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 1243

District of Auckland 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

162

4 March 1902

Alfred Horatio Williams
Clara Agnes Edmiston

Alfred Horatio Williams
Clara Agnes Solmiston
💍 1902/1254

Bachelor

Contractor

40
36

Auckland
Auckland

3 days
36 years

House of Father of Bride, Ponsonby

02/924

4 March 1902

Rev. J. F. Robertson, Presbyterian

No	162
Date of Notice	4 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Horatio Williams	Clara Agnes Edmiston
BDM Match (93%)	Alfred Horatio Williams	Clara Agnes Solmiston
	💍 1902/1254
Condition	Bachelor
Profession	Contractor
Age	40	36
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 days	36 years
Marriage Place	House of Father of Bride, Ponsonby
Folio	02/924
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. Robertson, Presbyterian

163

5 March 1902

William Andrew Webster
Sophia Gordon

William Andrew Webster
Sophia Gordon
💍 1902/2416

Widower

Ships Carpenter

42
31

Auckland
Auckland

57 days
15 years

House of Rev. A. Seck, Devonport

02/130

5 March 1902

Rev. R. Ferguson, Presbyterian

No	163
Date of Notice	5 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Andrew Webster	Sophia Gordon
	💍 1902/2416
Condition	Widower
Profession	Ships Carpenter
Age	42	31
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	57 days	15 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. A. Seck, Devonport
Folio	02/130
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson, Presbyterian

164

5 March 1902

Thomas Best
Mary Ann Pateman

Thomas Best
Mary Ann Patman
💍 1902/2151

Bachelor

Battery Hand

31
23

Auckland
Auckland

4 days
3 years

St. Matthew's Church, Auckland

02/84

5 March 1902

Rev. G. E. Gillam, Church of England

No	164
Date of Notice	5 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Best	Mary Ann Pateman
BDM Match (97%)	Thomas Best	Mary Ann Patman
	💍 1902/2151
Condition	Bachelor
Profession	Battery Hand
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 days	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, Auckland
Folio	02/84
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. E. Gillam, Church of England

165

5 March 1902

Charles Alfred Hoyte
Catherine Lucy Breton

Charles Alfred Hoyte
Catherine Lucy Breton
💍 1902/2033

Bachelor

Surveyor's Assistant

40
30

Auckland
Auckland

4 months
30 years

St. Alban's Church, Mount Roskill

02/100

5 March 1902

Rev. C. M. Nelson, Church of England

No	165
Date of Notice	5 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Alfred Hoyte	Catherine Lucy Breton
	💍 1902/2033
Condition	Bachelor
Profession	Surveyor's Assistant
Age	40	30
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	4 months	30 years
Marriage Place	St. Alban's Church, Mount Roskill
Folio	02/100
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. M. Nelson, Church of England

166

5 March 1902

Reginald Charles Macgregor
Jeannette Spencer Claude

Reginald Charles Macgregor Laird
Jeannette Claude
💍 1902/2276

Bachelor

Wholesale Chemist

31
29

Auckland
Auckland

31 years
29 years

All Saints Church, Auckland

02/94

5 March 1902

Ven. Arch. W. Calder, Church of England

No	166
Date of Notice	5 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald Charles Macgregor	Jeannette Spencer Claude
BDM Match (74%)	Reginald Charles Macgregor Laird	Jeannette Claude
	💍 1902/2276
Condition	Bachelor
Profession	Wholesale Chemist
Age	31	29
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	31 years	29 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Auckland
Folio	02/94
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Ven. Arch. W. Calder, Church of England

167

5 March 1902

William Johnston Smith
Evelyn Came

William Mossington Smith
Evelyn Came
💍 1902/2424

Widower

Grocer

43
42

Auckland
Auckland

9 years
40 years

House of Bride's Parents, Grey Lynn

02/105

5 March 1902

Rev. D. S. Potter, Primitive Methodist

No	167
Date of Notice	5 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Johnston Smith	Evelyn Came
BDM Match (90%)	William Mossington Smith	Evelyn Came
	💍 1902/2424
Condition	Widower
Profession	Grocer
Age	43	42
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	9 years	40 years
Marriage Place	House of Bride's Parents, Grey Lynn
Folio	02/105
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. S. Potter, Primitive Methodist

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).