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 585

District of Stratford Quarter ending 30 June 1902 Registrar J. James

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

30 May 1902

Francis William Walters
Christina McFadgen

Francis William Walters
Christina McFadgen
💍 1902/1286

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

33
21

Cardiff
Cardiff

20 years
1 year

Wesleyan Church at Stratford

02/1941

30 May 1902

Rev. J. A. Lochore, Wesleyan

No	16
Date of Notice	30 May 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis William Walters	Christina McFadgen
	💍 1902/1286
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	33	21
Dwelling Place	Cardiff	Cardiff
Length of Residence	20 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church at Stratford
Folio	02/1941
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Lochore, Wesleyan

4 June 1902

George Herbert Askew
Catherine Longhurst Frost

George Herbert Askew
Catherleen Tongerest Frost
💍 1902/1281

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

22
19

Midhurst
Midhurst

18 years
8 months

The Church of England at Midhurst

02/1937

Charles Arthur Frost, father

4 June 1902

Rev. E. W. McConnell, Church of England

No	17
Date of Notice	4 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Herbert Askew	Catherine Longhurst Frost
BDM Match (87%)	George Herbert Askew	Catherleen Tongerest Frost
	💍 1902/1281
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Midhurst	Midhurst
Length of Residence	18 years	8 months
Marriage Place	The Church of England at Midhurst
Folio	02/1937
Consent	Charles Arthur Frost, father
Date of Certificate	4 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. W. McConnell, Church of England

6 June 1902

James Patrick Power Kelly
Sarah Fanny Askew

James Patrick Power Kelly
Sarah Fanny Askew
💍 1902/1282

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

26
19

Midhurst
Midhurst

20 years
19 years

The Church of England at Midhurst

02/1938

Aaron Askew, father

6 June 1902

Rev. E. W. McConnell, Church of England

No	18
Date of Notice	6 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Patrick Power Kelly	Sarah Fanny Askew
	💍 1902/1282
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Midhurst	Midhurst
Length of Residence	20 years	19 years
Marriage Place	The Church of England at Midhurst
Folio	02/1938
Consent	Aaron Askew, father
Date of Certificate	6 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. W. McConnell, Church of England

7 June 1902

Henry Crosby
Edith Esther Cales

Henry Crosly
Edith Esther Eales
💍 1902/1290

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairy Factory Hand

24
21

Midhurst
Midhurst

23 years
5 years

The Wesleyan Church at Midhurst

02/1945

7 June 1902

Rev. S. J. Garlick, Wesleyan

No	19
Date of Notice	7 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Crosby	Edith Esther Cales
BDM Match (93%)	Henry Crosly	Edith Esther Eales
	💍 1902/1290
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairy Factory Hand
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Midhurst	Midhurst
Length of Residence	23 years	5 years
Marriage Place	The Wesleyan Church at Midhurst
Folio	02/1945
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. J. Garlick, Wesleyan

7 June 1902

John Haughton
Merinda Wright

John Houghton
Merinda Wright
💍 1902/1287

John Lawson
Mary Wyndham Wright
💍 1902/3248

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

33
23

Stratford
Stratford

3 years
2 years

Wesleyan Church at Cardiff

02/1942

7 June 1902

Rev. J. A. Lochore, Wesleyan

No	20
Date of Notice	7 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Haughton	Merinda Wright
BDM Match (96%)	John Houghton	Merinda Wright
	💍 1902/1287
BDM Match (62%)	John Lawson	Mary Wyndham Wright
	💍 1902/3248
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	33	23
Dwelling Place	Stratford	Stratford
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church at Cardiff
Folio	02/1942
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Lochore, Wesleyan

10 June 1902

Charles Frederick Osborn
Annie Nora Smith

Charles Frederick Osborn
Annie Norah Smith
💍 1902/1288

Henry Frederickson
Annie Eva Smith
💍 1902/4332

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

21
23

Cardiff
Cardiff

3 years
20 years

Cardiff Church

02/1943

11 June 1902

Rev. J. A. Lochore, Wesleyan

No	21
Date of Notice	10 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Frederick Osborn	Annie Nora Smith
BDM Match (97%)	Charles Frederick Osborn	Annie Norah Smith
	💍 1902/1288
BDM Match (70%)	Henry Frederickson	Annie Eva Smith
	💍 1902/4332
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	21	23
Dwelling Place	Cardiff	Cardiff
Length of Residence	3 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Cardiff Church
Folio	02/1943
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Lochore, Wesleyan

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).