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 325

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

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
497	21 September 1901	Harold Rhind Daisy Bunchall	Harold Rhind Daisy Burchell Smith-Austen 💍 1901/3265	Bachelor Spinster	Grain Expert Assistant	18 16	Christchurch Christchurch	18 years 1 year	Registrar's Office, Christchurch	01/3776	William Smith, Father	21 September 1901	J. J. W. Anderson, Registrar
498	21 September 1901	John Thomas Nelson Ida Mary Shewants	John Thomas Nelson Ida Mary Thwaites 💍 1901/3881	Bachelor Spinster	Labourer Domestic	26 28	Christchurch Christchurch	26 years 3 days	House of Mr. Archibald Selwyn St.	01/4419	[illegible]	21 September 1901	Rev. J. Mackenzie, Presbyterian
499	21 September 1901	John Bellamy Laura Martha Norris	John Bellamy Norris Laura Malthus 💍 1901/3298	Bachelor Spinster	Insurance Agent	28 28	Christchurch Avonside	10 years 10 years	Holy Trinity Church	01/3808	[illegible]	21 September 1901	Rev. W. D. Pascoe, Anglican
500	21 September 1901	John Henry Yeatman Agnes May Donovan	John Henry Gratman Agnes May Donovan 💍 1901/3321	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Domestic	22 18	Christchurch Addington	3 years 10 years	St. Mary's Church	01/3831	John Henry Donovan, Father	21 September 1901	Rev. W. J. Bean, Anglican
501	23 September 1901	Harry Gee Davidson Ellen Davidson	Harry Gee Ellen Davidson 💍 1901/4887	Bachelor Spinster	Carpenter Domestic	23 24	Christchurch St. Albans	25 years 10 years	House of Mr. W. Davidson, Fitzgerald St.	01/5265	[illegible]	23 September 1901	Rev. J. Simpson, Presbyterian
502	23 September 1901	Arthur Percival Crook Jeanette Ferguson Hunter	Arthur Perceval Crook Jeanette Fergnson Hunter 💍 1901/135	Bachelor Spinster	Clerk Dressmaker	40 34	Christchurch Linwood	3 years 5 years	House of Mr. Brown, 3 Decan St.	01/3870	[illegible]	23 September 1901	Rev. J. Simpson, Presbyterian
503	23 September 1901	John Smith Walker Amy Catherine Walker	John Smith Amy Catherine Walker 💍 1901/3616	Bachelor Spinster	Builder	26 20	Christchurch Fendalton	20 years 13 years	House of Mr. T. Jones, 13 Clyde Rd.	01/3866	Elizabeth Walker, Mother	23 September 1901	Rev. J. Jorgenson, Congregational
504	23 September 1901	Henry Chas Purvis Rachel Sutton	Henry Charles Purvis Rachel Alice Sutton 💍 1901/3318	Bachelor Spinster	Cashier Domestic	25 21	Christchurch City	2 years 3 days	St. John's Church	01/3804	[illegible]	23 September 1901	Rev. S. G. Field, 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).