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 189

District of Shannon Quarter ending 31 December 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

106

1 October 1902

Douglas Herbert Gardner
Margaret Ellen Liggins

Douglas Herbert Gardner
Margaret Ellen Liggins
💍 1902/5421

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

30
19

Kereru
Tokomaru

Fourteen years
Fifteen years

Residence of Mr J Liggins Tokomaru

02/5205

1 October 1902

Rev R. McClean

No	106
Date of Notice	1 October 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Douglas Herbert Gardner	Margaret Ellen Liggins
	💍 1902/5421
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	30	19
Dwelling Place	Kereru	Tokomaru
Length of Residence	Fourteen years	Fifteen years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr J Liggins Tokomaru
Folio	02/5205
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 October 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev R. McClean

107

20 October 1902

Franklin Webb
Laura Frances Saxon

Franklin Webb
Laura Frances Saxon
💍 1902/5424

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

Koputuroa
Koputuroa

Seven years
Three years

English Church Levin

02/5208

20 October 1902

Rev J. A. McNickle

No	107
Date of Notice	20 October 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Franklin Webb	Laura Frances Saxon
	💍 1902/5424
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	36
Dwelling Place	Koputuroa	Koputuroa
Length of Residence	Seven years	Three years
Marriage Place	English Church Levin
Folio	02/5208
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 October 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev J. A. McNickle

108

20 October 1902

Henry Channings
Annie Louisa Elliott Walker

Henry Channings
Annie Louisa Elliot Walker
💍 1902/5422

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

22
22

Levin
Levin

Eleven months
One year

Residence of Mr J. Walker Queen street Levin

02/5206

20 October 1902

Rev R McClean

No	108
Date of Notice	20 October 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Channings	Annie Louisa Elliott Walker
BDM Match (98%)	Henry Channings	Annie Louisa Elliot Walker
	💍 1902/5422
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	Eleven months	One year
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr J. Walker Queen street Levin
Folio	02/5206
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 October 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev R McClean

109

2 December 1902

Percival Penly Drake
Edish Barnes

Percival Penly Drake
Edith Barnes
💍 1902/5419

Bachelor
Widow

Contractor
Domestic duties

28
30

Ohau
Ohau

Nine years
Nine years

Office of the Registrar, Levin

02/5204

2 December 1902

Mr. W. C. Nation Registrar

No	109
Date of Notice	2 December 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percival Penly Drake	Edish Barnes
BDM Match (96%)	Percival Penly Drake	Edith Barnes
	💍 1902/5419
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Contractor	Domestic duties
Age	28	30
Dwelling Place	Ohau	Ohau
Length of Residence	Nine years	Nine years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar, Levin
Folio	02/5204
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 December 1902
Officiating Minister	Mr. W. C. Nation Registrar

110

8 December 1902

William Henry Michael Hislop
Mary Jane Whitehouse

William Henry Michael Hislop
Mary Jane Whitehouse
💍 1902/5425

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Domestic duties

29
24

Levin
Levin

Three years
Four years

Church of England Levin

02/5209

8 December 1902

Rev J. A. McNickle

No	110
Date of Notice	8 December 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Michael Hislop	Mary Jane Whitehouse
	💍 1902/5425
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Domestic duties
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	Three years	Four years
Marriage Place	Church of England Levin
Folio	02/5209
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 December 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev J. A. McNickle

111

16 December 1902

John Duncan Brown
Margaret Currie Dunlop

John Duncan Brown
Margaret Currie Dunlop
💍 1902/5423

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

30
27

Kereru
Kereru

Three years
Sixteen years

Residence of Mr H. Dunlop, Kereru

02/5207

16 December 1902

Rev R McClean

No	111
Date of Notice	16 December 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Duncan Brown	Margaret Currie Dunlop
	💍 1902/5423
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Kereru	Kereru
Length of Residence	Three years	Sixteen years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr H. Dunlop, Kereru
Folio	02/5207
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 December 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev R McClean

112

29 December 1902

Herbert John Poad
Kate Evans

Herbert John Poad
Kathleen Evans
💍 1903/1805

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

22
22

Levin
Levin

Eight years
Eight years

Wesleyan Church Levin

See Mch qr 1903

29 December 1902

Rev S.H.D. Peryman

No	112
Date of Notice	29 December 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert John Poad	Kate Evans
BDM Match (86%)	Herbert John Poad	Kathleen Evans
	💍 1903/1805
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Levin	Levin
Length of Residence	Eight years	Eight years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church Levin
Folio	See Mch qr 1903
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 December 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev S.H.D. Peryman

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).