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 588

District of Stratford Quarter ending 31 March 1902 Registrar St. James

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

3 January 1902

August William Miers
Sarah May Cecelia Hunter

August William Miers
Sarah May Cicilia Hunter
💍 1902/2881

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

38
25

Feilding
Auckland

12 years
5 years

The Residence of J. J. Hunter, Sefton Street, Stratford

02/408

3 January 1902

Rev. J. A. Lochore, Wesleyan

No	1
Date of Notice	3 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	August William Miers	Sarah May Cecelia Hunter
BDM Match (96%)	August William Miers	Sarah May Cicilia Hunter
	💍 1902/2881
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	38	25
Dwelling Place	Feilding	Auckland
Length of Residence	12 years	5 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of J. J. Hunter, Sefton Street, Stratford
Folio	02/408
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Lochore, Wesleyan

10 January 1902

John William Jaford Briggs
Ethel Wiley

John William Jaford Briggs
Ethel Wiley
💍 1902/2887

Widower
Spinster

Carrier

33
21

Opunake
Opunake

5 years
20 years

The Office of the Registrar at Stratford

02/413

10 January 1902

St. James, Registrar

No	2
Date of Notice	10 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Jaford Briggs	Ethel Wiley
	💍 1902/2887
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Carrier
Age	33	21
Dwelling Place	Opunake	Opunake
Length of Residence	5 years	20 years
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar at Stratford
Folio	02/413
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1902
Officiating Minister	St. James, Registrar

10 January 1902

Harold Raymond Crawford
Annie Marguerite Jordan

Harold Raymond Crawford
Annie Marguerite Jordan
💍 1902/2325

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

24
24

Stratford
Stratford

11 years
10 years

The Residence of Mrs. Jordan, Miranda Street, Stratford

02/392

10 January 1902

Rev. J. J. Osborne, Presbyterian

No	3
Date of Notice	10 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Raymond Crawford	Annie Marguerite Jordan
	💍 1902/2325
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Stratford	Stratford
Length of Residence	11 years	10 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of Mrs. Jordan, Miranda Street, Stratford
Folio	02/392
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Osborne, Presbyterian

18 January 1902

John Ralph Davies
Christina Johnson

John Ralph Davies
Christina Johnson
💍 1902/2883

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30
25

Strathmore
Stratford

5 years
1 month

The Residence of Mr. Johnson, Sefton Street, Stratford

02/410

18 January 1902

Rev. N. T. Boyes, Church of England

No	4
Date of Notice	18 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Ralph Davies	Christina Johnson
	💍 1902/2883
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Strathmore	Stratford
Length of Residence	5 years	1 month
Marriage Place	The Residence of Mr. Johnson, Sefton Street, Stratford
Folio	02/410
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 January 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. N. T. Boyes, Church of England

4 February 1902

George Alfred Wile
Rose Ferdinand

George Alfred Vile
Rose Ferdinand
💍 1902/2886

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier

30
27

Opunake
Christchurch

2 years
20 years

The Roman Catholic Church at Stratford

02/412

4 February 1902

Rev. P. Meacy, Roman Catholic

No	5
Date of Notice	4 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Alfred Wile	Rose Ferdinand
BDM Match (97%)	George Alfred Vile	Rose Ferdinand
	💍 1902/2886
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Opunake	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church at Stratford
Folio	02/412
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Meacy, Roman Catholic

26 February 1902

Albert Forbes
Mary Bathson

Albert Forbes
Mary Bathson
💍 1902/2882

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

28
25

Stratford
Waipuku

2 years
20 years

The Residence of Mrs. J. Bathson, Rutland Road, Waipuku

02/409

26 February 1902

Rev. J. A. Lochore, Wesleyan

No	6
Date of Notice	26 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Forbes	Mary Bathson
	💍 1902/2882
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Stratford	Waipuku
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of Mrs. J. Bathson, Rutland Road, Waipuku
Folio	02/409
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Lochore, Wesleyan

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).