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 530

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 March 1902 Registrar John Hem

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

26 February 1902

George Herbert Smith
Gertrude Hammond Boswell

George Herbert Smith
Gertrude Hammond Boswell
💍 1902/2564

Bachelor
Spinster

Theatrical Manager
Actress

33
21

Napier
Napier

3 days
3 days

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Napier

02/464

26 February 1902

Rev. W. D. Goggan

No	18
Date of Notice	26 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Herbert Smith	Gertrude Hammond Boswell
	💍 1902/2564
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Theatrical Manager	Actress
Age	33	21
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Napier
Folio	02/464
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. D. Goggan

10 March 1902

Arthur Flint
Bessie Kearney

Arthur Edwin Flint
Bessie Earney
💍 1902/2573

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic

22
19

Palmerston North
Napier

3 months
4 days

The Residence of the Bride's Parents, Carlyle Street, Napier

02/473

George Kearney, father of the Bride

10 March 1902

Rev. H. W. J. Miller

No	19
Date of Notice	10 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Flint	Bessie Kearney
BDM Match (76%)	Arthur Edwin Flint	Bessie Earney
	💍 1902/2573
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Napier
Length of Residence	3 months	4 days
Marriage Place	The Residence of the Bride's Parents, Carlyle Street, Napier
Folio	02/473
Consent	George Kearney, father of the Bride
Date of Certificate	10 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. W. J. Miller

12 March 1902

William Richard Martenson
Annie Catherine Martenson

William Richard Jane
Annie Catherine Mortensen
💍 1902/2575

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer
Laundry Maid

24
22

Napier
Napier

3 years
5 years

The Residence of Mrs. Christian, Carlyle Street, Napier

02/474

12 March 1902

Rev. H. W. J. Miller

No	20
Date of Notice	12 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Richard Martenson	Annie Catherine Martenson
BDM Match (82%)	William Richard Jane	Annie Catherine Mortensen
	💍 1902/2575
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer	Laundry Maid
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 years	5 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of Mrs. Christian, Carlyle Street, Napier
Folio	02/474
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. W. J. Miller

14 March 1902

Lee Dry
Emma Shade
formerly Youngman

Lee Doy
Emma Shade
💍 1902/2553

Bachelor
Widow

Fisherman
Domestic Duties

46
45

Western Spit
Western Spit

14 years
15 years

The Cathedral at Napier

02/452

14 March 1902

Very Rev. Dean Hovell

No	21
Date of Notice	14 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lee Dry	Emma Shade formerly Youngman
BDM Match (93%)	Lee Doy	Emma Shade
	💍 1902/2553
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Fisherman	Domestic Duties
Age	46	45
Dwelling Place	Western Spit	Western Spit
Length of Residence	14 years	15 years
Marriage Place	The Cathedral at Napier
Folio	02/452
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Dean Hovell

14 March 1902

John Archibald Macdonald
Amelia Charlotte Knowles

John Archibald MacFarlane
Amelia Charlotte Knowles
💍 1902/2579

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer

35
34

Greenhill, Maraekakaho, Napier
Napier

1 month
3 days

The Residence of the Bride's Parents, Clyde Road, Napier

02/478

14 March 1902

Rev. A. Whyte

No	22
Date of Notice	14 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Archibald Macdonald	Amelia Charlotte Knowles
BDM Match (88%)	John Archibald MacFarlane	Amelia Charlotte Knowles
	💍 1902/2579
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer
Age	35	34
Dwelling Place	Greenhill, Maraekakaho, Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	1 month	3 days
Marriage Place	The Residence of the Bride's Parents, Clyde Road, Napier
Folio	02/478
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Whyte

15 March 1902

Henry Prince Newton
Emily Wentworth Macdonald

Henry Prince Newton
Flora Emily Wentworth Macdonald
💍 1902/2554

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant
Domestic Duties

33
26

Napier
Napier

33 years
9 years

The Cathedral at Napier

02/453

15 March 1902

Very Rev. Dean Hovell

No	23
Date of Notice	15 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Prince Newton	Emily Wentworth Macdonald
BDM Match (90%)	Henry Prince Newton	Flora Emily Wentworth Macdonald
	💍 1902/2554
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant	Domestic Duties
Age	33	26
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	33 years	9 years
Marriage Place	The Cathedral at Napier
Folio	02/453
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Dean Hovell

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).