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 382

District of Geraldine Quarter ending 30 September 1901 Registrar Agnes Andrews

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

573

12 July 1901

Harry Hydes
Agnes Bell Greene

Harry Hydes
Agnes Bell Greene
💍 1901/3355

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Hand
Domestic Duties

27
24

Hilton
Hilton

3 days
3 years

The House of Mr. William Greene, Hilton

01/3892

12 July 1901

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	573
Date of Notice	12 July 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Hydes	Agnes Bell Greene
	💍 1901/3355
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Hand	Domestic Duties
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Hilton	Hilton
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr. William Greene, Hilton
Folio	01/3892
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 July 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

574

17 July 1901

Benjamin Richardson
Frances Catherine Mary Pepper

Benjamin Richardson
Frances Catherine Mary Pepper
💍 1901/3361

Widower
Widow

Carpenter
Housekeeper

38
32

Orari
Orari

12 years
4 weeks

The House of Mr. Joseph Sharp, Geraldine

01/3897

17 July 1901

Rev. Joseph Sharp, Primitive Methodist

No	574
Date of Notice	17 July 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Benjamin Richardson	Frances Catherine Mary Pepper
	💍 1901/3361
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Carpenter	Housekeeper
Age	38	32
Dwelling Place	Orari	Orari
Length of Residence	12 years	4 weeks
Marriage Place	The House of Mr. Joseph Sharp, Geraldine
Folio	01/3897
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 July 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. Joseph Sharp, Primitive Methodist

575

23 July 1901

John Taggart
Mary Constable

John Taggart
Mary Constable
💍 1901/3356

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
General Servant

28
23

Kakahu
Hilton

6 years
23 years

Presbyterian Church, Geraldine

01/3893

23 July 1901

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	575
Date of Notice	23 July 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Taggart	Mary Constable
	💍 1901/3356
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	General Servant
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Kakahu	Hilton
Length of Residence	6 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Geraldine
Folio	01/3893
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 July 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

576

5 August 1901

Jeremiah Connolly
Mary Moloney

Jeremiah Connolly
Mary Moloney
💍 1901/3362

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

25
26

Kakahu
Geraldine

25 years
18 years

Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine

01/3898

5 August 1901

Rev. H. G. Bowers, Roman Catholic

No	576
Date of Notice	5 August 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jeremiah Connolly	Mary Moloney
	💍 1901/3362
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Kakahu	Geraldine
Length of Residence	25 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine
Folio	01/3898
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 August 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Bowers, Roman Catholic

577

14 August 1901

James Rae
Jane Reid

James Rae
Jane Reid
💍 1901/3358

Bachelor
Spinster

Threshing Mill Owner
Domestic Duties

26
26

Raeburn
Willow Bank, Geraldine

3 days
26 years

The House of Mrs. Reid, Willow Bank, Geraldine

01/3894

14 August 1901

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	577
Date of Notice	14 August 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Rae	Jane Reid
	💍 1901/3358
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Threshing Mill Owner	Domestic Duties
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Raeburn	Willow Bank, Geraldine
Length of Residence	3 days	26 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mrs. Reid, Willow Bank, Geraldine
Folio	01/3894
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 August 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

578

9 September 1901

Frederick Mason Allison
Gertrude Elizabeth Johnson

Frederick Mason Allison
Gertrude Elizabeth Johnson
💍 1901/3359

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
General Servant

34
24

Belfield, Orari
Geraldine

15 years
6 months

Presbyterian Church, Geraldine

01/3895

9 September 1901

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	578
Date of Notice	9 September 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Mason Allison	Gertrude Elizabeth Johnson
	💍 1901/3359
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	General Servant
Age	34	24
Dwelling Place	Belfield, Orari	Geraldine
Length of Residence	15 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Geraldine
Folio	01/3895
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 September 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

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).