice Annie Weller	James Enoch Smith Beatrice Emily Weller 💍 1901/3628	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter	22 22	Christchurch Sydenham	22 years 22 years	House of Mrs. Partridge, King St.	01/3855		29 August 1901	Rev. W. Lee, Wesleyan

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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 1901. 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).