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 369

District of Geraldine Quarter ending 30 June 1902 Registrar A. Andrews

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

601

19 May 1902

Charles Lawrence Alfred Dunford
Louisa Jenkins

Charles Lawrence Alfred Dunford
Louise Jenkins
💍 1902/2914

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawyer
Domestic Servant

22
22

Geraldine
Peel Forest

3 days
1 year

Church of England, Peel Forest

02/2692

19 May 1902

Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

No	601
Date of Notice	19 May 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Lawrence Alfred Dunford	Louisa Jenkins
BDM Match (96%)	Charles Lawrence Alfred Dunford	Louise Jenkins
	💍 1902/2914
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawyer	Domestic Servant
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Peel Forest
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	Church of England, Peel Forest
Folio	02/2692
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 May 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

602

26 May 1902

James Michael Fahey
Mary Broden Quinn

James Michael Fahey
Mary Booken Quin
💍 1902/2919

Bachelor
Divorced

Farmer
Boarding House Keeper

41
44

Geraldine
Geraldine

8 weeks
5 years

The House of Mrs. Mary Broden Quinn, Geraldine

02/2697

26 May 1902

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	602
Date of Notice	26 May 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Michael Fahey	Mary Broden Quinn
BDM Match (91%)	James Michael Fahey	Mary Booken Quin
	💍 1902/2919
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced
Profession	Farmer	Boarding House Keeper
Age	41	44
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	8 weeks	5 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mrs. Mary Broden Quinn, Geraldine
Folio	02/2697
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 May 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

603

2 June 1902

Hugh Patrick
Annie Taylor

Hugh Patrick
Annie Taylor
💍 1902/2920

Bachelor
Spinster

Ploughman
General Servant

29
20

Gapes Valley
Gapes Valley

29 years
20 years

The House of Mr. William Patrick, Gapes Valley

02/2698

John Taylor, Father

2 June 1902

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	603
Date of Notice	2 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Patrick	Annie Taylor
	💍 1902/2920
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ploughman	General Servant
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Gapes Valley	Gapes Valley
Length of Residence	29 years	20 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr. William Patrick, Gapes Valley
Folio	02/2698
Consent	John Taylor, Father
Date of Certificate	2 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

604

11 June 1902

Andrew Peter Nelem
Ethel Mary Tozer

Andrew Peter Helem
Ethel Mary Tozer
💍 1902/2915

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic Servant

23
20

Orari Bridge
Geraldine

12 years
20 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Geraldine

02/2693

Mr. Tozer, Father

11 June 1902

Rev. Joseph Sharp, Primitive Methodist

No	604
Date of Notice	11 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Peter Nelem	Ethel Mary Tozer
BDM Match (97%)	Andrew Peter Helem	Ethel Mary Tozer
	💍 1902/2915
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Orari Bridge	Geraldine
Length of Residence	12 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Geraldine
Folio	02/2693
Consent	Mr. Tozer, Father
Date of Certificate	11 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Joseph Sharp, Primitive Methodist

605

23 June 1902

Charles Walter Henry
Minnie Gale

Charles Walter Henry
Minnie Gale
💍 1902/2916

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Domestic Duties

36
27

Pleasant Valley
Pleasant Valley

3 days
1 week

The House of Mr. George Gale, Pleasant Valley

02/2694

23 June 1902

Rev. Joseph Sharp, Primitive Methodist

No	605
Date of Notice	23 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Walter Henry	Minnie Gale
	💍 1902/2916
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Domestic Duties
Age	36	27
Dwelling Place	Pleasant Valley	Pleasant Valley
Length of Residence	3 days	1 week
Marriage Place	The House of Mr. George Gale, Pleasant Valley
Folio	02/2694
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Joseph Sharp, Primitive Methodist

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).