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 527

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 June 1902 Registrar John Burden

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

1 April 1902

Michael Greene
Robina Agnes Jeffares

Michael Greene
Robina Agnes Jeffares
💍 1902/197

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

35
20

Rangitiki, Taradale
Taradale

27 years, 4 days
20 years

Roman Catholic Church at Mission Station

02/4627

Isaac Jeffares, Father of Minor Robina A. Jeffares

1 April 1902

Very Rev. Dean Binsfield

No	33
Date of Notice	1 April 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Greene	Robina Agnes Jeffares
	💍 1902/197
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	35	20
Dwelling Place	Rangitiki, Taradale	Taradale
Length of Residence	27 years, 4 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church at Mission Station
Folio	02/4627
Consent	Isaac Jeffares, Father of Minor Robina A. Jeffares
Date of Certificate	1 April 1902
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Dean Binsfield

1 April 1902

William James Humb
Phoebe Jane Jones

William James Hunt
Phoebe Jane Jones
💍 1902/1826

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

24
16

Marton, Napier
Napier

18 months
16 years

Residence of the Bride's Parents, Carlyle Street, Napier

02/7489

Sydney Jones, Father of Minor Phoebe Jane Jones

1 April 1902

Rev. Dr. Sidey

No	34
Date of Notice	1 April 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Humb	Phoebe Jane Jones
BDM Match (94%)	William James Hunt	Phoebe Jane Jones
	💍 1902/1826
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	24	16
Dwelling Place	Marton, Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	18 months	16 years
Marriage Place	Residence of the Bride's Parents, Carlyle Street, Napier
Folio	02/7489
Consent	Sydney Jones, Father of Minor Phoebe Jane Jones
Date of Certificate	1 April 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dr. Sidey

2 April 1902

Ernest James O'Neill
Florence Bennett

Ernest James O'Neill
Florance Bennett
💍 1902/1923

Bachelor
Spinster

Stud Groom

27
21

Hastings, Napier
Hastings, Napier

18 years, 3 days
10 years, 3 days

St. Augustine's Church, Bowen Street, Napier

02/1988

2 April 1902

Rev. C. L. Tuike

No	35
Date of Notice	2 April 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest James O'Neill	Florence Bennett
BDM Match (97%)	Ernest James O'Neill	Florance Bennett
	💍 1902/1923
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stud Groom
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Hastings, Napier	Hastings, Napier
Length of Residence	18 years, 3 days	10 years, 3 days
Marriage Place	St. Augustine's Church, Bowen Street, Napier
Folio	02/1988
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. L. Tuike

5 April 1902

John James Ledger
Una Mildred Hitching

John James Edgar
Una Mildred Hitchings
💍 1902/1913

Bachelor
Spinster

Surgeon

31
31

Napier
Napier

6 months
31 years

The Cathedral, Napier

02/1980

5 April 1902

Very Rev. Dean Hovell

No	36
Date of Notice	5 April 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James Ledger	Una Mildred Hitching
BDM Match (89%)	John James Edgar	Una Mildred Hitchings
	💍 1902/1913
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surgeon
Age	31	31
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	6 months	31 years
Marriage Place	The Cathedral, Napier
Folio	02/1980
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 April 1902
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Dean Hovell

9 April 1902

Francis Michael Scully
May Ellen Pyne

Francis Michael Scully
May Ellen Pyne
💍 1902/1918

Bachelor
Spinster

Post Office Clerk

31
27

Auckland, Napier
Napier

13 years, 3 days
27 years

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church

02/1983

9 April 1902

Rev. W. D. Hoggan

No	37
Date of Notice	9 April 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Michael Scully	May Ellen Pyne
	💍 1902/1918
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Post Office Clerk
Age	31	27
Dwelling Place	Auckland, Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	13 years, 3 days	27 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church
Folio	02/1983
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. D. Hoggan

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).