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 297

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1902 Registrar L. 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

313

11 June 1902

John Boyle
Harriet Hays

John Boyle
Harriet Hays
💍 1902/1887

Widower

Requiem
Housekeeper

62
52

Linwood
Linwood

32 years
9 years

02/855

11 June 1902

Registrar, Christchurch

No	313
Date of Notice	11 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Boyle	Harriet Hays
	💍 1902/1887
Condition	Widower
Profession	Requiem	Housekeeper
Age	62	52
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	32 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Register Office, Christchurch
Folio	02/855
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Registrar, Christchurch

314

12 June 1902

Joseph Alexander Brown Archbold
Elizabeth Stewart Burns

Joseph Alexander Archbold
Elizabeth Stewart Burns
💍 1902/3207

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

25
24

Christchurch
Addington

3 days
22 years

Methodist Church, Selwyn Street, Addington

02/861

12 June 1902

Rev. A. B. Chappell, Wesleyan

No	314
Date of Notice	12 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Alexander Brown Archbold	Elizabeth Stewart Burns
BDM Match (90%)	Joseph Alexander Archbold	Elizabeth Stewart Burns
	💍 1902/3207
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Addington
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Selwyn Street, Addington
Folio	02/861
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. B. Chappell, Wesleyan

315

12 June 1902

Francis Forshaw
Sarah Helena Nolan

Francis Townshend
Sarah Helena Nolan
💍 1902/3058

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

45
28

Lincoln
Lincoln

30 years
20 years

Roman Catholic Church, Chands Track

02/8637

12 June 1902

Rev. R. Richards, Roman Catholic

No	315
Date of Notice	12 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Forshaw	Sarah Helena Nolan
BDM Match (82%)	Francis Townshend	Sarah Helena Nolan
	💍 1902/3058
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	45	28
Dwelling Place	Lincoln	Lincoln
Length of Residence	30 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Chands Track
Folio	02/8637
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Richards, Roman Catholic

316

13 June 1902

Michael Burke
Maggie Leahy

Widower
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

76
25

Christchurch
Linwood

6 months
5 months

This certificate not used

13 June 1902

Registrar, Christchurch

No	316
Date of Notice	13 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Burke	Maggie Leahy
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	76	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	6 months	5 months
Marriage Place	Register Office, Christchurch
Folio	This certificate not used
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Registrar, Christchurch

317

16 June 1902

James Crosson
Clara Wood

James Crosson
Clara Wood
💍 1902/3485

Widower
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic

43
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
3 years

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Christchurch

02/8626

16 June 1902

Rev. J. McKenzie, Presbyterian

No	317
Date of Notice	16 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Crosson	Clara Wood
	💍 1902/3485
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic
Age	43	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Christchurch
Folio	02/8626
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McKenzie, Presbyterian

318

16 June 1902

Wallis Albert Jones
Sarah Jane Sinton

Walter Albert Jones
Sarah Jane Sinton
💍 1902/3483

Bachelor
Spinster

Coachsmith
Machinist

30
22

Sydenham
Sydenham

30 years
17 years

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Sydenham

02/8625

16 June 1902

Rev. J. McKenzie, Presbyterian

No	318
Date of Notice	16 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wallis Albert Jones	Sarah Jane Sinton
BDM Match (92%)	Walter Albert Jones	Sarah Jane Sinton
	💍 1902/3483
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coachsmith	Machinist
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	30 years	17 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Sydenham
Folio	02/8625
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McKenzie, Presbyterian

319

17 June 1902

Thomas Cairney
Margaret Thomson

Thomas Carney
Margaret Thomson
💍 1902/4398

Bachelor
Spinster

Boiler Maker
Dressmaker

28
28

Linwood
Linwood

5 months
4 days

St. Paul's, Christchurch

02/4102

17 June 1902

Rev. S. McKenzie, Presbyterian

No	319
Date of Notice	17 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Cairney	Margaret Thomson
BDM Match (96%)	Thomas Carney	Margaret Thomson
	💍 1902/4398
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boiler Maker	Dressmaker
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	5 months	4 days
Marriage Place	St. Paul's, Christchurch
Folio	02/4102
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. McKenzie, Presbyterian

320

17 June 1902

Roland John Sinclair
Jessie Campbell Nelson

Roland John Sinclair
Jessie Campbell Wilson
💍 1902/3187

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

31
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
14 years

St. Paul's, Christchurch

02/8665

17 June 1902

Rev. J. Hapkins, Congregationalist

No	320
Date of Notice	17 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Roland John Sinclair	Jessie Campbell Nelson
BDM Match (95%)	Roland John Sinclair	Jessie Campbell Wilson
	💍 1902/3187
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	31	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	14 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's, Christchurch
Folio	02/8665
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Hapkins, Congregationalist

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).