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 306

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 1902 Registrar L. C. Williams

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

373

24 July 1902

Stanley Layton
Helen Coombs

Stanley Layton Smith
Helen Coombs
💍 1902/4273

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Machinist

21
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

21 years
21 years

St. John's

02/4079

24 July 1902

R. R. A. Worth, Anglican

No	373
Date of Notice	24 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley Layton	Helen Coombs
BDM Match (85%)	Stanley Layton Smith	Helen Coombs
	💍 1902/4273
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Machinist
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	21 years	21 years
Marriage Place	St. John's
Folio	02/4079
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 July 1902
Officiating Minister	R. R. A. Worth, Anglican

374

24 July 1902

John Howie
Ellen Endon Johnston

John Howie
Ellen Gordon Johnston
💍 1902/5513

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Dressmaker

28
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
2 years

St. Andrew's, Presbyterian

02/5704

24 July 1902

Rev. A. Doran, Presbyterian

No	374
Date of Notice	24 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Howie	Ellen Endon Johnston
BDM Match (93%)	John Howie	Ellen Gordon Johnston
	💍 1902/5513
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Dressmaker
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's, Presbyterian
Folio	02/5704
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Doran, Presbyterian

375

24 July 1902

Henry Sylvester
Ellen Simmons

Henry Sylvester
Ellen Simmons
💍 1902/4356

Bachelor
Spinster

Mason
Teacher

27
26

Sydenham
Sydenham

17 years
13 years

Baptist Church

02/4163

24 July 1902

Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

No	375
Date of Notice	24 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Sylvester	Ellen Simmons
	💍 1902/4356
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mason	Teacher
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	17 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church
Folio	02/4163
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

376

25 July 1902

Henry Berry
Edith Archer

Henry Berry
Edith Archer
💍 1902/4358

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

37
32

Bromley
St. Albans

2 years
25 years

Salvation Army Barracks

02/4165

25 July 1902

Major Jepson, Salvationist

No	376
Date of Notice	25 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Berry	Edith Archer
	💍 1902/4358
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	37	32
Dwelling Place	Bromley	St. Albans
Length of Residence	2 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Salvation Army Barracks
Folio	02/4165
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Major Jepson, Salvationist

377

25 July 1902

William Christie Abbie
Minnie Catherine Baylis

William Christie Abbie
Minnie Catherine Baylis
💍 1902/111

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Room Artificer

24
18

H.M.S. Penguin
Linwood

2 years
6 months

Registrar's Office

02/4016

William Baylis, Father

25 July 1902

Registrar, Christchurch

No	377
Date of Notice	25 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Christie Abbie	Minnie Catherine Baylis
	💍 1902/111
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Room Artificer
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	H.M.S. Penguin	Linwood
Length of Residence	2 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	02/4016
Consent	William Baylis, Father
Date of Certificate	25 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Registrar, Christchurch

378

25 July 1902

William Yeates
Edith Alice McMillan

William Yeates
Edith Alice McMillan
💍 1902/4402

Bachelor
Spinster

Bricklayer

24
21

Christchurch
Sydenham

20 years
2 years

Presbyterian Church, Colombo Street

02/4105

25 July 1902

Rev. W. Sempson, Presbyterian

No	378
Date of Notice	25 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Yeates	Edith Alice McMillan
	💍 1902/4402
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	20 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Colombo Street
Folio	02/4105
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Sempson, Presbyterian

379

26 July 1902

John Glencoe Macdonald
Emily Nora Steele

John Glencoe Macdonald
Edith Nora Steele
💍 1902/4268

Bachelor
Spinster

Auctioneer

33
21

Rangiora
Christchurch

8 years
21 years

St. Luke's, Rangiora

02/4074

26 July 1902

Rev. Arch. Simpson, Anglican

No	379
Date of Notice	26 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Glencoe Macdonald	Emily Nora Steele
BDM Match (91%)	John Glencoe Macdonald	Edith Nora Steele
	💍 1902/4268
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Auctioneer
Age	33	21
Dwelling Place	Rangiora	Christchurch
Length of Residence	8 years	21 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's, Rangiora
Folio	02/4074
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Arch. Simpson, Anglican

380

26 July 1902

David Alfred Dutton
Johanna Robertson Lyall

David Alfred Dutton
Johanna Robertson Lyall
💍 1902/5789

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman

22
25

Richmond
Christchurch

22 years
1 week

St. Paul's

02/5704

26 July 1902

Rev. G. Munro, Presbyterian

No	380
Date of Notice	26 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Alfred Dutton	Johanna Robertson Lyall
	💍 1902/5789
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman
Age	22	25
Dwelling Place	Richmond	Christchurch
Length of Residence	22 years	1 week
Marriage Place	St. Paul's
Folio	02/5704
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Munro, Presbyterian

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).