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 262

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1901 Registrar J. M. Vauderseen

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

19 February 1901

William Tharrum
Annie Williamson

William Sherwin
Annie Williamson
💍 1901/805

Bachelor
Widow

Laborer

40
42

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 months
6 months

Registrar's Office

01/837

19 February 1901

Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Vauderseen

No	82
Date of Notice	19 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Tharrum	Annie Williamson
BDM Match (83%)	William Sherwin	Annie Williamson
	💍 1901/805
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Laborer
Age	40	42
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 months	6 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	01/837
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Vauderseen

19 February 1901

Thomas Henry Broomfield
Mary Elizabeth Congalton

Thomas Henry Broomfield
Mary Elizabeth Cougalton
💍 1901/804

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor

22
18

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
10 days

Registrar's Office

01/836

Jane McBayde, Mother

19 February 1901

Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Vauderseen

No	83
Date of Notice	19 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Broomfield	Mary Elizabeth Congalton
BDM Match (98%)	Thomas Henry Broomfield	Mary Elizabeth Cougalton
	💍 1901/804
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor
Age	22	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	10 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	01/836
Consent	Jane McBayde, Mother
Date of Certificate	19 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. M. Vauderseen

19 February 1901

John Algie Kerr
Fanny Seaborn Trudall

John Algae Kerr
Fanny Seaborn Sendall
💍 1901/6008

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler
Bookbinder

23
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

20 years
21 years

St. Andrews Church

01/849

19 February 1901

Rev. J. McKenzie, Presbyterian

No	84
Date of Notice	19 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Algie Kerr	Fanny Seaborn Trudall
BDM Match (90%)	John Algae Kerr	Fanny Seaborn Sendall
	💍 1901/6008
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler	Bookbinder
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	21 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrews Church
Folio	01/849
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McKenzie, Presbyterian

19 February 1901

George Forbes Campbell
Theresa Ann Smith

George Forbes Campbell
Theresa Ann Smith
💍 1901/486

Widower
Spinster

Dairyman
Domestic

32
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

32 years
20 years

St. Lukes Church

01/914

Eliza Smith, Mother

19 February 1901

Ven. Arch. Lingard, Church of England

No	85
Date of Notice	19 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Forbes Campbell	Theresa Ann Smith
	💍 1901/486
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Dairyman	Domestic
Age	32	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	32 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Lukes Church
Folio	01/914
Consent	Eliza Smith, Mother
Date of Certificate	19 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Ven. Arch. Lingard, Church of England

19 February 1901

Joseph Searle Matheson
Annie Jane Matheson

Joseph Searle
Ann Jane Matheson
💍 1901/818

Bachelor
Spinster

Coach Driver
Dressmaker

28
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 years

St. Pauls Church, Fendalton, Christchurch

01/850

19 February 1901

Rev. D. Unsted, Presbyterian

No	86
Date of Notice	19 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Searle Matheson	Annie Jane Matheson
BDM Match (74%)	Joseph Searle	Ann Jane Matheson
	💍 1901/818
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coach Driver	Dressmaker
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Pauls Church, Fendalton, Christchurch
Folio	01/850
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Unsted, Presbyterian

20 February 1901

John Duncan Brown
Jessie Amelia Brown

John Diamond
Jessie Amelia Brown
💍 1901/485

Bachelor
Spinster

Groom
Domestic

24
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
12 years

St. Lukes Church

01/913

20 February 1901

Ven. Arch. Lingard, Anglican

No	87
Date of Notice	20 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Duncan Brown	Jessie Amelia Brown
BDM Match (74%)	John Diamond	Jessie Amelia Brown
	💍 1901/485
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Groom	Domestic
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	12 years
Marriage Place	St. Lukes Church
Folio	01/913
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Ven. Arch. Lingard, Anglican

20 February 1901

Arthur John Male
Elizabeth Maude Long

Arthur John James Smith
Elizabeth Maude Long
💍 1901/549

Divorced
Spinster

Bookbinder
Domestic

31
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
24 years

House of Mrs. A. Gordon, Peterborough Street, Christchurch

01/956

20 February 1901

Rev. H. Laws, Wesleyan

No	88
Date of Notice	20 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur John Male	Elizabeth Maude Long
BDM Match (80%)	Arthur John James Smith	Elizabeth Maude Long
	💍 1901/549
Condition	Divorced	Spinster
Profession	Bookbinder	Domestic
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	24 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. A. Gordon, Peterborough Street, Christchurch
Folio	01/956
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Laws, Wesleyan

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).