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 028

District of Wairau Quarter ending 30 June 1902 Registrar Henry Arthur Jackman

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

17 May 1902

Augustine Priddle Bad
Mary Holland Brewster

Augustine Priddle
Mary Holland Brewster
💍 1902/1959

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler

22
22

Blenheim
Blenheim

20 Years
17 Years

Church of England, Blenheim

02/2345

17 May 1902

Arch T. S. Grace, Blenheim

No	26
Date of Notice	17 May 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Augustine Priddle Bad	Mary Holland Brewster
BDM Match (91%)	Augustine Priddle	Mary Holland Brewster
	💍 1902/1959
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	20 Years	17 Years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Blenheim
Folio	02/2345
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 May 1902
Officiating Minister	Arch T. S. Grace, Blenheim

26 May 1902

Walter Herbert Smart
Lilian Lawrence Thomas

Walter Hubert Lawn
Lillian Hortence Thomas
💍 1902/1965

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
24

Blenheim
Blenheim

24 Years
24 Years

Mr. E. Thomas' residence, Manse Road, Blenheim

02/2350

26 May 1902

Rev. G. W. Spence, Blenheim

No	27
Date of Notice	26 May 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Herbert Smart	Lilian Lawrence Thomas
BDM Match (74%)	Walter Hubert Lawn	Lillian Hortence Thomas
	💍 1902/1965
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	24 Years	24 Years
Marriage Place	Mr. E. Thomas' residence, Manse Road, Blenheim
Folio	02/2350
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 May 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. W. Spence, Blenheim

30 May 1902

George Percy Denby
Ellen Charlotte Draper

George Percy Denby
Charlotte Ellen Drapes
💍 1902/1961

Bachelor
Spinster

Cycle Agent

26
23

Blenheim
Blenheim

15 months
23 Years

Church of England, Blenheim

02/2346

30 May 1902

Arch T. S. Grace, Blenheim

No	28
Date of Notice	30 May 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Percy Denby	Ellen Charlotte Draper
BDM Match (70%)	George Percy Denby	Charlotte Ellen Drapes
	💍 1902/1961
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cycle Agent
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	15 months	23 Years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Blenheim
Folio	02/2346
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1902
Officiating Minister	Arch T. S. Grace, Blenheim

4 June 1902

Ernest David Patrick Sinclair
Lucy Burroughs

Niall Patrick Vinvouia
Lucy Burroughs
💍 1902/1699

Bachelor
Spinster

Barrister

33
29

Blenheim
Tuamarina

33 Years
29 Years

Wesleyan Church, Tuamarina

02/2351

4 June 1902

Rev. G. W. Spence, Blenheim

No	29
Date of Notice	4 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest David Patrick Sinclair	Lucy Burroughs
BDM Match (72%)	Niall Patrick Vinvouia	Lucy Burroughs
	💍 1902/1699
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barrister
Age	33	29
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Tuamarina
Length of Residence	33 Years	29 Years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Tuamarina
Folio	02/2351
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. W. Spence, Blenheim

9 June 1902

William Francis Eden
Annie Maud Register

William Francis Eden
Annie Maud Register
💍 1902/1962

Bachelor
Spinster

Flaxmiller

25
22

Grovetown
Blenheim

23 Years
22 Years

Mr. Register's residence, High Street, Blenheim

02/2347

9 June 1902

Arch T. S. Grace, Blenheim

No	30
Date of Notice	9 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Francis Eden	Annie Maud Register
	💍 1902/1962
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Flaxmiller
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Grovetown	Blenheim
Length of Residence	23 Years	22 Years
Marriage Place	Mr. Register's residence, High Street, Blenheim
Folio	02/2347
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Arch T. S. Grace, Blenheim

9 June 1902

Frank Stretch
Amy Beamsley

Frank Stretch
Amy Beamsley
💍 1902/1717

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

31
20

Kekerangu
Grovetown

31 Years
20 Years

Church of England, Spring Creek

02/2354

9 June 1902

Rev. E. Bruce, Spring Creek

No	31
Date of Notice	9 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Stretch	Amy Beamsley
	💍 1902/1717
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	31	20
Dwelling Place	Kekerangu	Grovetown
Length of Residence	31 Years	20 Years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Spring Creek
Folio	02/2354
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Bruce, Spring Creek

16 June 1902

Hugh McKewen Gee
Sue Fanny Adams

Hugh McKenzie Gee
Jane Fanny Adams
💍 1902/2091

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

25
18

Renwicktown
Awatere

20 Years
15 Years

Mr. Thompson's residence, Grovetown

02/2355

16 June 1902

Rev. J. Smith, Renwicktown

No	32
Date of Notice	16 June 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh McKewen Gee	Sue Fanny Adams
BDM Match (79%)	Hugh McKenzie Gee	Jane Fanny Adams
	💍 1902/2091
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	25	18
Dwelling Place	Renwicktown	Awatere
Length of Residence	20 Years	15 Years
Marriage Place	Mr. Thompson's residence, Grovetown
Folio	02/2355
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 June 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Smith, Renwicktown

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).