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 320

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

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
466	1 September 1901	Dixon Kerr May Elizabeth Compton	Dixon Kerr May Elizabella Compton 💍 1901/3245	Bachelor Spinster	Groom Domestic	27 28	Christchurch Christchurch	27 years 20 years	Registrar's Office, Christchurch	01/3772		2 September 1901	Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Watterson
467	2 September 1901	David Clements Clarke Elizabeth Chaney	David Clements Clarke Elizabeth Chaney 💍 1901/3613	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic	26 24	Christchurch Islington	16 years 7 years	House of Mr. Chaney, Islington	01/3863		2 September 1901	Rev. W. H. Findlayson, Presbyterian
468	3 September 1901	William Robert Coup Elizabeth Creamer	William Robert Coup Elizabeth Creamer 💍 1901/3912	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer Domestic	29 24	Christchurch Christchurch	3 days 14 days	St. Peter's Church, Ferry Road	01/4351		3 September 1901	Rev. W. J. Gow, Presbyterian
469	4 September 1901	William Sasson Elizabeth Bradshaw	William Gasson Elizabeth Bradshaw 💍 1901/3256	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Tailoress	27 18	Opawa Linwood	2 years 1 year	Registrar's Office, Christchurch	01/3773	William Bradshaw, father	4 September 1901	Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Watterson
470	4 September 1901	Hugh Leonard Coates Lavinia Ada Allen Jennett	Hugh Leonard Oakes Lavinia Ada Allen Jewell 💍 1901/3819	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk	21 21	Christchurch Christchurch	21 years 21 years	St. Saviour's Church, Sydenham	01/4330		4 September 1901	Rev. R. A. Scott, Anglican
471	5 September 1901	William Robert Ferrant Nicholas Henderson Meares	William Robert Farrant Nicholas Henderson Mearus 💍 1901/3797	Bachelor Spinster	Carter Machinist	26 23	Sydenham Sydenham	26 years 5 years	House of Mr. Ferrant, Sydenham	01/4374		5 September 1901	Rev. C. R. Ward, Methodist
472	5 September 1901	Walter George Keys Isabella Emma Sprott	Walter George King Isabella Gunn 💍 1901/3919	Bachelor Spinster	Factory Manager Domestic	33 31	Christchurch Linwood	6 days 31 years	House of Mr. Martin, Cashel Street	01/4352		5 September 1901	Rev. J. Gow, Presbyterian
473	5 September 1901	John Raven Mary Jane McLean	John Raven Mary Jane McLean 💍 1901/3622	Bachelor Spinster	Saddler	35 25	Christchurch Lincoln	30 years 22 years	St. Stephen's Church, Lincoln	01/3873		5 September 1901	Rev. H. Northcote, Anglican

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).