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 254

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1901 Registrar J. W. Waddell

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

22 January 1901

William Henry Buchanan
Frances Anne Cassidy

William Henry Cassidy
Frances Anne Bonnor
💍 1901/571

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Dressmaker

23
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
5 days

Registrar's Office

01/823

22 January 1901

Registrar of Marriages, J. W. Waddell

No	22
Date of Notice	22 January 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Buchanan	Frances Anne Cassidy
BDM Match (64%)	William Henry Cassidy	Frances Anne Bonnor
	💍 1901/571
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Dressmaker
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	5 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	01/823
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1901
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, J. W. Waddell

23 January 1901

Oscar Robert Martin
Catherine Louisa Kenny

Oscar Robert Martin
Catherine Louisa Kenny
💍 1901/542

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner
Machinist

33
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 months
4 years

Wesleyan Church, East Belt

01/955

23 January 1901

Rev. C. H. Laws, Wesleyan

No	23
Date of Notice	23 January 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Oscar Robert Martin	Catherine Louisa Kenny
	💍 1901/542
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner	Machinist
Age	33	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 months	4 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, East Belt
Folio	01/955
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Laws, Wesleyan

24 January 1901

Hugh Temple Buchanan
Frances Mary Mullin

Hugh Templer
Frances Mullin
💍 1901/501

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

30
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

30 years
26 years

Pro-Cathedral, Barbadoes St.

01/928

24 January 1901

Rev. J. W. Price, Romanist

No	24
Date of Notice	24 January 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Temple Buchanan	Frances Mary Mullin
BDM Match (64%)	Hugh Templer	Frances Mullin
	💍 1901/501
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	30 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Pro-Cathedral, Barbadoes St.
Folio	01/928
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Price, Romanist

25 January 1901

Harry Howard Flavell
Ethel Marion Day

Harry Howard Flavell
Ethel Marion Day
💍 1901/396

Bachelor
Spinster

Brickmaker

38
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

17 years
29 years

St. Michael's Church

01/865

25 January 1901

Rev. A. W. Averill, Anglican

No	25
Date of Notice	25 January 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Howard Flavell	Ethel Marion Day
	💍 1901/396
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Brickmaker
Age	38	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	17 years	29 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church
Folio	01/865
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Averill, Anglican

26 January 1901

William Bennett
Leonora Alexandra

William Bennet
Leonora Alexander
💍 1901/537

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

31
32

Christchurch
Christchurch, Linwood

3 days
32 years

House of J. W. Alexander, Mathesons Rd.

01/968

26 January 1901

Rev. J. J. Sarginson, Congregational

No	26
Date of Notice	26 January 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Bennett	Leonora Alexandra
BDM Match (91%)	William Bennet	Leonora Alexander
	💍 1901/537
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	31	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch, Linwood
Length of Residence	3 days	32 years
Marriage Place	House of J. W. Alexander, Mathesons Rd.
Folio	01/968
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Sarginson, Congregational

27 January 1901

William Henry Hall
Gwendoline Farwell

William Henry Hall
Gwendoline Fairlle
💍 1901/538

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

23
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
23 years

Wesleyan Church, Selwyn St., Addington

01/970

27 January 1901

Rev. J. R. Thomas, Wesleyan

No	27
Date of Notice	27 January 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Hall	Gwendoline Farwell
BDM Match (89%)	William Henry Hall	Gwendoline Fairlle
	💍 1901/538
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Selwyn St., Addington
Folio	01/970
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Thomas, Wesleyan

28 January 1901

William Frederick Dobson
Mary Ellen Thomson

W Frederick Soper
Mary Ellen Thomson
💍 1901/412

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer

29
31

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
21 years

St. Paul's Church, Cashel St.

01/857

28 January 1901

Rev. J. L. Elmslie, Presbyterian

No	28
Date of Notice	28 January 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Frederick Dobson	Mary Ellen Thomson
BDM Match (77%)	W Frederick Soper	Mary Ellen Thomson
	💍 1901/412
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer
Age	29	31
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	21 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church, Cashel St.
Folio	01/857
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. L. Elmslie, 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).