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 517

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 December 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

27 October 1902

Henry Lionel Isherwood
Lilian Kelly

Henry Lionel Ramsbottom Isherwood
Lilian Kelly
💍 1902/5354

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Weaver

30
23

Napier
Napier

3 days
4 months

The Cathedral at Napier

02/5087

27 October 1902

Very Rev. Wm. Hovell

No	80
Date of Notice	27 October 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Lionel Isherwood	Lilian Kelly
BDM Match (83%)	Henry Lionel Ramsbottom Isherwood	Lilian Kelly
	💍 1902/5354
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Weaver
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	4 months
Marriage Place	The Cathedral at Napier
Folio	02/5087
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 October 1902
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Wm. Hovell

28 October 1902

William Frederick Nightingale
Ivy Rogers

William Frederick Nightingale
Ivy Rogers
💍 1902/5344

Bachelor
Spinster

Sugar Boiler
Domestic Servant

25
21

Napier
Napier

25 years
21 years

At the Baptist Church, Jennyson Street, Napier

02/5078

28 October 1902

Rev. J. C. Martin

No	81
Date of Notice	28 October 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Frederick Nightingale	Ivy Rogers
	💍 1902/5344
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sugar Boiler	Domestic Servant
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	25 years	21 years
Marriage Place	At the Baptist Church, Jennyson Street, Napier
Folio	02/5078
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 October 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Martin

30 October 1902

Rudolph Charles Swanson
Isabel Emma Trask

Rudolph Charles Swanson
Isabel Emma Trask
💍 1902/5360

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman
Domestic Duties

34
19

Napier
Port Ahuriri

1 year
17 years

At the Residence of Bride's Parents, Ossian Street, Port Ahuriri

02/5070

George Francis Trask, Father

30 October 1902

Rev. C. Connor

No	82
Date of Notice	30 October 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Rudolph Charles Swanson	Isabel Emma Trask
	💍 1902/5360
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman	Domestic Duties
Age	34	19
Dwelling Place	Napier	Port Ahuriri
Length of Residence	1 year	17 years
Marriage Place	At the Residence of Bride's Parents, Ossian Street, Port Ahuriri
Folio	02/5070
Consent	George Francis Trask, Father
Date of Certificate	30 October 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Connor

10 November 1902

Frederick George Bonnor
Agnes Clark Griffin

George Frederick Bonnor
Agnes Clark Griffin
💍 1902/5347

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Clerk

28
23

Napier
Napier

3 days
20 years

At the Residence of the Bride's Parents, Havelock Road, Napier

02/5081

10 November 1902

Rev. J. A. Asher

No	83
Date of Notice	10 November 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick George Bonnor	Agnes Clark Griffin
BDM Match (70%)	George Frederick Bonnor	Agnes Clark Griffin
	💍 1902/5347
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Clerk
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	At the Residence of the Bride's Parents, Havelock Road, Napier
Folio	02/5081
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 November 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Asher

10 November 1902

James Cahill
Ellen Mary O'Rourke

James Cahill
Ellen Mary O'Rourke
💍 1902/5703

Bachelor
Spinster

Police Constable
Domestic Duties

30
23

Napier
Napier

3 days
23 years

At St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, Napier

02/5445

Rev. W. D. Goggan

No	84
Date of Notice	10 November 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Cahill	Ellen Mary O'Rourke
	💍 1902/5703
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Police Constable	Domestic Duties
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	At St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, Napier
Folio	02/5445
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. D. Goggan

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).