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 1182

District of Auckland Quarter ending 30 September 1897

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

502

7 July 1902

Harry McGregor
Alice Gray Smith

Harry McGregor
Alice May Smith
💍 1902/3282

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

25
22

Auckland
Auckland

3 weeks
3 days

House of W. J. Dixon, Eden Terrace

07/3271

7 July 1902

Rev. W. J. Dixon, Presbyterian

No	502
Date of Notice	7 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry McGregor	Alice Gray Smith
BDM Match (94%)	Harry McGregor	Alice May Smith
	💍 1902/3282
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 weeks	3 days
Marriage Place	House of W. J. Dixon, Eden Terrace
Folio	07/3271
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Dixon, Presbyterian

503

9 July 1902

John Donnelly
Margaret Helen Brodie

John Donnelly
Maud Ellen Brodie
💍 1902/4026

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

33
19

Auckland
Auckland

1 year
1 year

St. Benedict's Church

07/3797

Margaret Brodie, mother of bride

9 July 1902

Rev. C. H. Sillan, Roman Catholic

No	503
Date of Notice	9 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Donnelly	Margaret Helen Brodie
BDM Match (81%)	John Donnelly	Maud Ellen Brodie
	💍 1902/4026
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	33	19
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	St. Benedict's Church
Folio	07/3797
Consent	Margaret Brodie, mother of bride
Date of Certificate	9 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Sillan, Roman Catholic

504

9 July 1902

Leslie Horace Moses
Eva Louisa Bush

Leslie Horace Moses
Eva Louisa Freeman
💍 1902/3423

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

25
22

Auckland
Auckland

20 years
22 years

Presbyterian Parsonage

07/3040

9 July 1902

Rev. C. H. Sarland, Methodist

No	504
Date of Notice	9 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Horace Moses	Eva Louisa Bush
BDM Match (81%)	Leslie Horace Moses	Eva Louisa Freeman
	💍 1902/3423
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	20 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Parsonage
Folio	07/3040
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Sarland, Methodist

505

12 July 1902

Kenneth Bruce Heatley
Frances Ellen Waters

Kossuth Bem Jacob Heaton
Frances Ellen Waters
💍 1902/3307

Bachelor
Spinster

Horse Farrier

44
31

Auckland
Auckland

20 years
31 years

Registrar's Office

07/3097

12 July 1902

E. T. Lyon, Registrar

No	505
Date of Notice	12 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Kenneth Bruce Heatley	Frances Ellen Waters
BDM Match (71%)	Kossuth Bem Jacob Heaton	Frances Ellen Waters
	💍 1902/3307
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Horse Farrier
Age	44	31
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	20 years	31 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	07/3097
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 July 1902
Officiating Minister	E. T. Lyon, Registrar

506

14 July 1902

William John Spence
Maria Maud Charlton

William John Spence
Maria Maud Charlton
💍 1902/3387

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill Hand

26
23

Auckland
Auckland

26 years
23 years

Residence of H. Kelly, Brideyroom Paruells

07/3702

14 July 1902

Rev. H. Kelly, Presbyterian

No	506
Date of Notice	14 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Spence	Maria Maud Charlton
	💍 1902/3387
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill Hand
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	26 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Residence of H. Kelly, Brideyroom Paruells
Folio	07/3702
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Kelly, Presbyterian

507

14 July 1902

Alfred Smith
Florence Ann Palmer

Alfred Smith
Florence Ann Palmer
💍 1902/3531

Bachelor
Spinster

Submarine Telegraphist

37
35

Auckland
England

4 years
35 years

St. Paul's Church

07/3129

14 July 1902

Rev. Canon C. M. Nelson, Church of England

No	507
Date of Notice	14 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Smith	Florence Ann Palmer
	💍 1902/3531
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Submarine Telegraphist
Age	37	35
Dwelling Place	Auckland	England
Length of Residence	4 years	35 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church
Folio	07/3129
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon C. M. Nelson, Church of England

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).