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 651

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 June 1901 Registrar W. J. Hall Regr

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

271

14 June 1901

William Simon Saunders
Margaret Ann McLachlan

William Simon Saunders
Margaret Ann McLachlan
💍 1901/2425

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

40 years
20 years

North East Valley
Dunedin

1 month
2 weeks

In the house of Henry Kiplin Saunders

01/2733

J. Swan McLachlan, father of minor

14 June 1901

Rev. D. Barrie, Presbyterian Minister

No	271
Date of Notice	14 June 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Simon Saunders	Margaret Ann McLachlan
	💍 1901/2425
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	40 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	North East Valley	Dunedin
Length of Residence	1 month	2 weeks
Marriage Place	In the house of Henry Kiplin Saunders
Folio	01/2733
Consent	J. Swan McLachlan, father of minor
Date of Certificate	14 June 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Barrie, Presbyterian Minister

272

15 June 1901

Albert James Goding
Ellen Bayliss

Albert James Goding
Ellen Bayliss
💍 1901/3665

Bachelor
Spinster

Maltster

21 years
18 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

1 year
17 years

In the house of Harry Edwards, St. David Street

01/4114

Harry Edwards Bayliss, father of minor

15 June 1901

Rev. W. H. Fairclough, Wesleyan Minister

No	272
Date of Notice	15 June 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert James Goding	Ellen Bayliss
	💍 1901/3665
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Maltster
Age	21 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	1 year	17 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Harry Edwards, St. David Street
Folio	01/4114
Consent	Harry Edwards Bayliss, father of minor
Date of Certificate	15 June 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Fairclough, Wesleyan Minister

273

17 June 1901

Alexander Hogg Williamson
Mary Jane Barclay

Alexander Hogg Williamson
Mary Jane Barclay
💍 1901/2631

Bachelor
Spinster

Teacher

25 years
25 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 months

In the house of Mary Barclay, Canning Street, Dunedin

01/2813

17 June 1901

Rev. James Gible, Presbyterian Minister

No	273
Date of Notice	17 June 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Hogg Williamson	Mary Jane Barclay
	💍 1901/2631
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Teacher
Age	25 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mary Barclay, Canning Street, Dunedin
Folio	01/2813
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 June 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Gible, Presbyterian Minister

274

17 June 1901

Louis Robert Hill
Elizabeth Helen Walker

Louis Robert Hill
Elizabeth Helen Walker
💍 1901/2632

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

22 years
25 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

14 days
25 years

In the house of William Henry Walker, Forth Street, Dunedin

01/2796

17 June 1901

Rev. D. K. McIntyre, Presbyterian Minister

No	274
Date of Notice	17 June 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Louis Robert Hill	Elizabeth Helen Walker
	💍 1901/2632
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	22 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	14 days	25 years
Marriage Place	In the house of William Henry Walker, Forth Street, Dunedin
Folio	01/2796
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 June 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. K. McIntyre, Presbyterian Minister

275

17 June 1901

Egerton Humphrey Reid
Nina Hunter Ellis Gibson

Egerton Humphries Reid
Nina Hunter Ellis Gibson
💍 1901/3875

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer

26 years
23 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
22 years

In St. Paul's Cathedral

01/4389

17 June 1901

Rev. C. L. Robinson, Church of England Minister

No	275
Date of Notice	17 June 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Egerton Humphrey Reid	Nina Hunter Ellis Gibson
BDM Match (95%)	Egerton Humphries Reid	Nina Hunter Ellis Gibson
	💍 1901/3875
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer
Age	26 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	In St. Paul's Cathedral
Folio	01/4389
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 June 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. L. Robinson, Church of England Minister

276

17 June 1901

Hector Mockford Paine
Kathleen Johnson

Hector Mockford
Kathleen Johnson
💍 1901/2642

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

20 years
22 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

20 years
14 years

In the house of Henry Paine, South Dunedin

01/2800

Emma Paine, mother of minor

17 June 1901

Rev. W. A. Sinclair, Wesleyan Minister

No	276
Date of Notice	17 June 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hector Mockford Paine	Kathleen Johnson
BDM Match (86%)	Hector Mockford	Kathleen Johnson
	💍 1901/2642
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	20 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	20 years	14 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Henry Paine, South Dunedin
Folio	01/2800
Consent	Emma Paine, mother of minor
Date of Certificate	17 June 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Sinclair, Wesleyan Minister

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).