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 1039

District of Winton Quarter ending 31 March 1901 Registrar William Russell

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

190

8 January 1901

John Andrew Healy
Ellen Josephine Sullivan

John Andrew Healy
Ellen Josephine Sullivan
💍 1901/1082

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman

27
21

Winton
Winton

8 days
21 years

The Roman Catholic Church Winton

01/1328

8 January 1901

Rev. John Ryan, Roman Catholic

No	190
Date of Notice	8 January 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Andrew Healy	Ellen Josephine Sullivan
	💍 1901/1082
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Winton	Winton
Length of Residence	8 days	21 years
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church Winton
Folio	01/1328
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 January 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Ryan, Roman Catholic

191

5 February 1901

Alfred Thomas Sands
Margaret Amelia Egerton

Alfred Thomas Sands
Margaret Amelia Egerton
💍 1901/1079

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
24

Winton
Winton

24 years
4 years

The Office of the Registrar Winton

01/1325

5 February 1901

Wm Russell, The Registrar Winton

No	191
Date of Notice	5 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Thomas Sands	Margaret Amelia Egerton
	💍 1901/1079
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Winton	Winton
Length of Residence	24 years	4 years
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar Winton
Folio	01/1325
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Wm Russell, The Registrar Winton

192

22 February 1901

Duncan McRae
Helen Hannah Paterson

Duncan McRae
Helen Hannah Paterson
💍 1901/1081

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd

28
22

Hokonui
Hokonui

3 days
15 years

Home of Mr. Thomas Paterson Hokonui

01/1327

22 February 1901

Rev. James McLaw, Presbyterian

No	192
Date of Notice	22 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Duncan McRae	Helen Hannah Paterson
	💍 1901/1081
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Hokonui	Hokonui
Length of Residence	3 days	15 years
Marriage Place	Home of Mr. Thomas Paterson Hokonui
Folio	01/1327
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. James McLaw, Presbyterian

193

11 March 1901

Peter Henderson
Mary Ellen Heathcote

Peter Henderson
Mary Ellen Heathcote
💍 1901/1080

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Hotel Keeper

29
37

Forest Hill
App. Road Winton

3 years
2 years

The Office of the Registrar Winton

01/1326

11 March 1901

Wm Russell, The Registrar Winton

No	193
Date of Notice	11 March 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Henderson	Mary Ellen Heathcote
	💍 1901/1080
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Hotel Keeper
Age	29	37
Dwelling Place	Forest Hill	App. Road Winton
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar Winton
Folio	01/1326
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 March 1901
Officiating Minister	Wm Russell, The Registrar Winton

194

16 March 1901

William John Cowie
Christina Henderson

William John Cowie
Christina Henderson
💍 1901/2518

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
19

Centre Bush
Centre Bush

29 years
12 years

The home of Mr. Henderson Centre Bush

01/2968

John Henderson, father

16 March 1901

Rev. James Barrod, Presbyterian

No	194
Date of Notice	16 March 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Cowie	Christina Henderson
	💍 1901/2518
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	19
Dwelling Place	Centre Bush	Centre Bush
Length of Residence	29 years	12 years
Marriage Place	The home of Mr. Henderson Centre Bush
Folio	01/2968
Consent	John Henderson, father
Date of Certificate	16 March 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Barrod, 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).