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 521

District of Napier Quarter ending 30 September 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

2 September 1902

Samuel Atkinson
Alice Mary Mabbett

Samuel Atkinson
Alice Mary Mabbett
💍 1902/4435

Bachelor
Spinster

Settler
Domestic Duties

39
34

Napier
Napier

3 days
6 days

St Andrews Church of England, Port Ahuriri

02/3948

2 September 1902

Rev. Oliver Klean

No	63
Date of Notice	2 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Atkinson	Alice Mary Mabbett
	💍 1902/4435
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Settler	Domestic Duties
Age	39	34
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	6 days
Marriage Place	St Andrews Church of England, Port Ahuriri
Folio	02/3948
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Oliver Klean

6 September 1902

Frederick Freeman
Elizabeth Laura Watson

Frederick Freeman
Elizabeth Laura Watson
💍 1902/3624

Bachelor
Spinster

Book Binder
Domestic Duties

28
30

Napier
Napier

28 years
5 days

The Baptist Church, Tennyson St, Napier

02/3480

6 September 1902

Rev. J. C. Martin

No	64
Date of Notice	6 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Freeman	Elizabeth Laura Watson
	💍 1902/3624
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Book Binder	Domestic Duties
Age	28	30
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	28 years	5 days
Marriage Place	The Baptist Church, Tennyson St, Napier
Folio	02/3480
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Martin

9 September 1902

Robert Henry Brenchley
Eleanor Mary Lease

Robert Henry Brenckly
Eleanor Mary Case
💍 1902/5353

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Porter
Domestic Duties

26
22

Napier
Napier

5 years
4 years

The Cathedral at Napier

02/5086

9 September 1902

Very Rev. Dean Hovell

No	65
Date of Notice	9 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Henry Brenchley	Eleanor Mary Lease
BDM Match (90%)	Robert Henry Brenckly	Eleanor Mary Case
	💍 1902/5353
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Porter	Domestic Duties
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	5 years	4 years
Marriage Place	The Cathedral at Napier
Folio	02/5086
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Dean Hovell

11 September 1902

Alfred Edward Hughes
Agnes Annie Millier

Alfred Edward Hughes
Agnes Annie Millier
💍 1902/3623

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

25
22

Napier
Napier

3 days
3 days

The Congregational Church, Carlyle Street, Napier

02/3479

11 September 1902

Rev. H. J. Miller

No	66
Date of Notice	11 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Edward Hughes	Agnes Annie Millier
	💍 1902/3623
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	The Congregational Church, Carlyle Street, Napier
Folio	02/3479
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. J. Miller

18 September 1902

Robert James Wands
Ethel Lomax Mossman

Robert James Dando
Ethel Lomax Mossman
💍 1902/3886

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Clerk
Domestic Duties

22
21

Napier
Marton

1 month
15 years

Wesleyan Church, Marton

02/3588

18 September 1902

Rev. W. Keall

No	67
Date of Notice	18 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert James Wands	Ethel Lomax Mossman
BDM Match (94%)	Robert James Dando	Ethel Lomax Mossman
	💍 1902/3886
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Clerk	Domestic Duties
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Napier	Marton
Length of Residence	1 month	15 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Marton
Folio	02/3588
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Keall

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).