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 322

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 1901 Registrar J. W. Dawson

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
482	16 September 1901	Thomas Alexander McDowell Rose Selina Savage	Thomas Alexander McDowell Rose Selina Savage 💍 1901/3630	Bachelor Spinster	Salesman	30 27	Christchurch Sydenham	30 years 27 years	Wesleyan Church	01/3857		16 September 1901	Rev. H. Bull, Wesleyan
483	16 September 1901	Harry Brooks Alice Jane Belworthy	Harry Becks Alice Jane Belworthy 💍 1901/3263	Bachelor Spinster	Tailor Machinist	24 17	Christchurch Christchurch	24 years 17 years	Registrar's Office	01/3774	John Belworthy, father	16 September 1901	J. W. Dawson, Registrar
484	16 September 1901	John William Walker May Alexandra Purser	John William Walter Baker May Alexander 💍 1901/3322	Bachelor Spinster	Bookseller	26 24	Christchurch Addington	26 years 24 years	St. Mary's Church	01/3832	Walter Walker, father	16 September 1901	Rev. W. J. Bean, Anglican
485	16 September 1901	James Topham Margaret Claphance	James Topham Margaret Clephane 💍 1901/3903	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	50 35	Christchurch Harewood	30 years 27 years	House of Mrs. Claphance, Harewood	01/4360		16 September 1901	Rev. J. Elmslie, Presbyterian
486	16 September 1901	Herbert Edward Purser Amelia Augusta Howley	Herbert Edward Empson Amelia Augusta Hawley 💍 1901/4617	Bachelor Spinster	Hairdresser Machinist	21 21	Christchurch Latimer Square	21 years 11 years	St. John's Church	01/5242		16 September 1901	Rev. S. J. Fielding, Anglican
487	17 September 1901	William Morris Mary Vincent	William Morris Mary Vincent 💍 1901/6056	Widower Widow	Mariner	68 45	Christchurch Christchurch	2 years 1 year	House of Mrs. Baldwin, Sydenham	01/3872		17 September 1901	Rev. W. Simpson, Presbyterian
488	17 September 1901	Thomas Young Ella Flanagan	Thomas Young Ella Flanagan 💍 1901/5460	Bachelor Spinster	Mechanic	22 21	Christchurch Ponsonby, Auckland	12 years 1 year	House of Mrs. Flanagan	01/2967	John Flanagan, father	17 September 1901	Col. J. Estill, Salvation Army
489	17 September 1901	John Francis Mahau Isabella Reid	John Frances Mahan Matilda Reid 💍 1901/3815	Bachelor Spinster	Baker	30 30	Christchurch Christchurch	9 years 3 days	House of Mrs. G. Brooker, Carlton Place	01/4326		17 September 1901	Rev. C. S. Wells, Methodist

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 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).