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 577

District of Stratford Quarter ending 31 December 1902 Registrar J. A. 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

7 October 1902

William Ralph Bonner
Mary Josephine Mears

William Ralph Bonnor
Mary Josephine Mears
💍 1902/5266

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30
28

Stratford
Stratford

20 years
10 months

The residence of W. L. Mitchell, Ariel Street, Stratford

02/5024

7 October 1902

Rev. Father P. Treacy, Roman Catholic

No	48
Date of Notice	7 October 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Ralph Bonner	Mary Josephine Mears
BDM Match (98%)	William Ralph Bonnor	Mary Josephine Mears
	💍 1902/5266
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Stratford	Stratford
Length of Residence	20 years	10 months
Marriage Place	The residence of W. L. Mitchell, Ariel Street, Stratford
Folio	02/5024
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 October 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father P. Treacy, Roman Catholic

11 October 1902

Vincent Miller
Clara Potrog

Vincent Miller
Clara Potroz
💍 1902/5243

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

22
18

York Road
York Road

20 years
18 years

The Roman Catholic Church, Stratford

02/5025

Mary Treacy, mother

11 October 1902

Rev. Father P. Treacy, Roman Catholic

No	49
Date of Notice	11 October 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Vincent Miller	Clara Potrog
BDM Match (96%)	Vincent Miller	Clara Potroz
	💍 1902/5243
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	22	18
Dwelling Place	York Road	York Road
Length of Residence	20 years	18 years
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church, Stratford
Folio	02/5025
Consent	Mary Treacy, mother
Date of Certificate	11 October 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father P. Treacy, Roman Catholic

30 October 1902

Thomas Old
Clara Euphemia Robertson

Thomas Old
Clara Euphemia Robertson
💍 1902/5247

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill hand

24
20

Iko
Midhurst

2 months
20 years

The Office of the Registrar, Stratford

02/5029

Henry Robertson, father

30 October 1902

J. A. James, Registrar, Stratford

No	50
Date of Notice	30 October 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Old	Clara Euphemia Robertson
	💍 1902/5247
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill hand
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Iko	Midhurst
Length of Residence	2 months	20 years
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar, Stratford
Folio	02/5029
Consent	Henry Robertson, father
Date of Certificate	30 October 1902
Officiating Minister	J. A. James, Registrar, Stratford

3 November 1902

George Scott
Margaret Roy Fohrmann

George Scott
Margaret Kay Fohrmann
💍 1902/5245

Widower
Widow

Labourer

54
41

Stratford
Stratford

2 1/2 years
2 1/2 years

The residence of Margaret Fohrmann, Stratford

02/5027

3 November 1902

Rev. B. Staton, Presbyterian

No	51
Date of Notice	3 November 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Scott	Margaret Roy Fohrmann
BDM Match (95%)	George Scott	Margaret Kay Fohrmann
	💍 1902/5245
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	54	41
Dwelling Place	Stratford	Stratford
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Margaret Fohrmann, Stratford
Folio	02/5027
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 November 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Staton, Presbyterian

22 November 1902

Joseph Mann
Isabel Roycroft

Joseph Manu
Isabell Roycroft
💍 1902/5246

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

32
22

Iko
Iko

3 months
3 months

The Manse, Portia Street, Stratford

02/5028

22 November 1902

Rev. B. Staton, Presbyterian

No	52
Date of Notice	22 November 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Mann	Isabel Roycroft
BDM Match (92%)	Joseph Manu	Isabell Roycroft
	💍 1902/5246
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	32	22
Dwelling Place	Iko	Iko
Length of Residence	3 months	3 months
Marriage Place	The Manse, Portia Street, Stratford
Folio	02/5028
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 November 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Staton, Presbyterian

3 December 1902

Thomas John Smith
Edith Emily Greig

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30
21

Rowan
Rowan

4 months
5 years

The Church of England, Stratford

3 December 1902

Rev. G. H. W. Ormond, Church of England

No	53
Date of Notice	3 December 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas John Smith	Edith Emily Greig
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Rowan	Rowan
Length of Residence	4 months	5 years
Marriage Place	The Church of England, Stratford
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 December 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. H. W. Ormond, Church of England

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).