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 516

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 December 1902 Registrar John Burden

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 November 1902

William John Henry Hutton
Ellendouisa Nelson

William John Henry Hutton
Ellen Louisa Nelson
💍 1902/224

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

30
21

Napier
Napier

19 years
21 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Napier

02/5065

19 November 1902

John Burden, Registrar

No	85
Date of Notice	19 November 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Henry Hutton	Ellendouisa Nelson
BDM Match (95%)	William John Henry Hutton	Ellen Louisa Nelson
	💍 1902/224
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	19 years	21 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Napier
Folio	02/5065
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 November 1902
Officiating Minister	John Burden, Registrar

24 November 1902

Charles Philip Lound
Phoebe Alice Stairmand

Charles Phillip Lound
Phoebe Alice Stairmond
💍 1902/5345

Widower
Widow

Accountant
Domestic Duties

52
42

Napier
Napier

40 years
25 years

At the Residence of the Bride Carlyle Street Napier

02/5079

24 November 1902

Rev. J. C. Martin

No	86
Date of Notice	24 November 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Philip Lound	Phoebe Alice Stairmand
BDM Match (95%)	Charles Phillip Lound	Phoebe Alice Stairmond
	💍 1902/5345
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Accountant	Domestic Duties
Age	52	42
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	40 years	25 years
Marriage Place	At the Residence of the Bride Carlyle Street Napier
Folio	02/5079
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 November 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Martin

24 November 1902

John McCarthy
Sarah Ann Jarvis

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic Duties

22
21

Port Ahuriri
Port Ahuriri

10 years
18 months

At St Marys Catholic Church Napier

not solemnized

24 November 1902

Rev. W. D. Goggan

No	87
Date of Notice	24 November 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McCarthy	Sarah Ann Jarvis
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic Duties
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Port Ahuriri	Port Ahuriri
Length of Residence	10 years	18 months
Marriage Place	At St Marys Catholic Church Napier
Folio	not solemnized
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 November 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. D. Goggan

29 November 1902

Samuel Kean
Minnie Williams

Samuel Rean
Minnie Williams
💍 1902/5340

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Domestic Duties

26
22

Napier
Napier

26 years
7 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages Napier

02/5066

29 November 1902

John Burden, Registrar

No	88
Date of Notice	29 November 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Kean	Minnie Williams
BDM Match (95%)	Samuel Rean	Minnie Williams
	💍 1902/5340
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Domestic Duties
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	26 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages Napier
Folio	02/5066
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 November 1902
Officiating Minister	John Burden, Registrar

03 December 1902

Alexander Kilm
Emily Mary Bissell

Alexander Helm
Emily Mary Bissell
💍 1902/5359

Bachelor
Spinster

Hotel Keeper
Domestic Duties

39
23

Clive H.B.
Clive H.B.

3 years
15 years

Residence of the Bride at Clive H.B.

02/5069

03 December 1902

Rev. W. J. Comrie

No	89
Date of Notice	03 December 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Kilm	Emily Mary Bissell
BDM Match (93%)	Alexander Helm	Emily Mary Bissell
	💍 1902/5359
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hotel Keeper	Domestic Duties
Age	39	23
Dwelling Place	Clive H.B.	Clive H.B.
Length of Residence	3 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Residence of the Bride at Clive H.B.
Folio	02/5069
Consent
Date of Certificate	03 December 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Comrie

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).