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 746

District of Thames Quarter ending 31 March 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

17 February 1902

Theophilus Phelps
Ellen Landon-Lane

Theophilus Phelps
Ellen Landon-Lane
💍 1902/2537

Bachelor
Spinster

Photographer
Dressmaker

34
24

Thames
Thames

3 weeks
6 months

The Office of the Registrar, Thames

02/299

17 February 1902

E. Horniss, Registrar

No	7
Date of Notice	17 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Theophilus Phelps	Ellen Landon-Lane
	💍 1902/2537
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Photographer	Dressmaker
Age	34	24
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 weeks	6 months
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar, Thames
Folio	02/299
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1902
Officiating Minister	E. Horniss, Registrar

21 February 1902

William George Harris
Adeline Rosamund Heron

William George Harris
Adeline Rosamond Heron
💍 1902/2538

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

21
16

Thames
Thames

3 days
3 days

The Office of the Registrar, Thames

02/300

Ralph Heron, Father

21 February 1902

E. Horniss, Registrar

No	8
Date of Notice	21 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Harris	Adeline Rosamund Heron
BDM Match (98%)	William George Harris	Adeline Rosamond Heron
	💍 1902/2538
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	21	16
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar, Thames
Folio	02/300
Consent	Ralph Heron, Father
Date of Certificate	21 February 1902
Officiating Minister	E. Horniss, Registrar

24 February 1902

John Bates
Margaret Ramsay Kearney

John Bates
Margaret Ramsay Kearney
💍 1902/2527

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Dressmaker

34
21

Thames
Thames

6 years
3 years

The Dwelling of Robert Wood, Albert St

02/312

24 February 1902

Rev. A. D. Thomson, Presbyterian

No	9
Date of Notice	24 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Bates	Margaret Ramsay Kearney
	💍 1902/2527
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Dressmaker
Age	34	21
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	6 years	3 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Robert Wood, Albert St
Folio	02/312
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. D. Thomson, Presbyterian

24 February 1902

John Thomas Knight
Louisa Evelyn Brown

John Thomas Knight
Louisa Evelyn Brown
💍 1902/2526

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
None

31
24

Thames
Thames

6 years
24 years

St. John's Church, Parawai

02/311

24 February 1902

Rev. T. O'Callaghan, Church of England

No	10
Date of Notice	24 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas Knight	Louisa Evelyn Brown
	💍 1902/2526
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	None
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	6 years	24 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church, Parawai
Folio	02/311
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. O'Callaghan, Church of England

11 March 1902

Angus McKinnon
Emily Cordelia Bolton

Angus McKinnon
Emily Cordelia Rolton
💍 1902/2515

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman
None

28
19

Thames
Thames

18 months
19 years

The Office of the Registrar, Thames

02/301

Charles Bolton, Father

13 March 1902

E. Horniss, Registrar

No	11
Date of Notice	11 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Angus McKinnon	Emily Cordelia Bolton
BDM Match (98%)	Angus McKinnon	Emily Cordelia Rolton
	💍 1902/2515
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman	None
Age	28	19
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	18 months	19 years
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar, Thames
Folio	02/301
Consent	Charles Bolton, Father
Date of Certificate	13 March 1902
Officiating Minister	E. Horniss, Registrar

22 March 1902

John Dobson
Margaret Gibson

John Dobson
Margaret Gibson
💍 1902/2517

John Findlay
Margaret Gibson
💍 1902/3163

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
None

27
28

Thames
Thames

3 years
28 years

The Baptist Church, Thames

02/303

7 April 1902

Rev. Thos. A. Williams

No	12
Date of Notice	22 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Dobson	Margaret Gibson
	💍 1902/2517
BDM Match (71%)	John Findlay	Margaret Gibson
	💍 1902/3163
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	None
Age	27	28
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	3 years	28 years
Marriage Place	The Baptist Church, Thames
Folio	02/303
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos. A. Williams

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).