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 738

District of Thames Quarter ending 30 September 1902 Registrar Edward Honiss

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

4 July 1902

Archibald McCarthy
Beatrice Burns

Archibald McCarthy
Beatrice Burns
💍 1902/3471

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
None

27
24

Thames
Thames

4 years
24 years

The Dwelling of Alex Burns, Naiotahi Creek

02/3356

4 July 1902

Rev. A. D. Thomson, Presbyterian

No	40
Date of Notice	4 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald McCarthy	Beatrice Burns
	💍 1902/3471
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	None
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	4 years	24 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Alex Burns, Naiotahi Creek
Folio	02/3356
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. D. Thomson, Presbyterian

22 July 1902

Frank Senkup
Rebecca Dickson

Frank Seukup
Rebecca Dickson
💍 1902/3448

Bachelor
Widow

Cabinet Maker
None

45
54

Maratoto
Maratoto

4 years
3 years

The Office of the Registrar, Thames

02/3349

22 July 1902

Edward Honiss, Registrar

No	41
Date of Notice	22 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Senkup	Rebecca Dickson
BDM Match (96%)	Frank Seukup	Rebecca Dickson
	💍 1902/3448
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Cabinet Maker	None
Age	45	54
Dwelling Place	Maratoto	Maratoto
Length of Residence	4 years	3 years
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar, Thames
Folio	02/3349
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Edward Honiss, Registrar

26 July 1902

Samuel Hay Ferguson
Elizabeth Isabel Aitken

Samuel Hay Ferguson
Elizabeth Isabel Aitken
💍 1902/3467

Bachelor
Spinster

School Teacher
None

27
20

Thames
Thames

2 years
20 years

The Dwelling of Thomas Aitken, Mary St, Thames

02/3352

Thomas Aitken, Father

26 July 1902

Rev. J. S. Smalley, Methodist

No	42
Date of Notice	26 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Hay Ferguson	Elizabeth Isabel Aitken
	💍 1902/3467
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	School Teacher	None
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Thomas Aitken, Mary St, Thames
Folio	02/3352
Consent	Thomas Aitken, Father
Date of Certificate	26 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. S. Smalley, Methodist

2 August 1902

Henry Joseph Buckley
Lilian Maud Gribble

Henry Joseph Buckley
Lilian Maud Gribble
💍 1902/3459

Bachelor
Spinster

Bricklayer
None

26
25

Thames
Thames

1 day
25 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Thames

02/3350

5 August 1902

Rev. Edward Drake, Primitive Methodist

No	43
Date of Notice	2 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Joseph Buckley	Lilian Maud Gribble
	💍 1902/3459
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer	None
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	1 day	25 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Thames
Folio	02/3350
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Edward Drake, Primitive Methodist

18 August 1902

Matthew Halliday Elliot
Edith Amy Cryer

Matthew Halliday Elliot
Edith Amy Cryer
💍 1902/3472

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
None

21
21

Omahu
Omahu

21 years
21 years

The Dwelling of John Cryer, Omahu

02/3357

18 August 1902

Rev. A. D. Thomson, Presbyterian

No	44
Date of Notice	18 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Matthew Halliday Elliot	Edith Amy Cryer
	💍 1902/3472
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	None
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Omahu	Omahu
Length of Residence	21 years	21 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of John Cryer, Omahu
Folio	02/3357
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. D. Thomson, Presbyterian

19 August 1902

George McPike
Kate Lidgard

George McPike
Kate Lidgard
💍 1902/3468

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman
None

29
24

Thames
Thames

1 day
24 years

The Dwelling of Joseph Lidgard, Hanaeranga Valley

02/3353

21 August 1902

Rev. J. S. Smalley, Methodist

No	45
Date of Notice	19 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George McPike	Kate Lidgard
	💍 1902/3468
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman	None
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Thames	Thames
Length of Residence	1 day	24 years
Marriage Place	The Dwelling of Joseph Lidgard, Hanaeranga Valley
Folio	02/3353
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. S. Smalley, 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).