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 030

District of Wairau Quarter ending 30 September 1902 Registrar H. A. 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

8 July 1902

George Flanagan
Emily Louisa Robinson

George Flanagan
Emily Louisa Robinson
💍 1902/4141

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd

26
18

Blind River
Blind River

3 years
18 years

Residence of Robinson

09/3838

W. J. Robinson, father

8 July 1902

Rev. T. Smith

No	33
Date of Notice	8 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Flanagan	Emily Louisa Robinson
	💍 1902/4141
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd
Age	26	18
Dwelling Place	Blind River	Blind River
Length of Residence	3 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Robinson
Folio	09/3838
Consent	W. J. Robinson, father
Date of Certificate	8 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Smith

15 July 1902

William Alfred Burman
Annie Sackett

William Alfred Burman
Annie Patchett
💍 1902/4118

Bachelor
Spinster

Steward

24
19

Blenheim
Blenheim

18 months
19 years

Residence of C. Sackett

09/3839

Mr. C. Sackett, father

15 July 1902

Rev. G. W. Spence

No	34
Date of Notice	15 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Alfred Burman	Annie Sackett
BDM Match (89%)	William Alfred Burman	Annie Patchett
	💍 1902/4118
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Steward
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	18 months	19 years
Marriage Place	Residence of C. Sackett
Folio	09/3839
Consent	Mr. C. Sackett, father
Date of Certificate	15 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. W. Spence

21 July 1902

Frank Wilson Sharpe
Alice Rabbitts

Frank Wilson Sharpe
Alice Rabbitts
💍 1902/89

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

29
22

Seddon
Blenheim

3 years
22 years

Mrs. Spencer's residence, Beaver Road, Blenheim

09/3975

21 July 1902

Rev. J. J. Smith

No	35
Date of Notice	21 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Wilson Sharpe	Alice Rabbitts
	💍 1902/89
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Seddon	Blenheim
Length of Residence	3 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Mrs. Spencer's residence, Beaver Road, Blenheim
Folio	09/3975
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 July 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Smith

24 July 1902

William Page
Elizabeth Purches

William Page
Elizabeth Purches
💍 1902/4119

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

22
17

Blenheim
Blenheim

22 years
3 years

Registrar of Marriages Office

09/3840

Mary Purches, mother; W. A. Jackman

24 July 1902

H. A. Jackman

No	36
Date of Notice	24 July 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Page	Elizabeth Purches
	💍 1902/4119
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	22	17
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	22 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar of Marriages Office
Folio	09/3840
Consent	Mary Purches, mother; W. A. Jackman
Date of Certificate	24 July 1902
Officiating Minister	H. A. Jackman

6 August 1902

John Garencieres Rose
Mary Greenfield

John Garenciere Rose
Mary Greenfield
💍 1902/76

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

25
28

Blenheim
Blenheim

2 years

Church of England, Wellington

09/3978

6 August 1902

Arch. T. S. Grace

No	37
Date of Notice	6 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Garencieres Rose	Mary Greenfield
BDM Match (98%)	John Garenciere Rose	Mary Greenfield
	💍 1902/76
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	25	28
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence		2 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Wellington
Folio	09/3978
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Arch. T. S. Grace

8 August 1902

Robert Frederick Lyford
Phoebe West

Robert Frederick Lyford
Phoebe West
💍 1902/90

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

42
32

Blenheim
Blenheim

20 years
15 years

Church of England

09/3976

8 August 1902

Arch. T. S. Grace

No	38
Date of Notice	8 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Frederick Lyford	Phoebe West
	💍 1902/90
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	42	32
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Blenheim
Length of Residence	20 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Church of England
Folio	09/3976
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Arch. T. S. Grace

8 August 1902

Albert Henry Gifford
Alice Maude Soper

Albert Henry Gifford
Alice Maude Soper
💍 1902/4120

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

45
26

Spring Creek
Spring Creek

43 years
26 years

Church of England, Spring Creek

09/3841

8 August 1902

Rev. E. Houson

No	39
Date of Notice	8 August 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Henry Gifford	Alice Maude Soper
	💍 1902/4120
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	45	26
Dwelling Place	Spring Creek	Spring Creek
Length of Residence	43 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Spring Creek
Folio	09/3841
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 August 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Houson

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).