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 1249

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

126

18 February 1902

Walter James Ellett
Annie Jane Rennie

Walter James Ellett
Annie Jane Rennie
💍 1902/3150

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
22

Mangere
Mangere

29 years
22 years

House of Father of Bride

02/197

18 February 1902

Rev. C. Griffin, Methodist

No	126
Date of Notice	18 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter James Ellett	Annie Jane Rennie
	💍 1902/3150
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Mangere	Mangere
Length of Residence	29 years	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Father of Bride
Folio	02/197
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Griffin, Methodist

127

19 February 1902

Henry Bennett
Jessie Drysdale

Henry Bennett
Jessie Drysdale
💍 1902/2261

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

46
24

Auckland
Auckland

15 years
15 years

St. Paul's Church

02/160

19 February 1902

Rev. C. M. Nelson, Church of England

No	127
Date of Notice	19 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Bennett	Jessie Drysdale
	💍 1902/2261
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	46	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	15 years	15 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Church
Folio	02/160
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. M. Nelson, Church of England

128

19 February 1902

John William Harland
Lydia Evelyn Elliedon

John William Harland
Lydia Evelyn Ellisdon
💍 1902/2042

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

23
21

Auckland
Auckland

2 years
21 years

House of Mother of Bride, Hayden St.

02/119

19 February 1902

Rev. R. F. Macnicol, Presbyterian

No	128
Date of Notice	19 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Harland	Lydia Evelyn Elliedon
BDM Match (98%)	John William Harland	Lydia Evelyn Ellisdon
	💍 1902/2042
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	2 years	21 years
Marriage Place	House of Mother of Bride, Hayden St.
Folio	02/119
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. F. Macnicol, Presbyterian

129

19 February 1902

Walter Frederick Harrin
Rose Jemima Hobey Brookes

Walter Frederick Warren
Rose Jemima Hovey Brookes
💍 1902/2417

Bachelor
Spinster

Sergeant, Permanent Force

30
23

Auckland
Auckland

15 years
13 years

House of Father of Bride, Devonport

02/131

19 February 1902

Rev. R. Ferguson, Presbyterian

No	129
Date of Notice	19 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Frederick Harrin	Rose Jemima Hobey Brookes
BDM Match (94%)	Walter Frederick Warren	Rose Jemima Hovey Brookes
	💍 1902/2417
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sergeant, Permanent Force
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	15 years	13 years
Marriage Place	House of Father of Bride, Devonport
Folio	02/131
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson, Presbyterian

130

20 February 1902

Duncan Simpson
Jane Elizabeth McRae

Duncan McGregor Simpson
Jane Elizabeth McRae
💍 1902/2041

Widower
Spinster

Painter

40
22

Auckland
Auckland

17 years
22 years

House of Bride, Cobden St.

02/118

20 February 1902

Rev. R. M. Macnicol, Presbyterian

No	130
Date of Notice	20 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Duncan Simpson	Jane Elizabeth McRae
BDM Match (80%)	Duncan McGregor Simpson	Jane Elizabeth McRae
	💍 1902/2041
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	40	22
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	17 years	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Bride, Cobden St.
Folio	02/118
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Macnicol, Presbyterian

131

21 February 1902

James Walter Brown
Catherine Adelaide Millhone

James Walter Brown
Catherine Adelaide McIlhone
💍 1902/2386

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinet Maker

27
27

Auckland
Auckland

20 years
20 years

Baptist Tabernacle

02/189

21 February 1902

Rev. J. Clark, Baptist

No	131
Date of Notice	21 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Walter Brown	Catherine Adelaide Millhone
BDM Match (96%)	James Walter Brown	Catherine Adelaide McIlhone
	💍 1902/2386
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinet Maker
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	20 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Tabernacle
Folio	02/189
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Clark, Baptist

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).