Intentions to Marry, 1902 South Island

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840422, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke and Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, October 3 and October 8, 2025.

1902 is bound in two volumes, North Island districts and South Island districts.

Page 786

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 September 1902 Registrar J. S. Petro

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

105

28 August 1902

William John Roberton
Georgina Gertrude Strang

William John Robinson
Georgina Gertrude Strang
💍 1902/4871

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Domestic

26
25

Esk Street, Invercargill
Bond Street, Invercargill

2 1/2 years
11 years

Residence of Mrs George Strang, Bond Street, Invercargill

02/444

28 August 1902

Rev. J. G. Smith

No	105
Date of Notice	28 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Roberton	Georgina Gertrude Strang
BDM Match (93%)	William John Robinson	Georgina Gertrude Strang
	💍 1902/4871
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Domestic
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Esk Street, Invercargill	Bond Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs George Strang, Bond Street, Invercargill
Folio	02/444
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. G. Smith

106

30 August 1902

Frank Leslie Rock
Emma Elizabeth Macallay

Frank Leslie Rocke
Emma Elizabeth MacKay
💍 1902/175

Bachelor
Spinster

Fellmonger
Domestic

28
21

Forth Street, Invercargill
East Invercargill

4 years
4 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

02/440

30 August 1902

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	106
Date of Notice	30 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Leslie Rock	Emma Elizabeth Macallay
BDM Match (91%)	Frank Leslie Rocke	Emma Elizabeth MacKay
	💍 1902/175
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fellmonger	Domestic
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Forth Street, Invercargill	East Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	02/440
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

107

2 September 1902

James Hall
Mina Bran

James Hall
Jemima Dunett Brass
💍 1902/131

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

40
37

Wallacetown, Invercargill
South Invercargill

3 days
3 years

Presbyterian Church, Nelson Street, Invercargill

02/4475

2 September 1902

Rev. Geo. Lindsay

No	107
Date of Notice	2 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Hall	Mina Bran
BDM Match (66%)	James Hall	Jemima Dunett Brass
	💍 1902/131
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	40	37
Dwelling Place	Wallacetown, Invercargill	South Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Nelson Street, Invercargill
Folio	02/4475
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Lindsay

108

3 September 1902

George Owen Cooper
Mina Lorena Vincent

George Owen Cooper
Jessie Louisa Vincent
💍 1902/164

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic

23
18

East Invercargill
East Invercargill

3 days
3 days

English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

02/4416

Thomas Ballantyne Vincent, Father

3 September 1902

Rev. W. A. R. Stocker

No	108
Date of Notice	3 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Owen Cooper	Mina Lorena Vincent
BDM Match (79%)	George Owen Cooper	Jessie Louisa Vincent
	💍 1902/164
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic
Age	23	18
Dwelling Place	East Invercargill	East Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	02/4416
Consent	Thomas Ballantyne Vincent, Father
Date of Certificate	3 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. R. Stocker

109

4 September 1902

John McCurdy
Lorena Livermore

John McCurdy
Louisa Livermore
💍 1902/153

Bachelor
Spinster

Wool Importer
Domestic

28
24

East Invercargill
Yarrow Street, Invercargill

23 years
24 years

Wesleyan Church, Leet Street, Invercargill

02/4433

4 September 1902

Rev. Samuel G. Prior

No	109
Date of Notice	4 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McCurdy	Lorena Livermore
BDM Match (91%)	John McCurdy	Louisa Livermore
	💍 1902/153
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wool Importer	Domestic
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	East Invercargill	Yarrow Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	23 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Leet Street, Invercargill
Folio	02/4433
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Samuel G. Prior

110

4 September 1902

Geoffrey Edward Royds
Annie Elizabeth Gibb

Geoffrey Edward Royds
Agnes Louisa Giller
💍 1902/4488

Bachelor
Spinster

Grain Merchant
Domestic

30
23

Dunedin
Clyde Street, Invercargill

3 days
23 years

First Church, Moray Place, Dunedin

02/4333

4 September 1902

Rev. James Gibb

No	110
Date of Notice	4 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Geoffrey Edward Royds	Annie Elizabeth Gibb
BDM Match (63%)	Geoffrey Edward Royds	Agnes Louisa Giller
	💍 1902/4488
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grain Merchant	Domestic
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Clyde Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	First Church, Moray Place, Dunedin
Folio	02/4333
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Gibb

111

6 September 1902

John Sutton Boyle
Minnie Ellen Laidlaw

John Sutton Boyles
Minnie Ellen Lainchbury
💍 1902/155

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Domestic

30
24

Netherby, Invercargill
Netherby, Invercargill

2 years
2 years

Residence of Caleb Laidlaw, Netherby, Invercargill

02/4435

6 September 1902

Rev. J. A. Pylnes

No	111
Date of Notice	6 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Sutton Boyle	Minnie Ellen Laidlaw
BDM Match (82%)	John Sutton Boyles	Minnie Ellen Lainchbury
	💍 1902/155
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Domestic
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Netherby, Invercargill	Netherby, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Caleb Laidlaw, Netherby, Invercargill
Folio	02/4435
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 September 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Pylnes

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).