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 307

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 1901 Registrar S. Field

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

384

13 July 1901

Patrick O'Grady
Annie Henderson

Patrick O'Grady
Annie Henderson
💍 1901/3924

Widower
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

36
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

St. Paul's Church, Christchurch

01/4357

13 July 1901

Rev. R. Blackie, Presbyterian

No	384
Date of Notice	13 July 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick O'Grady	Annie Henderson
	💍 1901/3924
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	36	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Christchurch
Folio	01/4357
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Blackie, Presbyterian

385

13 July 1901

Peter Wallace Greenfell
Mary Maude Maurice

Peter Wallace Grenfell
Mary Maud Maurice
💍 1901/3345

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor
Domestic

29
18

Sydenham
Sydenham

21 years
1 year

Salvation Army Office, Lichfield St., Christchurch

01/3847

Mary Maurice mother

13 July 1901

Col. T. Estle, Salvationist

No	385
Date of Notice	13 July 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Wallace Greenfell	Mary Maude Maurice
BDM Match (95%)	Peter Wallace Grenfell	Mary Maud Maurice
	💍 1901/3345
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor	Domestic
Age	29	18
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	21 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Salvation Army Office, Lichfield St., Christchurch
Folio	01/3847
Consent	Mary Maurice mother
Date of Certificate	13 July 1901
Officiating Minister	Col. T. Estle, Salvationist

386

15 July 1901

Charles William Boswell
Mary Lavinia Mitchell

Charles William Bowman
Mary Lavenia Mitchell
💍 1901/3877

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Dressmaker

23
23

Christchurch
Riccarton

3 days
3 years

St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch

01/4415

15 July 1901

Rev. J. Macredie, Presbyterian

No	386
Date of Notice	15 July 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles William Boswell	Mary Lavinia Mitchell
BDM Match (89%)	Charles William Bowman	Mary Lavenia Mitchell
	💍 1901/3877
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Dressmaker
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Riccarton
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch
Folio	01/4415
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Macredie, Presbyterian

387

16 July 1901

Leonard Edward Thompkins
Fanny Sherwood

Leonard Edward Thompkins
Fanny Sherwood
💍 1901/3901

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

27
20

Woolston
Woolston

2 months
20 years

St. John's Church, Woolston

01/4355

Henry Sherwood, father

16 July 1901

Rev. W. J. Gow, Presbyterian

No	387
Date of Notice	16 July 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Edward Thompkins	Fanny Sherwood
BDM Match (98%)	Leonard Edward Thompkins	Fanny Sherwood
	💍 1901/3901
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Woolston
Length of Residence	2 months	20 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Woolston
Folio	01/4355
Consent	Henry Sherwood, father
Date of Certificate	16 July 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Gow, Presbyterian

388

16 July 1901

Thomas Henry Killick
Eliza Hamilton

Thomas George Killick
Eliza Beatrice Hamilton
💍 1901/3304

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Factory Hand

23
22

Christchurch
Sydenham

5 years
22 years

St. Luke's Church, Christchurch

01/3814

16 July 1901

Rev. Archd. Hughes, Anglican

No	388
Date of Notice	16 July 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Killick	Eliza Hamilton
BDM Match (71%)	Thomas George Killick	Eliza Beatrice Hamilton
	💍 1901/3304
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Factory Hand
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	5 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Christchurch
Folio	01/3814
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 July 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. Archd. Hughes, Anglican

389

18 July 1901

George Samuel Wormald
Annie Bosher

George Samuel Wormald
Annie Bosher
💍 1901/3817

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Domestic

23
22

Woolston
Sydenham

18 years
21 years

St. John's Church, Woolston

01/4328

18 July 1901

Rev. R. A. Serle, Anglican

No	389
Date of Notice	18 July 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Samuel Wormald	Annie Bosher
	💍 1901/3817
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Domestic
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Woolston	Sydenham
Length of Residence	18 years	21 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Woolston
Folio	01/4328
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 July 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. A. Serle, Anglican

390

19 July 1901

George Larcombe
Alice Gertrude Hart

George Larcombe
Alice Gertrude Hart
💍 1901/3878

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

26
23

Christchurch
Addington

1 year
6 years

St. John's Church, Addington

01/4416

19 July 1901

Rev. J. Macredie, Presbyterian

No	390
Date of Notice	19 July 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Larcombe	Alice Gertrude Hart
	💍 1901/3878
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Addington
Length of Residence	1 year	6 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Addington
Folio	01/4416
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Macredie, 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).