Intentions to Marry, 1902 North Island

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840421, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, October 3 2025

1902 is bound in two volumes, North Island districts and South Island districts.

Page 119

District of Wellington Quarter ending 31 March 1902 Registrar H. Mansfield

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

138

19 March 1902

St George Ablitt Dowsing
Ada Charlotte Cope

St George Ablitt Dowsing
Ada Charlotte Cape
💍 1902/2853

Bachelor
Widow

Civil Servant
Professor of Music

50
48

Wellington
Wellington

9 months
8 years

Residence of Mrs Cope 3 Wellington Terrace

02/736

19 March 1902

Rev W. Shirer

No	138
Date of Notice	19 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	St George Ablitt Dowsing	Ada Charlotte Cope
BDM Match (97%)	St George Ablitt Dowsing	Ada Charlotte Cape
	💍 1902/2853
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Civil Servant	Professor of Music
Age	50	48
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	9 months	8 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Cope 3 Wellington Terrace
Folio	02/736
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev W. Shirer

139

20 March 1902

Harry Starr
Margaret Mulholland

Harry Starr
Margaret Mulholland
💍 1902/2799

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook
Waitress

22
20

Wellington
Wellington

3 years
9 years

Wesley Church Parsonage Taranaki Street Wellington

02/764

Jane Howard Mother

20 March 1902

Rev W. C. Oliver

No	139
Date of Notice	20 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Starr	Margaret Mulholland
	💍 1902/2799
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook	Waitress
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Wesley Church Parsonage Taranaki Street Wellington
Folio	02/764
Consent	Jane Howard Mother
Date of Certificate	20 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev W. C. Oliver

140

20 March 1902

Harry Ferdinand Upham
Nora Smith

Harry Ferdinand Upham
Nora Smith
💍 1902/2769

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman

33
29

Wellington
Paikakariki

20 years
29 years

St Pauls Pro Cathedral Wellington

02/682

20 March 1902

Rev T. H. Sprott

No	140
Date of Notice	20 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Ferdinand Upham	Nora Smith
	💍 1902/2769
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman
Age	33	29
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Paikakariki
Length of Residence	20 years	29 years
Marriage Place	St Pauls Pro Cathedral Wellington
Folio	02/682
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev T. H. Sprott

141

20 March 1902

Herbert Charles Howse
Julia Allport

Herbert Charles Hawke
Julia Allport
💍 1902/2594

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24
33

Wellington
Wellington

4 days
4 days

Registrars Office Wellington

02/663

20 March 1902

H. Mansfield The Registrar

No	141
Date of Notice	20 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Charles Howse	Julia Allport
BDM Match (95%)	Herbert Charles Hawke	Julia Allport
	💍 1902/2594
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24	33
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Wellington
Folio	02/663
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1902
Officiating Minister	H. Mansfield The Registrar

142

21 March 1902

Frederick William Chambers
Helen Hancox

Frederick William Chambers
Helen Hancox
💍 1902/2857

Bachelor
Spinster

Upholsterer
Upholsteress

28
26

Wellington
Wellington

14 years
26 years

Residence of Mr John Hancox 202 Taranaki Street Wellington

02/740

21 March 1902

Rev. J. Paterson

No	142
Date of Notice	21 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Chambers	Helen Hancox
	💍 1902/2857
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Upholsterer	Upholsteress
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	14 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr John Hancox 202 Taranaki Street Wellington
Folio	02/740
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Paterson

143

22 March 1902

Edward Matthews
Mabel Wakeford

Edward Matthews
Mabel Wakeford
💍 1902/2595

Bachelor
Spinster

Driver
Laundress

25
20

Wellington
Wellington

25 years
2 years

Registrars Office Wellington

02/664

Henry John Wakeford Father

22 March 1902

H. Mansfield The Registrar

No	143
Date of Notice	22 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Matthews	Mabel Wakeford
	💍 1902/2595
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Driver	Laundress
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	25 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Wellington
Folio	02/664
Consent	Henry John Wakeford Father
Date of Certificate	22 March 1902
Officiating Minister	H. Mansfield The Registrar

144

22 March 1902

Henry Edward Venner Crawford
Marion Ellinor Pharazyn

Henry Edward Venner Crawford
Marion Ellinor Pharazyn
💍 1902/3357

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer

35
31

Wellington
Wellington

5 days
5 years

St Pauls Pro Cathedral Wellington

02/3067

22 March 1902

Rev T. H. Sprott

No	144
Date of Notice	22 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Edward Venner Crawford	Marion Ellinor Pharazyn
	💍 1902/3357
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer
Age	35	31
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Wellington
Length of Residence	5 days	5 years
Marriage Place	St Pauls Pro Cathedral Wellington
Folio	02/3067
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev T. H. Sprott

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 1903. 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).