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 784

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 September 1902 Registrar John Gaumon Petrie

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

29 July 1902

William Fredrick Bintley
Margaret Thomson Walker

William Frederick Bently
Margaret Thomson Walker
💍 1902/170

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootbonder
Domestic

29
23

Invercargill
Invercargill

2 years
23 years

Residence of John Walker, Leet Street, Invercargill

02/4411

29 July 1902

Rev. George Lindsay

No	92
Date of Notice	29 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Fredrick Bintley	Margaret Thomson Walker
BDM Match (94%)	William Frederick Bently	Margaret Thomson Walker
	💍 1902/170
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootbonder	Domestic
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Walker, Leet Street, Invercargill
Folio	02/4411
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Lindsay

3 July 1902

John Sutherland Harvey
Jane Reilley (Bn W. Mellon)

John Sutherland Harvey
Jane Durie
💍 1902/171

Bachelor
Widow

Storekeeper
Boarding House Keeper

48
44

Invercargill
Invercargill

3 Days
3 Days

Presbyterian Church, Invercargill

02/4422

31 July 1902

Rev. George Lindsay

No	93
Date of Notice	3 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Sutherland Harvey	Jane Reilley (Bn W. Mellon)
BDM Match (61%)	John Sutherland Harvey	Jane Durie
	💍 1902/171
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Storekeeper	Boarding House Keeper
Age	48	44
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 Days	3 Days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Invercargill
Folio	02/4422
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Lindsay

1 August 1902

Edward Barden
Jane Nelson Harper

Edward Bowden McKechnie
Jane Wilson Harper
💍 1902/145

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic

23
26

Avenal, Invercargill
Invercargill

8 months
17 years

Residence of Andrew Harper, Gala Street, Invercargill

02/4429

1 August 1902

Rev. J. Gibson Smith

No	94
Date of Notice	1 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Barden	Jane Nelson Harper
BDM Match (68%)	Edward Bowden McKechnie	Jane Wilson Harper
	💍 1902/145
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic
Age	23	26
Dwelling Place	Avenal, Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	8 months	17 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Andrew Harper, Gala Street, Invercargill
Folio	02/4429
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Gibson Smith

2 August 1902

Gordon Clement Blowfield
Annie Blowfield

Gordon Glennie
Annie Blomfield
💍 1902/163

Bachelor
Spinster

Bicycle Maker
Domestic

25
20

Avenal, Invercargill
North Invercargill

4 months
20 years

Residence of Mr. Blowfield, North Invercargill

02/4415

Mr. Blowfield, father of bride

2 August 1902

Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

No	95
Date of Notice	2 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gordon Clement Blowfield	Annie Blowfield
BDM Match (72%)	Gordon Glennie	Annie Blomfield
	💍 1902/163
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bicycle Maker	Domestic
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Avenal, Invercargill	North Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 months	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Blowfield, North Invercargill
Folio	02/4415
Consent	Mr. Blowfield, father of bride
Date of Certificate	2 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

2 August 1902

Thomas Edward Murdoch
Beatrice Horsley Mercer

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic

28
20

East Invercargill
Invercargill

28 years
5 Days

Presbyterian Church, Kelvin Street, Invercargill

02/4428

2 August 1902

Rev. George Lindsay

No	96
Date of Notice	2 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Edward Murdoch	Beatrice Horsley Mercer
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	East Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	28 years	5 Days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Kelvin Street, Invercargill
Folio	02/4428
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Lindsay

5 August 1902

Donald McIntyre
Marion Sellers

Donald McIntyre
Marion Stevens Sellars
💍 1902/150

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

44
21

Mona Bank, Invercargill
Woodlands, Invercargill

4 years
4 years

Residence of Archibald Sellers, Woodlands, Invercargill

02/4430

5 August 1902

Rev. J. Gibson Smith

No	97
Date of Notice	5 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald McIntyre	Marion Sellers
BDM Match (80%)	Donald McIntyre	Marion Stevens Sellars
	💍 1902/150
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	44	21
Dwelling Place	Mona Bank, Invercargill	Woodlands, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Archibald Sellers, Woodlands, Invercargill
Folio	02/4430
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Gibson Smith

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).