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 608

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1902 Registrar M. J. Hall

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 February 1902

John Edward Perry
Agnes Mary Helenor Martin

John Edward Perry
Agnes Mary Helenor Martin
💍 1902/1053

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer

21 years
26 years

Ravensbourne
Ravensbourne

20 years
3 days

In the Presbyterian Church

02/1266

Perry is the adopted name

27 February 1902

Rev. W. Nicholson, Presbyterian Minister

No	77
Date of Notice	27 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edward Perry	Agnes Mary Helenor Martin
	💍 1902/1053
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer
Age	21 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Ravensbourne	Ravensbourne
Length of Residence	20 years	3 days
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church
Folio	02/1266
Consent	Perry is the adopted name
Date of Certificate	27 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Nicholson, Presbyterian Minister

27 February 1902

Henry Bayly
Janet Sharp Scott

Henry Bayly
Janet Sharp Scott
💍 1902/1102

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

34 years
30 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In the house of Revd. William Panton Brown, George Street

02/1277

27 February 1902

Rev. William Panton Brown, Presbyterian Minister

No	78
Date of Notice	27 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Bayly	Janet Sharp Scott
	💍 1902/1102
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	34 years	30 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the house of Revd. William Panton Brown, George Street
Folio	02/1277
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Panton Brown, Presbyterian Minister

27 February 1902

Albert Edward Ernest Bryant
Annie McTamney

Albert Edward Ernest Bryant
Annie McTamney
💍 1902/801

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

26 years
33 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
2 months

In the house of John Mitchell, Cumberland Street

02/1309

27 February 1902

Rev. D. Murphy, Roman Catholic Priest

No	79
Date of Notice	27 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Ernest Bryant	Annie McTamney
	💍 1902/801
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	26 years	33 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	2 months
Marriage Place	In the house of John Mitchell, Cumberland Street
Folio	02/1309
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Murphy, Roman Catholic Priest

27 February 1902

John Frederick Bailey
Mary Elizabeth Black

John Frederick Bailey
Mary Elizabeth Black
💍 1902/1101

Bachelor
Spinster

Journalist

31 years
26 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

15 years
26 years

In the house of Peter Black, St. Andrew Street

02/1290

27 February 1902

Rev. James Gibb, Presbyterian Minister

No	80
Date of Notice	27 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Frederick Bailey	Mary Elizabeth Black
	💍 1902/1101
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Journalist
Age	31 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	15 years	26 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Peter Black, St. Andrew Street
Folio	02/1290
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Gibb, Presbyterian Minister

27 February 1902

John Herbison
Sarah Highet

John Herbison
Sarah Highet
💍 1902/2959

Bachelor
Spinster

Wool Classer

25 years
24 years

Green Island
Green Island

24 years
24 years

In the house of William Highet

02/1283

27 February 1902

Rev. D. S. Watt, Presbyterian Minister

No	81
Date of Notice	27 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Herbison	Sarah Highet
	💍 1902/2959
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wool Classer
Age	25 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Green Island	Green Island
Length of Residence	24 years	24 years
Marriage Place	In the house of William Highet
Folio	02/1283
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. S. Watt, Presbyterian Minister

28 February 1902

Augustus Herbert Tonkinson
Fanny Maude Mary North

Augustus Herbert Tonkinson
Fanny Maude Mary North
💍 1902/380

Bachelor
Spinster

Solicitor

33 years
27 years

Caversham
North East Valley

18 years
6 years

In the Congregational Church, Moray Place

02/1348

28 February 1902

Rev. W. Saunders, Congregational Minister

No	82
Date of Notice	28 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Augustus Herbert Tonkinson	Fanny Maude Mary North
	💍 1902/380
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Solicitor
Age	33 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	North East Valley
Length of Residence	18 years	6 years
Marriage Place	In the Congregational Church, Moray Place
Folio	02/1348
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Saunders, Congregational Minister

1 March 1902

Herbert Louis Barton Goertz
Mabel Susan Evans

Herbert Louis Barton Goertz
Mabel Susan Evans
💍 1902/2080

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner

28 years
29 years

Roslyn
Anderson's Bay

3 days
2 years

In All Saints Church

02/2815

1 March 1902

Rev. A. R. Fitchett, Church of England Minister

No	83
Date of Notice	1 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Louis Barton Goertz	Mabel Susan Evans
	💍 1902/2080
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner
Age	28 years	29 years
Dwelling Place	Roslyn	Anderson's Bay
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	In All Saints Church
Folio	02/2815
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. R. Fitchett, Church of England Minister

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 1908. 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).