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 355

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 1901 Registrar Deputy Registrar

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

674

19 December 1901

James Irvine
Christina Elizabeth Memmoth Henry

James Irvine
Christina Elizabeth Memmott Henry
💍 1902/509

Widower
Spinster

Dentist

57
38

Christchurch
Christchurch

27 years
1 year

St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch

01/1505

19 December 1901

Rev. John Mackenzie

No	674
Date of Notice	19 December 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Irvine	Christina Elizabeth Memmoth Henry
BDM Match (99%)	James Irvine	Christina Elizabeth Memmott Henry
	💍 1902/509
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Dentist
Age	57	38
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	27 years	1 year
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch
Folio	01/1505
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 December 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Mackenzie

675

20 December 1901

Harry Pengelly
Annetta Evelyn Sawtell

Harry Pengelly
Annetta Evelyn Sawtell
💍 1901/4623

Bachelor
Spinster

Stonemason
Dressmaker

32
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

25 years
27 years

St. John's Church, Christchurch

01/5248

20 December 1901

Rev. S. G. Fielding

No	675
Date of Notice	20 December 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Pengelly	Annetta Evelyn Sawtell
	💍 1901/4623
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stonemason	Dressmaker
Age	32	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	27 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Christchurch
Folio	01/5248
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 December 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. G. Fielding

676

20 December 1901

Francis Henry Smith
Emily Louisa Gillingham

Francis Henry Smith
Emily Louisa Gillingham
💍 1901/4668

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer

34
43

Albury
Christchurch

26 days
4 days

St. Michael's Church, Christchurch

01/5224

20 December 1901

Rev. A. W. Averill

No	676
Date of Notice	20 December 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Henry Smith	Emily Louisa Gillingham
	💍 1901/4668
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	34	43
Dwelling Place	Albury	Christchurch
Length of Residence	26 days	4 days
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Christchurch
Folio	01/5224
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 December 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Averill

677

20 December 1901

John Willoughby Paull
Alice Maud Paull

John Willoughby
Alice Maud Paull
💍 1901/4616

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman

27
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

19 years
2 years

Residence of John Paull, 181 Hazeldean Road, Sydenham

01/5233

20 December 1901

Rev. Thos. N. Griffin

No	677
Date of Notice	20 December 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Willoughby Paull	Alice Maud Paull
BDM Match (86%)	John Willoughby	Alice Maud Paull
	💍 1901/4616
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	19 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Paull, 181 Hazeldean Road, Sydenham
Folio	01/5233
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 December 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos. N. Griffin

678

20 December 1901

Arthur John Marshall
Lucy Fisher

Arthur John Marshall
Lucy Fisher
💍 1901/98

Widower
Spinster

Bootmaker
Machinist

31
29

Linwood
Riccarton

31 years
20 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

01/5204

20 December 1901

Deputy Registrar

No	678
Date of Notice	20 December 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur John Marshall	Lucy Fisher
	💍 1901/98
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Machinist
Age	31	29
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Riccarton
Length of Residence	31 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	01/5204
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 December 1901
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

679

20 December 1901

Andrew Joseph Thomson
Jessie Rae

Andrew Joseph Thomson
Jessie Rae
💍 1902/508

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

34
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

4 days
4 days

St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch

01/1504

20 December 1901

Rev. John Mackenzie

No	679
Date of Notice	20 December 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Joseph Thomson	Jessie Rae
	💍 1902/508
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	34	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch
Folio	01/1504
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 December 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Mackenzie

680

20 December 1901

John William Trist
Mary Alice Goddard

John William Trist
Mary Alice Goddard
💍 1901/4677

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler

22
22

Opawa
Opawa

6 years
4 years

St. Mark's Church, Opawa

01/5232

20 December 1901

Rev. R. T. Mathews

No	680
Date of Notice	20 December 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Trist	Mary Alice Goddard
	💍 1901/4677
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Opawa	Opawa
Length of Residence	6 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Mark's Church, Opawa
Folio	01/5232
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 December 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. T. Mathews

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).