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 1251

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

114

12 February 1902

John Thompson
Violet Boyd

John Thompson
Violet Boyd
💍 1902/2302

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill Hand

31
24

Auckland
Auckland

3 1/2 years
24 years

Registrar Office

02/28

12 February 1902

S. Culpan, Deputy Registrar

No	114
Date of Notice	12 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thompson	Violet Boyd
	💍 1902/2302
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill Hand
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Registrar Office
Folio	02/28
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1902
Officiating Minister	S. Culpan, Deputy Registrar

115

12 February 1902

Charles Silbertson
Eva Kathleen Martin

Charles Gilbertson
Eva Kathleen Martin
💍 1902/583

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

26
21

Auckland
Auckland

15 years
20 years

St. Sepulchre Church of England

02/156

12 February 1902

Rev. S. A. Corver, Church of England

No	115
Date of Notice	12 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Silbertson	Eva Kathleen Martin
BDM Match (97%)	Charles Gilbertson	Eva Kathleen Martin
	💍 1902/583
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	15 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Sepulchre Church of England
Folio	02/156
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. A. Corver, Church of England

116

12 February 1902

Ernest Albert Dumper
Winifred Ethel Beach

Ernest Albert Dumper
Winifred Mabel Beach
💍 1902/2435

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer

22
21

Auckland
Auckland

15 years
21 years

House of Father of Bride, Turner Street, Auckland

02/195

12 February 1902

Rev. W. Laycock, Primitive Methodist

No	116
Date of Notice	12 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Albert Dumper	Winifred Ethel Beach
BDM Match (93%)	Ernest Albert Dumper	Winifred Mabel Beach
	💍 1902/2435
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	15 years	21 years
Marriage Place	House of Father of Bride, Turner Street, Auckland
Folio	02/195
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Laycock, Primitive Methodist

117

13 February 1902

Arnold Edward Harrison
Elizabeth Annie Witteford

Arnold Edward Hunter Harrison
Elizabeth Anne Witheford
💍 1902/2051

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

24
30

Auckland
Auckland

20 years
25 years

Church of England, Northcote

02/105

13 February 1902

Rev. H. S. Davies, Church of England

No	117
Date of Notice	13 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arnold Edward Harrison	Elizabeth Annie Witteford
BDM Match (84%)	Arnold Edward Hunter Harrison	Elizabeth Anne Witheford
	💍 1902/2051
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	24	30
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	20 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Northcote
Folio	02/105
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. S. Davies, Church of England

118

14 February 1902

David Reid
Mary Philomena Carbery

David Reid
Mary Philomena Cosbey
💍 1902/2184

Bachelor
Spinster

Boat Builder

25
17

Auckland
Auckland

25 years
4 years

St. John's Wesleyan, Ponsonby

02/167

14 February 1902

Rev. W. Ready, Methodist

No	118
Date of Notice	14 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Reid	Mary Philomena Carbery
BDM Match (93%)	David Reid	Mary Philomena Cosbey
	💍 1902/2184
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boat Builder
Age	25	17
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	25 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Wesleyan, Ponsonby
Folio	02/167
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Ready, Methodist

119

14 February 1902

Thomas Cook
Esther Zealandia Sefton

Thomas Cook
Esther Zealandia Sefton
💍 1902/2434

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

40
25

Auckland
Auckland

1 year
25 years

House of W. A. Davis, 25 Sundry Street, Auckland

02/194

14 February 1902

Rev. W. Laycock, Primitive Methodist

No	119
Date of Notice	14 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Cook	Esther Zealandia Sefton
	💍 1902/2434
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	40	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Auckland
Length of Residence	1 year	25 years
Marriage Place	House of W. A. Davis, 25 Sundry Street, Auckland
Folio	02/194
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Laycock, 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).