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 518

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

13 October 1902

Arthur Ernest Burton
Emily Jane Horsefield

Arthur Ernest Burton
Emily Jane Horsefield
💍 1902/5362

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

21
21

Jaradale
Napier

21 years
14 years

At the Residence of Brides Parents, 6 Boote Road, Napier

02/5072

13 October 1902

Rev. H. J. Miller

No	75
Date of Notice	13 October 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Ernest Burton	Emily Jane Horsefield
	💍 1902/5362
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Jaradale	Napier
Length of Residence	21 years	14 years
Marriage Place	At the Residence of Brides Parents, 6 Boote Road, Napier
Folio	02/5072
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. J. Miller

16 October 1902

Michael Henry McShane
Elizabeth McShane

Michael Henry
Elizabeth McShane
💍 1902/5701

Bachelor
Spinster

Boiler Maker
Dressmaker

22
24

Napier
Napier

12 years
23 years

At St. Patrick's Church, Munro Street, Napier

02/5443

16 October 1902

Rev. W. H. Goggan

No	76
Date of Notice	16 October 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Henry McShane	Elizabeth McShane
BDM Match (81%)	Michael Henry	Elizabeth McShane
	💍 1902/5701
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boiler Maker	Dressmaker
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	12 years	23 years
Marriage Place	At St. Patrick's Church, Munro Street, Napier
Folio	02/5443
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 October 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Goggan

20 October 1902

Henry Robert Douglas
Eva Buck maiden name
formerly Eva Beale

Henry Robert Douglas
Eva Buck
💍 1902/223

Bachelor
Divorced

Shepherd
Domestic Duties

28
30

Karerie
Napier

3 years
9 months

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier

02/5064

20 October 1902

John Burden, Registrar, Napier

No	77
Date of Notice	20 October 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Robert Douglas	Eva Buck maiden name formerly Eva Beale
BDM Match (70%)	Henry Robert Douglas	Eva Buck
	💍 1902/223
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic Duties
Age	28	30
Dwelling Place	Karerie	Napier
Length of Residence	3 years	9 months
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Napier
Folio	02/5064
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 October 1902
Officiating Minister	John Burden, Registrar, Napier

21 October 1902

Harry James Hallett
Elizabeth Ann Hughes

Harry James Hallett
Elizabeth Ann Hughes
💍 1902/5363

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer
Domestic Duties

31
23

Puketitiri
Puketitiri

15 years
15 years

At the Residence of the Brides Aunt, Craven Street, Napier

02/5073

21 October 1902

Rev. H. J. Miller

No	78
Date of Notice	21 October 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry James Hallett	Elizabeth Ann Hughes
	💍 1902/5363
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Puketitiri	Puketitiri
Length of Residence	15 years	15 years
Marriage Place	At the Residence of the Brides Aunt, Craven Street, Napier
Folio	02/5073
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 October 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. J. Miller

21 October 1902

William James Taylor
Creelia Maud Hinn

William James Taylor
Cecelia Maud Henn
💍 1902/5702

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic Duties

34
27

Auckland
Napier

3 days
2 months

At St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Napier

02/5444

21 October 1902

Rev. W. H. Goggan

No	79
Date of Notice	21 October 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Taylor	Creelia Maud Hinn
BDM Match (91%)	William James Taylor	Cecelia Maud Henn
	💍 1902/5702
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic Duties
Age	34	27
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	2 months
Marriage Place	At St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Napier
Folio	02/5444
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 October 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Goggan

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).