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 265

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1902 Registrar L. C. Rilliam

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

22 February 1902

Ernest John Clark
Ethel May Simmons

Ernest John Clark
Ethel May Simmons
💍 1902/885

Bachelor
Spinster

Good Turner
Dressmaker

28
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

20 years
8 years

Baptist, Oxford Terrace

02/1087

22 February 1902

Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

No	88
Date of Notice	22 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest John Clark	Ethel May Simmons
	💍 1902/885
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Good Turner	Dressmaker
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	20 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Baptist, Oxford Terrace
Folio	02/1087
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. North, Baptist

22 February 1902

Charles Webster
Elizabeth Robertson

Charles Webster
Elizabeth Robertson
💍 1902/824

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

32
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
14 years

House of Rev. Dr. Robertson, 114 South Belt

02/1079

22 February 1902

Rev. Dr. Elmslie

No	89
Date of Notice	22 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Webster	Elizabeth Robertson
	💍 1902/824
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	14 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. Dr. Robertson, 114 South Belt
Folio	02/1079
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dr. Elmslie

24 February 1902

Silas Knight
Emma Dixon

Silas Knight
Emma Dixon
💍 1902/875

Widower (wife died September 1900)
Spinster

Farmer
Milliner

42
33

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
24 years

Wesleyan Chapel, East Belt

02/1084

24 February 1902

Rev. C. H. Laws, Wesleyan

No	90
Date of Notice	24 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Silas Knight	Emma Dixon
	💍 1902/875
Condition	Widower (wife died September 1900)	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Milliner
Age	42	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Chapel, East Belt
Folio	02/1084
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Laws, Wesleyan

24 February 1902

Charles John Blake
Margaret Forbes

Charles John Blake
Margaret Forbes
💍 1902/831

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Domestic

31
21

Christchurch
St. Albans

8 years
9 years

House of William Forbes, North Belt

02/1033

24 February 1902

Rev. D. Erwin, Presbyterian

No	91
Date of Notice	24 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles John Blake	Margaret Forbes
	💍 1902/831
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Domestic
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	St. Albans
Length of Residence	8 years	9 years
Marriage Place	House of William Forbes, North Belt
Folio	02/1033
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Erwin, Presbyterian

24 February 1902

John Charles Cockburn
Laura Gertrude Haynes

John Charles Cockburn
Laura Gertrude Haynes
💍 1902/866

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic

29
30

Christchurch
Islington

4 days
20 years

House of Rev. R. J. Murray, St. Asaph St.

02/1076

24 February 1902

Rev. R. J. Murray, Wesleyan

No	92
Date of Notice	24 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Charles Cockburn	Laura Gertrude Haynes
	💍 1902/866
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic
Age	29	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Islington
Length of Residence	4 days	20 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. R. J. Murray, St. Asaph St.
Folio	02/1076
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Murray, Wesleyan

24 February 1902

Henry Allan
Florence Rosina Jane

Henry Allen
Florence Rosina Jane
💍 1902/2099

Bachelor
Spinster

Groom
Laundress

23
22

Christchurch
Sydenham

23 years
22 years

House of H. Jenkins, Buffon St.

02/1070

24 February 1902

Rev. G. Simpson, Presbyterian

No	93
Date of Notice	24 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Allan	Florence Rosina Jane
BDM Match (95%)	Henry Allen	Florence Rosina Jane
	💍 1902/2099
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Groom	Laundress
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	23 years	22 years
Marriage Place	House of H. Jenkins, Buffon St.
Folio	02/1070
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Simpson, Presbyterian

24 February 1902

Robert John Clark
Maud Bradley

Robert John Clark
Maud Bradley
💍 1902/871

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Domestic

27
22

Christchurch
Linwood

4 days
6 months

Wesleyan Church, Durham St.

02/1062

24 February 1902

Rev. D. McNicoll, Wesleyan

No	94
Date of Notice	24 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert John Clark	Maud Bradley
	💍 1902/871
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Domestic
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Linwood
Length of Residence	4 days	6 months
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Durham St.
Folio	02/1062
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. McNicoll, Wesleyan

25 February 1902

Frank Toomer
Harriet Beatrice Barr

Frank Toomer
Harriet Beatrice Barr
💍 1902/906

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Domestic

20
19

Sydenham
Linwood

2 years
18 years

House of Rev. S. Barr, Sumner Road

02/1092

S. L. Barr, Father

10 March 1902

Rev. S. Barr, Congregational Minister

No	95
Date of Notice	25 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Toomer	Harriet Beatrice Barr
	💍 1902/906
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Domestic
Age	20	19
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Linwood
Length of Residence	2 years	18 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. S. Barr, Sumner Road
Folio	02/1092
Consent	S. L. Barr, Father
Date of Certificate	10 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Barr, Congregational 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 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).