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 761

District of Te Aroha Quarter ending 30 June 1902 Registrar John George Beswick

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

2 April 1902

Samuel Armstrong Aetherington
Esther May Hirst

Samuel Armstrong Hetherington
Ethel May Hirst
💍 1902/1205

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

30
26

Thames (at present Te Aroha)
Te Aroha

3 days
15 years

Methodist Church, Te Aroha

02/1796

2 April 1902

Rev. P. Griffiths, Wesleyan

No	3
Date of Notice	2 April 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Armstrong Aetherington	Esther May Hirst
BDM Match (92%)	Samuel Armstrong Hetherington	Ethel May Hirst
	💍 1902/1205
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	Thames (at present Te Aroha)	Te Aroha
Length of Residence	3 days	15 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Te Aroha
Folio	02/1796
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Griffiths, Wesleyan

22 April 1902

Hugh David Book
Agnes Sawyer

Hugh David Cook
Agnes Sawyer
💍 1902/4978

Bachelor
Widow

Drapers assistant

32
36

Thames (at present Waihou)
Thames (at present Waihou)

4 days
4 days

In the residence of William Taylor

02/14936

22 April 1902

Rev. C. J. McFarland, Anglican

No	4
Date of Notice	22 April 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh David Book	Agnes Sawyer
BDM Match (97%)	Hugh David Cook	Agnes Sawyer
	💍 1902/4978
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Drapers assistant
Age	32	36
Dwelling Place	Thames (at present Waihou)	Thames (at present Waihou)
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	In the residence of William Taylor
Folio	02/14936
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. J. McFarland, Anglican

13 May 1902

Edmund Barker
Elizabeth Lipsey

Edmund Barker
Elizabeth Lipsey
💍 1902/4979

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

23
22

Te Aroha
Te Aroha

3 years
22 years

In the dwelling of George Lipsey, Te Aroha

02/14937

13 May 1902

Rev. C. J. McFarland, Anglican

No	5
Date of Notice	13 May 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edmund Barker	Elizabeth Lipsey
	💍 1902/4979
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Te Aroha	Te Aroha
Length of Residence	3 years	22 years
Marriage Place	In the dwelling of George Lipsey, Te Aroha
Folio	02/14937
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 May 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. J. McFarland, Anglican

23 May 1902

Harry Evan Salmon
Harriet Ellen Lawn

Harry Evan Salmon
Harriett Ellen Lawn
💍 1902/1216

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Clerk

24
25

Te Aroha
Te Aroha

4 years

In the residence of Henry Lawn, Te Aroha

02/1797

23 May 1902

Rev. C. Abernethy, Wesleyan

No	6
Date of Notice	23 May 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Evan Salmon	Harriet Ellen Lawn
BDM Match (97%)	Harry Evan Salmon	Harriett Ellen Lawn
	💍 1902/1216
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Clerk
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Te Aroha	Te Aroha
Length of Residence	4 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Henry Lawn, Te Aroha
Folio	02/1797
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 May 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Abernethy, Wesleyan

2 June 1902

Frederick Arthur Tibbits
Anna Wood

Frederick Arthur Tebbits
Ann Wood
💍 1902/1219

Widower
Widow

Contractor

54
53

Te Aroha
Te Aroha

3 days
7 days

In the dwelling of Mr. Heathcote (Temperance Boarding House), Te Aroha

02/1799

2 June 1902

Rev. C. Abernethy, Wesleyan

No	7
Date of Notice	2 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Arthur Tibbits	Anna Wood
BDM Match (92%)	Frederick Arthur Tebbits	Ann Wood
	💍 1902/1219
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Contractor
Age	54	53
Dwelling Place	Te Aroha	Te Aroha
Length of Residence	3 days	7 days
Marriage Place	In the dwelling of Mr. Heathcote (Temperance Boarding House), Te Aroha
Folio	02/1799
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Abernethy, Wesleyan

9 June 1902

William Bellamy
Hetty Maria Lusby

William Bellamy
Hetty Maria Lusby
💍 1902/1218

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23
21

Waitoa
Waitoa

6 years
18 years

In the residence of George Lusby, Waitoa

02/1798

9 June 1902

Rev. C. Abernethy, Wesleyan

No	8
Date of Notice	9 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Bellamy	Hetty Maria Lusby
	💍 1902/1218
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Waitoa	Waitoa
Length of Residence	6 years	18 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of George Lusby, Waitoa
Folio	02/1798
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Abernethy, Wesleyan

30 June 1902

David Davies
Agnes Caldwell Shaw

David Davies
Agnes Caldwell Shaw
💍 1902/4199

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

38
30

Tamahere (at present Te Aroha)
Waiorongomai

7 days
30 years

In the dwelling of James Shaw, Waiorongomai

02/3937

30 June 1902

Rev. John Erwin

No	9
Date of Notice	30 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Davies	Agnes Caldwell Shaw
	💍 1902/4199
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	38	30
Dwelling Place	Tamahere (at present Te Aroha)	Waiorongomai
Length of Residence	7 days	30 years
Marriage Place	In the dwelling of James Shaw, Waiorongomai
Folio	02/3937
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Erwin

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).