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 535

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 March 1902 Registrar John Henn

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

Thomas Durney
Winifred Mary Shanly

Thomas Durney
Winifred Mary Shanly
💍 1902/2587

Widower
Spinster

Builder
Domestic

58
28

Napier
Napier

27 years
5 years

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church

02/463

3 January 1902

Rev. Dean Grogan

No	1
Date of Notice	3 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Durney	Winifred Mary Shanly
	💍 1902/2587
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Domestic
Age	58	28
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	27 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church
Folio	02/463
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dean Grogan

8 January 1902

Frances William Hirtzel
Clara Elizabeth Head

Francis William Hirtzel
Clare Elizabeth Head
💍 1902/2586

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
School Teacher

28
23

Weber & Spit, Napier
Spit, Napier

8 years
2 months

Church of One Week, Rongland at Spit

02/462

8 January 1902

Rev. Oliver Dean

No	2
Date of Notice	8 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frances William Hirtzel	Clara Elizabeth Head
BDM Match (95%)	Francis William Hirtzel	Clare Elizabeth Head
	💍 1902/2586
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	School Teacher
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Weber & Spit, Napier	Spit, Napier
Length of Residence	8 years	2 months
Marriage Place	Church of One Week, Rongland at Spit
Folio	02/462
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 January 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Oliver Dean

13 January 1902

William Thomas Blackmore
Emily Adamson

William Thomas Blackmore
Emily Adamson
💍 1902/2572

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
General Servant

26
24

Greenmeadows
Greenmeadows

8 years
3 weeks

At the Residence of the Rev. H.W.I. Miller, Hastings

02/472

13 January 1902

Rev. H.W.I. Miller

No	3
Date of Notice	13 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Thomas Blackmore	Emily Adamson
	💍 1902/2572
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	General Servant
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Greenmeadows	Greenmeadows
Length of Residence	8 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	At the Residence of the Rev. H.W.I. Miller, Hastings
Folio	02/472
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. H.W.I. Miller

14 January 1902

Arthur Pearce
Rose Walterine Kelsall

Arthur Pearce
Rode Walterina Kelsall
💍 1902/2570

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Domestic

21
22

Napier
Napier

21 years
22 years

Salvation Army Barrack, Emerson Street, Napier

02/470

14 January 1902

Major Donald Evans

No	4
Date of Notice	14 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Pearce	Rose Walterine Kelsall
BDM Match (95%)	Arthur Pearce	Rode Walterina Kelsall
	💍 1902/2570
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Domestic
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	21 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Salvation Army Barrack, Emerson Street, Napier
Folio	02/470
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 January 1902
Officiating Minister	Major Donald Evans

20 January 1902

Percy Kirkby
Catherine Roe Leitch

Percy Kirkby
Catherine Roe Leitch
💍 1902/2333

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Domestic

24
24

Palmerston
Taradale

12 months
3 days

The Residence of the Bride's Father, Taradale

02/480

20 January 1902

Rev. C. Connor

No	5
Date of Notice	20 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Kirkby	Catherine Roe Leitch
	💍 1902/2333
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Domestic
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Palmerston	Taradale
Length of Residence	12 months	3 days
Marriage Place	The Residence of the Bride's Father, Taradale
Folio	02/480
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Connor

21 January 1902

Alfred Walter Beach
Maud Walles

Alfred Walter Beach
Maud Walles
💍 1902/2580

Widower
Spinster

Carrier
Carrier

47
32

The Spit, Napier
The Spit, Napier

29 years
2 years

At the Residence of the Bridegroom, Harding Road, Spit

02/479

21 January 1902

Rev. Chas. Connor

No	6
Date of Notice	21 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Walter Beach	Maud Walles
	💍 1902/2580
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Carrier
Age	47	32
Dwelling Place	The Spit, Napier	The Spit, Napier
Length of Residence	29 years	2 years
Marriage Place	At the Residence of the Bridegroom, Harding Road, Spit
Folio	02/479
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 January 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Chas. Connor

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).