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 1043

District of Gisborne Quarter ending 30 September 1902 Registrar George John Alexander Johnstone

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

1305

11 August 1902

Matthew Gray
Eleanor Baird McConnell

Matthew Gray Nasmith Junior
Eleanor Beard McConnell
💍 1902/6446

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor

25 years
25

Gisborne
Gisborne

All his life
12 months

St. Andrew's Church, Gisborne

02/6348

11 August 1902

Rev. James Gillies Paterson, Presbyterian

No	1305
Date of Notice	11 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Matthew Gray	Eleanor Baird McConnell
BDM Match (68%)	Matthew Gray Nasmith Junior	Eleanor Beard McConnell
	💍 1902/6446
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor
Age	25 years	25
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	All his life	12 months
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church, Gisborne
Folio	02/6348
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Gillies Paterson, Presbyterian

1306

12 August 1902

John Charles Biggar
Mary Mildred Roderique

John Charles Biggar
Mary Mildred Roderique
💍 1902/3751

Bachelor
Spinster

Wheelwright

31
26

Gisborne
Matawhero

5 years
10 months

Presbyterian Church, Matawhero

02/3305

12 August 1902

Rev. Robert Gardner, Presbyterian

No	1306
Date of Notice	12 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Charles Biggar	Mary Mildred Roderique
	💍 1902/3751
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wheelwright
Age	31	26
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Matawhero
Length of Residence	5 years	10 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Matawhero
Folio	02/3305
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert Gardner, Presbyterian

1307

13 August 1902

Charles Matthews
Eleanor Willson

Charles Matthews
Eleanor Willson
💍 1902/6350

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer

24
21

Patutahi, Poverty Bay
Te Arai, Poverty Bay

20 months
18 months

Native Church, Te Arai, Poverty Bay

02/6347

13 August 1902

Rev. James Gillies Paterson, Presbyterian

No	1307
Date of Notice	13 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Matthews	Eleanor Willson
	💍 1902/6350
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Patutahi, Poverty Bay	Te Arai, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	20 months	18 months
Marriage Place	Native Church, Te Arai, Poverty Bay
Folio	02/6347
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Gillies Paterson, Presbyterian

1308

18 August 1902

William Henry Gilbert Watson
Alice May Banks

William Henry Gilbert Watson
Alice Mary Banks
💍 1902/3731

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic Servant

22
22

Makaraka
Gisborne

12 months
3 months

Residence of Mr. W. E. E. Watson, Makaraka

02/3309

18 August 1902

Rev. John Elliot Fox, Church of England

No	1308
Date of Notice	18 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Gilbert Watson	Alice May Banks
BDM Match (97%)	William Henry Gilbert Watson	Alice Mary Banks
	💍 1902/3731
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Servant
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Makaraka	Gisborne
Length of Residence	12 months	3 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. W. E. E. Watson, Makaraka
Folio	02/3309
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Elliot Fox, Church of England

1309

1 September 1902

Frederick Samuel Burns
Elizabeth Florence Aubrey
formerly Walker

Frederick Samuel Burns
Elizabeth Florence Aubrey
💍 1902/3511

Bachelor
Widow

Groom
Dressmaker

29
33

Gisborne
Gisborne

18 months
4 years

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

02/3297

1 September 1902

Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

No	1309
Date of Notice	1 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Samuel Burns	Elizabeth Florence Aubrey formerly Walker
	💍 1902/3511
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Groom	Dressmaker
Age	29	33
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	18 months	4 years
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne
Folio	02/3297
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Gisborne

1310

3 September 1902

Alexander Turnbull
Henrietta Phoebe Martin Ward

Alexander Turnbull
Henrietta Phebe Martin Ward
💍 1902/3752

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Servant

21
25

Makaraka, Poverty Bay
Makaraka, Poverty Bay

All his life
3 years

Presbyterian Church, Matawhero, Poverty Bay

02/3306

3 September 1902

Rev. Robert Gardner, Presbyterian

No	1310
Date of Notice	3 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Turnbull	Henrietta Phoebe Martin Ward
BDM Match (98%)	Alexander Turnbull	Henrietta Phebe Martin Ward
	💍 1902/3752
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Servant
Age	21	25
Dwelling Place	Makaraka, Poverty Bay	Makaraka, Poverty Bay
Length of Residence	All his life	3 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Matawhero, Poverty Bay
Folio	02/3306
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert Gardner, Presbyterian

1311

3 September 1902

Francis Joseph Teat
Annie Hintz

Francis Joseph Teat
Annie Hinter
💍 1902/6447

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

34
26

Gisborne
Gisborne

28 months
2 months

Residence of Mr. W. Good at Gisborne

02/6349

3 September 1902

Rev. James Gillies Paterson, Presbyterian

No	1311
Date of Notice	3 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Joseph Teat	Annie Hintz
BDM Match (92%)	Francis Joseph Teat	Annie Hinter
	💍 1902/6447
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	34	26
Dwelling Place	Gisborne	Gisborne
Length of Residence	28 months	2 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. W. Good at Gisborne
Folio	02/6349
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Gillies Paterson, Presbyterian

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).