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 252

District of Pahiatua Quarter ending 30 September 1902

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

28 July 1902

Leonard Joseph Burton Gillwood
Margaret Mary Ford

Leonard Joseph Burton Zillwood
Margaret Mary Ford
💍 1902/3765

Bachelor
Spinster

Wheelwright
Domestic Duties

28
21

Pahiatua
Pahiatua

6 years
2 years

Residence of W. M. Hinge at Mangatainoka

02/3561

28 July 1902

Rev. James M. Clow, Presbyterian; J. Barnett

No	30
Date of Notice	28 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Joseph Burton Gillwood	Margaret Mary Ford
BDM Match (98%)	Leonard Joseph Burton Zillwood	Margaret Mary Ford
	💍 1902/3765
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wheelwright	Domestic Duties
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Pahiatua
Length of Residence	6 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of W. M. Hinge at Mangatainoka
Folio	02/3561
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. James M. Clow, Presbyterian; J. Barnett

12 August 1902

Sydney Edward Bluett
Mary Ann Jennings

Sydney Edward Bluett
Mary Ann Jennings
💍 1902/3758

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

23
24

Pahiatua
Pahiatua

2 years
6 years

Residence of James M. Clow, Pahiatua

02/3555

12 August 1902

Rev. James M. Clow, Presbyterian

No	31
Date of Notice	12 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Edward Bluett	Mary Ann Jennings
	💍 1902/3758
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Pahiatua
Length of Residence	2 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of James M. Clow, Pahiatua
Folio	02/3555
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. James M. Clow, Presbyterian

2 August 1902

Arthur Futcher
Laura Smith

Arthur Futcher
Laura Smith
💍 1902/3766

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Domestic

23
23

Pahiatua
Pahiatua

15 years
5 years

Residence of J. Smith, Pahiatua

02/3562

2 August 1902

Rev. Samuel Barnett, Methodist

No	32
Date of Notice	2 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Futcher	Laura Smith
	💍 1902/3766
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Domestic
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Pahiatua
Length of Residence	15 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of J. Smith, Pahiatua
Folio	02/3562
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Samuel Barnett, Methodist

4 August 1902

Walter Henry Bayliss
Dorothy Mary Waller

Walter Henry Bayliss
Dorothy Mary Walther
💍 1902/6224

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
House Duties

30
18

Mangatainoka
Horowhenua

5 years
12 years

Church of England, Pahiatua

02/6235

Guy Waller, Father

5 August 1902

Rev. H. B. Marshall, Church of England

No	33
Date of Notice	4 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Henry Bayliss	Dorothy Mary Waller
BDM Match (95%)	Walter Henry Bayliss	Dorothy Mary Walther
	💍 1902/6224
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	House Duties
Age	30	18
Dwelling Place	Mangatainoka	Horowhenua
Length of Residence	5 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Pahiatua
Folio	02/6235
Consent	Guy Waller, Father
Date of Certificate	5 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. B. Marshall, Church of England

6 August 1902

Adam James Anderson
Elizabeth McLeod

Adam James Anderson
Elizabeth McLeod
💍 1902/3759

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

29
29

Pahiatua
Ngaturi

5 days
9 years

Residence of John McLeod, Pahiatua

02/3556

6 August 1902

Rev. James M. Clow, Presbyterian

No	34
Date of Notice	6 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Adam James Anderson	Elizabeth McLeod
	💍 1902/3759
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Pahiatua	Ngaturi
Length of Residence	5 days	9 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John McLeod, Pahiatua
Folio	02/3556
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. James M. Clow, Presbyterian

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).