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 186

District of Greymouth Quarter ending 30 September 1902

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

29 July 1902

John Kemp Mitchell
Sadie Madeline Tanner

John Kemp Mitchell
Sadie Madeline Tanner
💍 1902/4080

Bachelor
Spinster

Master Mariner
Dressmaker

28
21

Greymouth
Greymouth

2 years
21 years

The Wesleyan Church at Greymouth

02/3916

29 July 1902

Rev. Thos. Trestrail

No	39
Date of Notice	29 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Kemp Mitchell	Sadie Madeline Tanner
	💍 1902/4080
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Master Mariner	Dressmaker
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	2 years	21 years
Marriage Place	The Wesleyan Church at Greymouth
Folio	02/3916
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos. Trestrail

15 August 1902

Joseph Manera
Mina Dearing

Joseph Manera
Nina Dearing
💍 1902/4081

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmiller
Dressmaker

23
22

Ross
Greymouth

4 days
17 years

At the private residence of Mr. Dearing, Tainui Street, Greymouth

02/3917

15 August 1902

Rev. Thos. Trestrail

No	40
Date of Notice	15 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Manera	Mina Dearing
BDM Match (96%)	Joseph Manera	Nina Dearing
	💍 1902/4081
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmiller	Dressmaker
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Ross	Greymouth
Length of Residence	4 days	17 years
Marriage Place	At the private residence of Mr. Dearing, Tainui Street, Greymouth
Folio	02/3917
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos. Trestrail

18 August 1902

William Frederick Slack
Alice Harley

William Frederick Slack
Alice Harley
💍 1902/4073

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

29
25

Wellington
Nelson

3 days
14 days

The Church of England at Greymouth

02/3910

18 August 1902

Rev. Geo. W. York

No	41
Date of Notice	18 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Frederick Slack	Alice Harley
	💍 1902/4073
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 days	14 days
Marriage Place	The Church of England at Greymouth
Folio	02/3910
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. W. York

20 August 1902

Louis Laurence Anderson
Fanny Williams

Louis Laurence Anderson
Fanny Williams
💍 1902/4074

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver

34
29

Greymouth
Greymouth

4 days
29 years

At the private residence of Mr. Wm. Williams

02/3911

20 August 1902

Rev. Geo. W. York

No	42
Date of Notice	20 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Louis Laurence Anderson	Fanny Williams
	💍 1902/4074
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver
Age	34	29
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	4 days	29 years
Marriage Place	At the private residence of Mr. Wm. Williams
Folio	02/3911
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. W. York

26 August 1902

William Henry Pellatt
Ethel May Bishop

William Henry Pettet
Ethel May Bishop
💍 1902/4075

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
22

Greymouth
Greymouth

5 weeks
1 week

The Church of England at Greymouth

02/3912

26 August 1902

Rev. Geo. W. York

No	43
Date of Notice	26 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Pellatt	Ethel May Bishop
BDM Match (91%)	William Henry Pettet	Ethel May Bishop
	💍 1902/4075
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	5 weeks	1 week
Marriage Place	The Church of England at Greymouth
Folio	02/3912
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. W. York

1 September 1902

John Maige Harrington
Ethel Winnie Thacker

John Maize Harrington
Ethel Winnie Thacker
💍 1902/4070

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23
21

Auckland
Wellington

6 weeks
2 months

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages at Greymouth

02/3907

1 September 1902

The Registrar of Marriages at Greymouth

No	44
Date of Notice	1 September 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Maige Harrington	Ethel Winnie Thacker
BDM Match (98%)	John Maize Harrington	Ethel Winnie Thacker
	💍 1902/4070
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Auckland	Wellington
Length of Residence	6 weeks	2 months
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages at Greymouth
Folio	02/3907
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 September 1902
Officiating Minister	The Registrar of Marriages at Greymouth

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).