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 580

District of Stratford Quarter ending 30 September 1902 Registrar Sydney Henry 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

11 August 1902

Edward Francis Spray
Rhoda Kwell

Edward Francis Spray
Rhoda Kivell
💍 1902/3852

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer

31
27

Stratford
Stratford

6 years
20 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Stratford

09/3449

11 August 1902

Rev. Jas. Glover, Primitive Methodist

No	40
Date of Notice	11 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Francis Spray	Rhoda Kwell
BDM Match (92%)	Edward Francis Spray	Rhoda Kivell
	💍 1902/3852
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	31	27
Dwelling Place	Stratford	Stratford
Length of Residence	6 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Stratford
Folio	09/3449
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. Glover, Primitive Methodist

21 August 1902

Charles Alexander Garrett
Ethel Daisy Bennett

Charles Alexander Garrett
Ethel Daisy Bennett
💍 1902/3439

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25
17

Rowan
Mahoe

11 years
2 years

Office of the Registrar, Stratford

09/3440

Stephen Bennett, father

21 August 1902

S. H. James, Registrar

No	41
Date of Notice	21 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Alexander Garrett	Ethel Daisy Bennett
	💍 1902/3439
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25	17
Dwelling Place	Rowan	Mahoe
Length of Residence	11 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar, Stratford
Folio	09/3440
Consent	Stephen Bennett, father
Date of Certificate	21 August 1902
Officiating Minister	S. H. James, Registrar

27 August 1902

William Richards Woolloxall
Mary Wellington

William Richards
Mary Wellington
💍 1902/5251

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairy factory manager

25
24

Ikorangi
Midhirst

1 month
8 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Midhirst

09/5033

27 August 1902

Rev. J. R. B. Woolloxall, Primitive Methodist

No	42
Date of Notice	27 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Richards Woolloxall	Mary Wellington
BDM Match (80%)	William Richards	Mary Wellington
	💍 1902/5251
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairy factory manager
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Ikorangi	Midhirst
Length of Residence	1 month	8 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Midhirst
Folio	09/5033
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. B. Woolloxall, Primitive Methodist

1 September 1902

Arthur Green
Jane Mary Nuttall

Arthur Green
Jane Mary Nuttall
💍 1902/3833

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28
19

Cardiff
Cardiff

18 months
2 years

Wesleyan Church, Stratford

09/3454

William Nuttall, father

1 September 1902

Rev. J. A. Rochole, Wesleyan

No	43
Date of Notice	1 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Green	Jane Mary Nuttall
	💍 1902/3833
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	19
Dwelling Place	Cardiff	Cardiff
Length of Residence	18 months	2 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Stratford
Folio	09/3454
Consent	William Nuttall, father
Date of Certificate	1 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Rochole, Wesleyan

3 September 1902

Herbert Wilmshurst
Mary Lewandowski

Herbert Edward Wilmshurst
Mary Levandowski
💍 1902/3839

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

26
21

Stratford
Midhirst

2 years
20 years

Roman Catholic Church, Stratford

09/3442

3 September 1902

Rev. P. Heaney, Roman Catholic

No	44
Date of Notice	3 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Wilmshurst	Mary Lewandowski
BDM Match (83%)	Herbert Edward Wilmshurst	Mary Levandowski
	💍 1902/3839
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Stratford	Midhirst
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Stratford
Folio	09/3442
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Heaney, Roman Catholic

4 September 1902

Walter William Davies
Margaret Mason

Walter William Davies
Margaret Mason
💍 1902/3828

Widower
Widow

Farmer

56
51

Strathmore
Stratford

6 years
2 years

Office of the Registrar, Stratford

09/3441

4 September 1902

S. H. James, Registrar

No	45
Date of Notice	4 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter William Davies	Margaret Mason
	💍 1902/3828
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	56	51
Dwelling Place	Strathmore	Stratford
Length of Residence	6 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar, Stratford
Folio	09/3441
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 September 1902
Officiating Minister	S. H. James, Registrar

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).