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 191

District of Shannon Quarter ending 30 September 1902 Registrar William Charles Nation

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

100

9 July 1902

George Row
Isabella Caird

George Row
Isabella Caird
💍 1902/3901

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

36
22

Tokomaru
Tokomaru

Thirteen years
Two years

Residence of Mr George Caird, Tokomaru

02/3595

9 July 1902

Rev R McLean

No	100
Date of Notice	9 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Row	Isabella Caird
	💍 1902/3901
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	36	22
Dwelling Place	Tokomaru	Tokomaru
Length of Residence	Thirteen years	Two years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr George Caird, Tokomaru
Folio	02/3595
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev R McLean

101

14 July 1902

William King
Minnie Eva Hose

William King
Minnie Eva Hose
💍 1902/3892

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

21
16

Levin
Levin

Twelve months
Ten years

Office of the Registrar at Levin

02/3593

Alfred James Hose, father of Minnie Hose

14 July 1902

W. C. Nation, Registrar

No	101
Date of Notice	14 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William King	Minnie Eva Hose
	💍 1902/3892
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	21	16
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	Twelve months	Ten years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar at Levin
Folio	02/3593
Consent	Alfred James Hose, father of Minnie Hose
Date of Certificate	14 July 1902
Officiating Minister	W. C. Nation, Registrar

102

22 July 1902

Joseph Johnson
Elizabeth Smith

Joseph Johnson
Elizabeth Ann Smith
💍 1902/3893

Thomas Lanyon
Elizabeth Smith
💍 1902/3007

Bachelor
Spinster

Millhand
Domestic duties

25
31

Levin
Levin

2 1/2 years
Three months

Residence of Mr Blyth, Horn St., Levin

02/3594

22 July 1902

Rev R McLean

No	102
Date of Notice	22 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Johnson	Elizabeth Smith
BDM Match (89%)	Joseph Johnson	Elizabeth Ann Smith
	💍 1902/3893
BDM Match (64%)	Thomas Lanyon	Elizabeth Smith
	💍 1902/3007
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Millhand	Domestic duties
Age	25	31
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	Three months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Blyth, Horn St., Levin
Folio	02/3594
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev R McLean

103

25 July 1902

James Knight
Sarah Chatham

James Knight
Sarah Chatham
💍 1902/3912

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer
Domestic duties

27
22

Levin
Levin

Twelve months
Twelve months

English Church, Levin

02/3596

25 July 1902

Rev J A McNickle

No	103
Date of Notice	25 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Knight	Sarah Chatham
	💍 1902/3912
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer	Domestic duties
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	Twelve months	Twelve months
Marriage Place	English Church, Levin
Folio	02/3596
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev J A McNickle

104

29 September 1902

William Henry Smith
Elizabeth Ann Evans

William Henry Smith
Elizabeth Ann Evans
💍 1902/3919

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic duties

24
19

Levin
Levin

Three days
Three months

Wesleyan Church, Levin

02/3597

William Evans, father of Elizabeth Ann Evans

29 September 1902

Rev J H D Peryman

No	104
Date of Notice	29 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Smith	Elizabeth Ann Evans
	💍 1902/3919
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic duties
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	Three days	Three months
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Levin
Folio	02/3597
Consent	William Evans, father of Elizabeth Ann Evans
Date of Certificate	29 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev J H D Peryman

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).